Here is a near enough a full transcript of the pitch we gave on Monday. I believe Rob is making the video available this week, he was working on it in his office today!
Introduction - Callum Ward
Hello,
We have been assigned the ‘health’ orientated selection of charms and the proposal we have in response to the brief and the criteria which it outlined is to create an interactive ‘apothecary’ store run by an eccentric salesman character who will guide the user through the content.
The ‘apothecary’ scenario allows us deliver information about the charms in a way which will hopefully appeal to the primary target age group of 14 to 24 year olds whilst also having something to offer for people above and below these ages.
After visiting the museum and viewing the interactive displays we discussed what we did and didn’t like and sought to incorporate our evaluations into the display concept throughout it’s development.
Three key words that we focussed on throughout all aspects of planning were ‘engaging’, ‘clear’ and ‘concise’. The nature of the subject matter and the positioning of the display within the museum demand that visitor’s attention is easily caught and any information imparted to them is done so in a simple and succinct but also memorable fashion.
The use of videos, written text, audio files and quiz sections within our proposed concept should ensure that every user will be able to find something in the display that will to appeal to them.
We each have defined roles within the group but we will be working closely on the project and intend to overlap our work to an extent to ensure consistency throughout all areas of production and clarity in the final outcome.
I’ll now pass you on to James Medd who will walk you through the interface aspect of our proposal in more detail.
We have been assigned the ‘health’ orientated selection of charms and the proposal we have in response to the brief and the criteria which it outlined is to create an interactive ‘apothecary’ store run by an eccentric salesman character who will guide the user through the content.
The ‘apothecary’ scenario allows us deliver information about the charms in a way which will hopefully appeal to the primary target age group of 14 to 24 year olds whilst also having something to offer for people above and below these ages.
After visiting the museum and viewing the interactive displays we discussed what we did and didn’t like and sought to incorporate our evaluations into the display concept throughout it’s development.
Three key words that we focussed on throughout all aspects of planning were ‘engaging’, ‘clear’ and ‘concise’. The nature of the subject matter and the positioning of the display within the museum demand that visitor’s attention is easily caught and any information imparted to them is done so in a simple and succinct but also memorable fashion.
The use of videos, written text, audio files and quiz sections within our proposed concept should ensure that every user will be able to find something in the display that will to appeal to them.
We each have defined roles within the group but we will be working closely on the project and intend to overlap our work to an extent to ensure consistency throughout all areas of production and clarity in the final outcome.
I’ll now pass you on to James Medd who will walk you through the interface aspect of our proposal in more detail.
Interface Design - James Medd
As Callum mentioned, the core of our interface is based around an interactive apothecary environment that the user will explore in order to gain information on the charms before taking part in activities driven by the shop owner character. We are aiming to provide enough interactivity to give the user a sense of the control and hopefully enjoyment, but an overwhelming amount of interaction that may lead to a frustrating or confusing experience.
As we have said and will continue to say, clarity and functionality are paramount in the project. We are hoping that relatively small amounts of concise text and obvious points of interaction will help achieve this. Despite the seeming simplicity of this design however, the interface will be embellished with audio, video and polished graphics in order to maintain an engaging experience, with a good amount of visual variation to avoid a static aesthetic.
A few additional notes now: control is something we consider to be an important part of the interactive experience, therefore among other measures, we plan to allow the user to 'cancel'/'skip' or 'go back' at anytime so as to keep their interest. As Mark stated last week when he was here, there's nothing more frustrating that being trapped somewhere you do not want to be!
Linked with this, given the potentially difficult age range we are dealing with, we realise not every user will be after the same sort of experience. With this in mind, there will be options available for those not inclined to take part in activities such as quizzes but who still wish to have fun interacting or gaining information about the subject.
Finally, we are also planning rigorous testing to avoid bugs and crashes! I'll let James Howard-White tell you about the audio side of our project.
Audio/Sound Effects - James Howard-White
Back in the Victorian era the sale of medicine relied heavily on salesmanship, perhaps more so than the actual effectiveness of the medicine itself. Vendors depended on terms such as 'secret ingredient' and 'ancient mysticism' to promote their cure all elixirs, amulets and charms. Using a fully voiced character, we intend to incorporate this bravado into our design. Our character will help by immediately engaging with the user, humanise our exhibit and add a touch of comical value. He won't be heavily scripted and the real trick will be ensuring we optimise the character with out over doing things, slowing down the users experience and ensuring that on screen information don't overlap and become confusing.
Diegetic will be a bit of a buzzword when it comes to sound. Everything will be taken from the environment. The voice-over, the bubbling of the latest elixir experiment and the hint of a busy shopping street outside.When looking up information on the charms we want to subtly mix in sounds of the environment in which they can be found. A sea shore, under the sea or in the case of the mother of pearl fishes, an eastern market. Other than the character, we want the sound to primarily enhance the realism without being a distraction.
Diegetic will be a bit of a buzzword when it comes to sound. Everything will be taken from the environment. The voice-over, the bubbling of the latest elixir experiment and the hint of a busy shopping street outside.When looking up information on the charms we want to subtly mix in sounds of the environment in which they can be found. A sea shore, under the sea or in the case of the mother of pearl fishes, an eastern market. Other than the character, we want the sound to primarily enhance the realism without being a distraction.
Tony Ball will now expand on the visuals we'll be using in this project.
Video/Graphics - Tony Ball
Hi, I’m Tony and I’ll be collaborating with Callum with the design and production of all the graphical aspects of our installation.
We aim to emphasise the era and the purpose of the health charms with a Victorian styled apothecary. To illustrate this we’ll be opting for a hand drawn and computer rendered appearance that will balance the need of simplicity whilst avoiding looking too much like a child’s cartoon.
As previously mentioned, we plan to include the salesman type character to play host to our patch. I’ll be working closely with James and Callum in creating this character making sure he is an accurate representation of the era as well as refining on his quirky characteristics and lifelike habits.
We will also be designing a variety of other objects with the potential of interaction: either acting as buttons or just small pieces of animation to bring some life into our patch. Again this is to enhance the user experience when using the interface.
To maintain Clarity we will be keeping our designs fairly minimal. This will hopefully ensure that interest isn’t lost in the confusion of what to press on screen.
I believe at this point Callum then asked if there were any questions! You'll see those in the video!
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