My Destination Model

There are a lot of differences relating design principles to animations in comparison to interactive presentations. While its easier in some areas, its also more difficult in others. I've used pictures when relevant to illustrate points I had, but it would still be a good idea to view my whole animated project to get an overall view of what I actually created. In case you haven't seen it I've posted a link to it below.

http://www.chowgoodskitchen.com/destinationmodel.html

Blog Post #6: Hierarchy of Needs

The hierarchy of needs is especially important to consider when establish a strong design. It has been recognized that low level designs generally pay little to no attention to the hierarchy of needs and its structure, as they often have to pay attention to the more basic levels before the higher ones can be achieved. However strong designs have been acknowledged to ay close attention to the hierarchy, ultimately strengthening audience involvement with the design and how they interact with it.

In retrospect to my design, the animated approach to the Ningaloo Destination Model and its presentation of information, I would have to say that my utilization of the hierarchy of needs is somewhere around half and half. While it is strong in some areas, in others it is fairly lacking. And I recognize that it is these areas that hold the project down. Let me explain in respect to each level of the hierarchy to show you why.

Functionality – has to meet with the most basic design requirement

The most basic design requirement of my piece was to communicate information about the expansion of Ningaloo in a unique, interesting and engaging way. And I feel I have done this very well. My idea to use an animation was only used by one other person in our class, so it already provided a different perspective on viewing the information to the client. Thanks to my use of a humorous PSA style, I was able to captivate viewers who didn’t want to spend time sifting through endless amounts of text while also allowing the transmission of data through blueprint style infographics in a logical, quirky and successful manner.

Reliability – establishes a reliable performance every time

This is where my project showed signs of breaking down. While my first introductory animation was successful at entertaining viewers and showing data in a concise and effective way, the one after outlining how I would approach explaining the data bout the scenarios would not. I already explained in detail this in my ‘80/20 rule’ post, but basically the amount of time spent on the infographics was too great and too repetitive. While it did display the information necessary, it didn’t do it at the steady pace or the sharp wit that I had in my first animation. This factor between animations makes the transmission of data between the two very different, making the second animation much more unreliable that the first. I have already acknowledged in retrospect that given more time I would have altered it to be less information heavy and juxtaposed with more elements of humor and animation.

Usability – has a easy and forgiving design

My application to this level in the hierarchy is varied. As an animation, the ability for the viewer to use the design is very simple. They just have to click play, sit back and watch. While I did have the idea for pause, rewind and scene selection buttons I was not able to make them work. For this reason, if the viewer missed a piece of information and need to go back to watch it again they would have to sit through the entire animation. This makes the design unforgiving in this respect. Also, the animation selection screen based on a Google Earth layout (Explained in my ‘wayfinding’ blog post) can be placed in this level. While it wasn’t particularly visually stimulating or interesting, and due to longer play time for the scenario based animations the absence of a rewind button was felt even more heavily, it still got the job done and was fairly straightforward.

Proficiency – empowers people to do a better job second time around

When watching the animations again, people will generally have the same response as to how they reacted the first time. There is little to nothing new to see. Although it wouldn’t add to the communication of data, if I had put some visual gags in the background that people may have not noticed on their first view it could have made re-watching the animation more fun for them. The idea of proficiency also comes back to my lack of a rewind or pause button. I feel if I got these working, the project would have sustained a huge boost from a very simple idea.

Creativity – allows people to interact with the design in creative ways.

While my project doesn’t really stand up so well up to this point, I still feel that it has some strong creative output with the user. While they can’t physically interact with the piece in creative ways, such as manipulating data themselves that some interactive designs may have allowed for, the addition of identifiable characters and humor lead my piece to be interacted with on different levels. Viewers grow fond of these characters; they can relate to them and enjoy their humorous approach to the situation. This allows them to be more open to these characters thus feeling inclined to listen to them and the animation more. While not your typical interaction with the audience, it certainly does its job.

In summation, there is a lot that could be saved about my Ningaloo Destination Model project and a lot that could be worked on and improved. For a first attempt, and with something as open-ended and as unconventional as an animation in this situation, I feel I have done fairly well. I still communicated what I wanted, and gave my client a new and interested idea about how information about Ningaloo could be presented. And with these design principles now fresh in my mind, I feel my future designs can only be improved upon with what I have learnt here.

Blog Post #5: 80/20 Rule

At first glance, it may not seem relevant to talk about the 80/20 rule in regards to my animation. More commonly seen within interactive designs, the 80/20 rule states that approximately 80 percent of the effects in a design are caused by 20 percents of the variables within it. So for example, 80 percent of someone’s progress may come from 20 percent of their work. Use of this principle ensures efficiency within designs, as it often helps people access more vital features faster and can also show designers where the most time and effort need to be spent.

So it may seem strange to talk about it within a context of an animation that has a set running time and lacks direct interaction with the audience. However, I have noticed that about 80 percent of the data required to be shown in the Ningaloo Destination model is presented within 20 percent of my animations running time. Of about the two minute play time for my introductory video, only about 30 seconds or so actually consists of motion-based graphics. It is within this time the most pressing information that the client wished to show is presented and explained to the audience.

These infographics followed a blueprint style, using clever visual metaphors to support what was being explained verbally by the characters at the time. I kept these intentionally short and to the point, splitting them up with animated scenes of the main characters and elements of humor. This was done for two reasons, so that the viewers would only absorb the truly important information and so that they wouldn’t be bored by needless amounts of text or infographics. This is where the 80/20 rule is apparent. The audience is only really needs to pay attention to 20 percent of the animation in order to gain 80 percent of the information they need to know.

However, in my second animation that follows the introduction, you can clearly see the use of the 80/20 rule breaking down. This animation was done as an example of how I would present the information relating to each scenario if my model was chosen. Originally I had wanted to include more involvement of the main characters and humor to break up scenes similarly to the introductory video, but as time ran out I ended up having to scrap it in favor of presenting the information which the client actually required. At about 6 minutes running time, with about 5 of those being focused on monotonous motion graphics being read out by the Narrator character, the scales were tipped to be more along the lines of 80% of the information being presented in 90% of the running time. The results of this swap were clearly shown to me. While most peopled laughed and enjoyed the introductory animation, this example left them growing bored and unimpressed. And I too felt that way, realizing the infographics went on for far too long and my piece ultimately suffers for it.

If anything is to be learnt, it’s that my destination model shows that the 80/20 rule is very beneficial to the efficiency of getting information across to viewers. While my introductory animation that paid close attention to its scales gets a warm response and successfully educated the audience, my second attempt that drastically tipped the scales lost a lot of focus and therefore

Blog Post #4: Framing

When coming up with ideas for my design, I contemplated how I would be able to present the animation alongside the educational infographics in a manor that seemed logical and didn’t break the flow of the piece. I chose to go with the style of a 1950’s public service announcement/education video, along the same lines of the Troy McClure videos that most people would recognize from the TV series The Simpsons.

This is where the use of framing came into play. Through use of images, words and context, framing manipulates people to alter how they think about something by drawing on their social values and the meanings they give to these phrases and imagery. There are two categories of framing, positive and negative. Positive spins actions in a safe and encouraging manor while negative will often deter the audience.

So it may seem strange to use framing in a design that requires me to be unbiased and keep a neutral view about the positives and negatives of the data I’m displaying. After all, I’m supposed to be leaving the choices of how to interoperate the data up to the viewer so they can make choices on how Ningaloo should be changed. But rather, I have used framing in the style of my animation to change the audience’s mindset to be more open to receiving information when viewing it. Let me explain.

While commonly used by the media, politicians and advertisers, framing can also be used in things like film and TV to make audiences feel a certain way towards objects, locations and people. They can still be positive and negative too, like seeing a man from a low camera angle in a dark setting will often negatively frame him as a bad guy.

This is the technique I have used in my animation. I’ve used various image based uses of positive framing to establish my animation as a fun, appealing educational film. The filmic grain technique I put over my animation is to make it seem like you’re really watching an educational film. Having the projection screen fold up and down in between animations and the map selection screen also helps push this ideal, as well as the general style of the piece relating back to public service announcements, a medium known to be associated with learning. When the audience see these things combined, they instinctively know that they’re about to watch something that is aimed at educating them and will change their mindsets thusly. They’ll pay close attention and realize they need to be listening to get what they need to know.

However, I also knew that public service announcements do not interest everyone, and are in some cases more likely to bore audiences instead of interest them in learning. This is why I added in several things to my animation. The main character Jimmy is done in bright colours and is animated in a bouncy and lively fashion. The backgrounds are vector based and are again filled with vivid colour. The infographics are quirky and inventively representational of their subject matter. And the humor that spaces out the information also keeps the audience at ease. These attempts to frame the animations in a light-hearted, bright and positive light allows the audience to see that its not just an educational film but something that’s fun too. Their willingness to learn is therefore increased and the chances that they’ll stay to watch the rest of the animation are increased.

While not the most traditional or obvious use of the framing design principle, I still feel I have used its techniques to help influence audiences to see my project in both an educational and approachable manor.

Blog Post #3: Entry Point

The term ‘entry point’ is fairly self explanatory as a design principle. It gives the first or the initial impression of a design which subsequently influences how viewers will interact with it later on. So generally, how you interact with the entry point is generally how you will interact with the rest of the piece. It gives you a knowledge of how further interactions will play out and sets the mood for the rest of the design.

This principle explains a lot of the reasons why I chose to do an introductory animation for my Ningaloo Destination Model, and not just ones concerning each scenario. If I had just thrown the viewers into my design from the map screen onward, they’d have little to no idea what to do and why they would be viewing these animations.

This was what the introduction was aimed to negate. It sets the tone and style for the other animations. It introduces the main characters Jimmy and the Narrator and what their interactions with each other and based upon (Jimmy wants to know how he can help Ningaloo while the Narrator explains how through reference to the Destination Model’s findings) and introduces the audience to the blueprint style of infographics and how they will be presenting them with important information throughout the piece.

An entry point has three important characteristics:

Barriers -

Barriers can be physical, audible or visual and are should be avoided as they stop users from acquiring information. I tried to make my introductory animation as straightforward as possible, making sure characters were clearly introduced, the purpose of the Destination Model was concisely outlined and that the infographics were clean, simple and to the point. The background music was kept to a low so that all voice clips (Which were recorded with a high quality microphone) were clearly audible and all important visuals were focused upon and not hindered by any distracting animation in the background. The only real barrier I felt it had was that it couldn’t be stopped. As the animation plays right until the end, the viewer doesn’t have the chance to pause or look back to view information. Although it ideally shouldn’t be necessary, it still is a hindrance to them getting information they may have missed.

Points of Prospect -

Points of prospects are the ‘time and space’ of a design that allow viewers to become orientated, allowing them to survey their available options. I tried to make my animation as clear as possible, using direct and selective dialogue as well as infographics based on the most important introductory data. It’s kept short and straight to the point, giving users a very straight forward headspace indicating how further animations will play out and how they can be expected to gain information from them. As soon as the map screen after the introductory animation appears they know what’s in store for them and they can choose to progress how they see fit.

Progressive Lures -

These are the attractions within a design that lure people into moving through the entry point and into the rest of the piece. Technically my entire animation could be considered a progressive lure. Generally I saw the information of the destination model being fairly annoying to sift through as well as boring when looked at for long periods of time. Not only to maintain interest, but also to keep people wanting to find out the information in the rest of the animations I needed to make the introduction as interesting and creative as possible in order to win over the audience. The vivid visuals and characters, the bouncy animation, the humor and the infographic style could all be considered progressive lures as they interest people in the information and the animation, and make them curious to see what’s in the others further down the track with more important information.

Blog Post #2: Accessibility

When designing my Ningaloo Project it was always my intention to keep its appeal to an audience as open and broad as possible. As the client had not specifically mentioned what people would be viewing the model I felt it best that I choose a style that would be able to cater to the tastes of a large audience. This in turn would ensure that not just developers and businessmen, but the public at Ningaloo could perceive the information present in the destination model and understand what could potentially be happening to their hometowns.

For this reason, the design principle of ‘accessibility’ was constantly a concern in my head. It allows for designs to be usable by as many people as possibly without heavy modification. This is why I chose to do an animation.

I chose animation over other ideas like an interactive presentation of data for several reasons. As cartoons and animation are an extremely open medium, allowing for great creativity and experimentation with style and look, I was able to fool around with devices such as the characters and the presentation of information. The theme of the animation was set to the style of a 1950’s Public Service Announcement. Drawing inspiration from the likes of Troy McClure and his ‘informative’ short films in the Simpsons, I took a light-hearted, comedic approach to the animation. Having likable and memorable characters, as well as quirky, animated motion graphics to explain information engages with the audience and allowed them to have more fun in learning from these devices. And they appeal to a wide range of people based on their content and visual style, and for this reason it suited my original intention of being accessible to a wide audience perfectly.

Accessibility has four defining characteristics, all which I believe I applied to in my design.

Perceptibility - Everyone can perceive the design regardless of sensory abilities

Anyone who can see can view the design, which is generally the audience I am going for. Combined with the bright and vibrant character designs and colour schemes, the appeal is extended to people of a variety of ages. I also tried to keep the colour scheme reminiscent of ocean, to subconsciously remind the viewer they’re watching something that had a great impact on Ningaloo and its ecosystem.

Operability - Everyone can use the design regardless of physical abilities

In terms of operability, animation is perfect. Viewers simply have to press a button, sit back and enjoy the show. While some level of computer competency is needed, most people these days know how to click a button in Flash and I have designed the menu system to be straight forward enough to be used by anyone.

Simplicity - Everyone can understand the design regardless of experience, literacy or concentration levels

From past experience with films in high school, documentaries or even watching an episode of The Simpsons, the viewer can establish they’re seeing something that is aimed at teaching them information and will adjust their mindset as such. Those who are outside this area of knowledge are generally not who this presentation is aimed at.

Forgiveness - Minimizes the occurrence and consequences of errors

There are some elements of forgiveness in my animation, mostly in areas of perceiving information. For instance, when the Narrator character explains information being presented in a motion graphic, Jimmy will often backs it up with a statement explaining it in layman terms afterward. The audience learns with Jimmy, so even if they don’t understand the infographic what Jimmy says will surely be enough to give them a basic understanding. However most instances of forgiveness occurred in my control over the animation. While I tried to keep the information as understandable through the first viewing as possible, I still understand that some people would have liked a rewind or pause button to allow them to go back and view that which they may have missed. For this reason, the amount of forgiveness in the animations is largely based upon me and my abilities to transfer information rather than the viewer and their control. In a design where they’re attempting to learn complex information this may not have been the best decision for this.

Overall, through style, look and appeal I find my project is very accessible and can be understood by a wide variety of people from numerous different ages. While some technical changes and more control over how the animations progress could have been well utilized, I still feel that these are relatively minor problems and overall the project achieves what it needed in this area.

Blog Post #1: Wayfinding

As my Ningaloo Destination Model was based on animation, there was very little personal choice for the user in what they chose to see information on.

However, through a map screen after my introductory video was played, the user had a choice to which animation they wished to view based on the information they wanted/needed to find out. This map screen was incorporated by me to appeal to one of the wishes of the client (Having Google Maps somehow present within the destination model) and allowed users to access the information they wanted to see rather than having to sit through several minutes of animation they didn’t need to see.

This is the aspect of my project that contained relevance to the wayfinding design principle. To reiterate, wayfinding is ‘the process of using spatial and environmental information to navigate to a destination’. It is comprised of four main stages, which I will now list and explain the relevance to my project piece.

Orientation

After the introductory video is played, the user is then placed in front of a map screen

During the introduction video, the user is told what is going to be happening. They’re going to be guided through the project by the narrator and the anthropomorphic whale shark known as Jimmy based on several scenarios outlined in the destination model. When the animation stops playing, the projector screen the animation was playing on rolls up and the map screen comes into view. The buttons the user can click on fade into view and the piece doesn’t continue until they click on something.

Route Decision

While on the map screen, the user is given a choice of what informative animations to view based on which button they click.

While it is fairly obvious that the animation portion is over when the project screen rolls up, I never explained through words what the user must do to progress forward. I left it up to them to realize, once nothing happens, they need to mouse over the buttons to reveal what relevant animation will be played if they click on them. Aside from these titles there is no detailed explanation of what information will be in the animations so the user may be at a loss as to which animation is most relevant to the information they wish to find out.

Route Monitoring

Once a button is clicked the map zooms in on its location and the projector screen rolls down again.

Again, this is fairly straightforward but still the user lacks access to a depth of information after the button is selected. While the backgrounds I chosen to zoom in on have some relevance to the subject matter of the animation (For instance, the ‘Governance’ part zooms in over the town Exmouth) they are too vague and not seen long enough to validate to the user what they click one is truly relevant to them. There is no text or symbolism to help reassure them they’re on the right path to viewing the information they need.

Destination Recognition

After the zoom in, the projector screen rolls down again the next animation is played.

The user is able to recognize if the information they wanted to see is being played based on the content of the animation. It is explained by the two characters fairly early on, but it is a slow and not instantaneous recognition.

Overall, while the wayfinding process here works to a degree but the overall map screen interface is boring and lacks any real instruction or direction. Everything is brief and there is little to no explanation of what clicking each button will play, or what specific information will be discussed. So although the navigation works, there is little to no depth to it, isn’t well labeled and doesn’t reassure the user like a projected fully utilizing the wayfinding process would do.

This could have been solved by including small paragraphs of text; one or two sentences that explained which information would be viewed in a greater detail. And this way, it wouldn’t break flow and could be easily skimmed by the user, putting their mind at ease and allowing them to get to their relevant information faster and with confidence.