Guess which video didnt upload...

Seems i am just going to have to bring my USB cable for my phone today and connect it to the pc that way... such a shame my broadband is so shabby.

I guess it just adds to the experience. If you leave things to the last minute, you don't have time to sort out any problems. Perhaps i should be videoing this...

Oh and i've still yet to finish the VB program i meant to do. Gahh! Remind me never to be a smart alec and purposely not to do any work to make a point.

Storyboarding/Filming

I had a bit of a think, and decided that my most common and everyday experience was, in fact, procrastination. So, i thought i'd take it to extremes, making sure i went completely out of my way not to storyboard and film, and left it until the morning before (it is now 7:16 am, and my deadline is 10). In a way it was kind of contradictive as it was a planned, and fully contrived lack of organisation and planning.

It is actually currently backfiring as i'm having problems linking my phone to my pc...

So, i decided to start storyboarding in the lesson, where the task started, listing my feelings and thoughts, and a little snapshot of the week. I then documented a few minutes of time withexamples of what i do to procrastinate. I included drinking herbal tea. I don't even like herbal tea, but it takes a few minutes to make and looks pretty so it serves its' purpose.

i'm going to restart my pc....

Emotional journey 1: Frustration

How to make people frustrated, i wondered?

By creating something which is in itself frustrating. It could be as simple as an easy to understand, but difficult to solve, game.

I drew a little sketch of an interface that would be frustraing in my sketchbook, which is loosely based upon the 'matching pair' game premise. Where you have lots of card facing down, and you have to find matching pairs turning only two over at a time:



http://www.hatley.info/youngsters/game.html

My sketch looked like this:

fig 1

It would be slightly different as there is only one pair (coloured in black), and the rest would be blank (white)

fig 2

.fig 3

fig 2: shows how the game would start. you'd then click on random boxes hoping that they'd be the right combination
fig 3: shows the finished game

I realised that this wouldn't be difficult or frustrating enough though. This is because in a game of 36 squares, with 18 pairs to make, i finished it in a minute or so (like most adults), with only minor irritation. Also, the game is aimed at children so it couldn't be too hard.

. In my notes, i thought about the idea of a 'reset schedule' i.e. you only get a certain amount of tries to complete the puzzle, and then the correct combination changes, and you have to start guessing again! I could apply this to any frustration mechanism i end up creating.

Also... i thought having a split screen may be a fantastic idea. i.e. having audio/visual information on the right that shows you which part of the experience you are at, and having to do the frustrating puzzle on the left in order to access the next part of the experience!

This would mean that i have made progression more difficult than someone else may have found it, or they can experience my sometimes easily irritated personality, whereas they themselves might be really patient and not have found the experience annoying as i did!

I came across an idea whilst doing this. Perhaps you could also make an experience harder/easier i.e. based on the amount of mobility/skill/experience the individual had. So... being able to do something with someone elses limitations/talents. i.e. something as simple as viewing a browser with partial sightedness, or being able to play the piano really well. Or, experiencing something with someone elses personality i.e. going to a flower arranging show through a garden enthusiasts eyes

Anyway, I'd like to play with the idea of frustration first, and trying to combine it with say.... getting the Internet to work. So, whilst your playing the game on the left and getting it wrong, on the right it would affect the computer, and it might come up saying 'unable to connect'... or 'Internet has low or no connectivity'. the interface would just be a different, more difficult way of getting it to work.

Today, i'm going to see if i can get the basic premise of my frustrating game to work (ignoring the reset schedule for now!), in visual basic. If not, i will create a few example page layouts in paintshop pro to demonstrate how it would work.

Isolating experience; Emotional journey

On the train on the way home yesterday, i thought about how difficult it would be to try to make someone else have the exact same experience as you.

In the lesson during the day, i realised that there was a sense of frustration at the the problem of 'interpretation', and that using different types of media (sound files, video etc) to express an experience (no matter how high-tech), would always be flawed!

So, i thought maybe i should try to decontruct an experience, and try to isolate the feelings that went with the experience, and then try to take the user through an emotional journey

This would be rather than trying to create a specific ambience through different media, and hoping that they'd feel the same way if the conditions were right

For example, my experiences last week i.e. PC problems:

Frustration
Repetiton (i kept hoping different combinations of actions would have the desired effect)
hope (when i thought it was going to work... then...)
Hopelessness
Feeling i was wasting my time
Dismay
Irritation

And the list goes on... As this was quite a one-dimensional experience (the same feelings over and over again, pretty much...) i thought it would be a pretty good place to start.

The list again in order was:

Excitement (getting my new pc out of the box)
Impatience (waiting for it to boot up)
Optimism (when i thought i would be a short setup)
Disappointment (when it didnt work straight away)
Hope (When i thought... never mind. i can sort this)
Frustration (When i couldnt)
Hope (tried something else)
Frustration
Hope
Frustration
Hope
Frustration
Hope
Frustration
Hope
Frustration
Hope
Frustration
Hope
Frustration
Hope
Frustration
Hope
..... (you get the picture)
Then i went out, forgot about it
Came back and (tada! it worked)
Pleased!

I started trying to work out how to recreate these experiences. I started off with frustration as it was the easiest...

Customising/Design part 1

I decided to document myself customising clothing as it's something i do everyday, but never really think about the experience. I want to describe the process, inspiration, and my actions.

I used my A2 sketchbook to do so, fabric paints, a shirt, magazines and the net to get poetry, fonts and a few photos for research.

My materials

Inspiration for the GB theme. There was also a special fearne cotton feature, which i thought was pretty cool.

The original Zara shirt (upside down) which i cant be bothered to rotate, sorry! I chose it because it was plain, and had a tiny mark o nit which was irritating. I was actually going to dye it anther colour (probably navy blue) but i decided to be a bit more arty. I can still dye it later, and the fabric paint will show up on top of whichever colour i choose, do to the type of paint it is.

I got the poem from a website. I thought it was vague and arty, and made absolutely no sense which is exactly what i wanted.

below: the finished article!

Twiggy exhibition, Oct 1st

I finally made it to the exhibition, but found it a little lack-luster and didn't seem that well put together. There was a timeline of iconic photographs, with small comments from twiggy on each of them. Didn't really offer much insight, but there were a few photographs that stuck out for me that i loved.



This photograph was by Klaus Voormann.

I found the following info on https://sslsites.de/www.voormann-shop.com/information.php?info_id=12&language=en&osCsid=05f1fac1f546318252a07ec2ccc9bb11

'Twiggy Artwork for VOGUE

For the popular magazine VOGUE Klaus Voormann has designed several pictures with Twiggy. Based on photographs by Justin Devilleneuf, Klaus Voormann created the pictures with pencil in a very surrealistic way. Images of mystic beauty. This extraordinary artwork got many awards like the International Art Directors Award.'

In the blurb in the exhibition, i found out that this wasn't a proper shoot, and was taken at home (i assume hers). I found this on http://iamthechildofthemoon.blogspot.com/2008/10/twiggy.html

Walking around the space, i found it dull, and the people who were looking at them dragged the vibe of the space down even further. It was very hush-hush, with retired people walking extremely slowly around the whitewashed space and a guard giving you evils! I had hoped that the space would be more inspired, reflecting the personality of the person that they were trying to represent. It just felt like walking around a museum, and even the photos i did like lost their edge.

It really does emphasise the need for good design, as the exhibition was extremely one-dimensional, not interactive, and they could have made it a lot more interesting than a 50 word comment by twiggy on a photo she probably barely remembers. I'm not sure what i expected, but i was really bored and let-down.

Journey to Twiggy exhibition Oct 1, 11:16

I went to the national portrait gallery to see the Twiggy exhibition on Oct 1st.

On the way i did a bit of thinking on the brief, did a little observation and did a small line drawing in my sketchbook.

'think it would probably be best to categorise experiences sense & thought-wise. So, having 5 categories named sight, hearing, felt touched, smelt, and then having a 6th category documenting what i was thinking. my problem with immediate documentation is that i am experiencing the documentation simultaneously and it is to an extent detracting from the experience. Then again, if i tried to recall what i was experiencing, I'd be limited to my memory, which, rather than being broad, focusing on certain things and eliminated others. Not only this, but writing is quite a conspicuous activity:- reading, listening to music and talking being the normal ones . Maybe i should document the documentation process'

Quick line drawing of a guy sitting opposite me on the tube. He knew i was observing him and got a little fidgety

A little bit of observation at Covent Garden station

Strange sandwich guy

The guy in the cream jumper is the one that i was watching for 10 minutes...

10 minute observation of goldsmiths smoking area

this is part 2 of the earlier exercise.

i was meant to do 30 minutes on each thing, which somehow turned into 30 minutes for both!!

I did find it quite intriguing though, and very weird taking detailed notes on someone other than myself!

• 12:22 A guy is constructing his own sandwich from four pieces of bread wrapped in clingfilm and assorted filling. He places the piece of bread on a plastic container lid and uses a knife to spread butter, transfer the three or four fillings and cut it into neat triangles
• 12:28 There's a tiiiiiiny banana (looks decomposed as it's almost completely black!) that i think he is going to eat despite the risk of poisoning :-s
• 12:29 He is quite engages in conversation, lots of gesturing
• 30 He's adding extra tomatoes to the second half for no apparent reason. I wonder why he didn't put them in in the first place as they've been on the table all along so it's not as if he forgot about them!!!)
• 32 He has half a bottle of water left. I think he's feeling the cold as he puts his coat back on, but doesn't leave. I'm trying to be discreet but he has clocked on
• dammit!

I found this really intriguing... Peoples quirks really amuse me, and their eating habits. I am sure a psychologist somewhere would assign some kind of OCD to him, as he lined everything u straight, cut his bread in a certain way, added tomatoes only to the certain half. If i get the chance to observe him again I'll see if he repeats his behaviour. Although he may change his behaviour as he may know that I'm watching him...

Next time i won't write things down, I'll just try to observe and remember as much as possible!

20 minute self observation write up

This was the task from last Wednesdays lesson, which i found rather difficult!

Location: Goldsmiths smoking area
What i ate: A chicken baguette, Coke (in a glass which i found a strange experience in itself)

• 12:07 The roll is hard on the outside and scratches the inside of your mouth when you bite into it
• 12:08 the salad is bitter. it is noisy and rather cold. a few people have already looked over curiously
• 12:09 I keep getting distracted as i am finding my own life rather dull at the moment. Eating a bland chicken salad baguette, and sipping coke whilst trying to document how it feels to be me kind of sucks. There's a girl in a red jacket on the table next to me who has a large burn on her hand. I'm wondering how she got it. It appears to be slightly seeping... and tada! i'm put off my food :-/
• 12:12 I keep forgetting to eat as i'm trying to notice everything in the general area. I take a few pictures.
• 12:13 I notice that the girl in the red jacket has her trousers rolled up. They're done quite unevenly so i'd assume that it's to avoid puddles than for fashions sake!
• 12:14 it starts getting noticeable noisier as there is a sudden influx of people
• 12:15 As you bite into the sandwich the filling gets squished and escapes from the sides. It's a very messy thing to try to eat as it gets all over your mouth (grr) unless you're really careful and i'm continuously wiping my face off in an unladylike manner
• 12:16 argh! i occasionally bite into bits of cheese (the best bit-they should have put more in). Would have taken the bitterness out of the salad...
• 12:20 the top of my mouth REALLY hurts now. i keep on complaining... i won't be buying a baguette from here again...!

I didn't do this part of the observation for very long as i was very conscious of how long i had left

I find it easier to note down times as it gives me a concept of how long things were, and how long i was observing for, and allows me to more easily structure the analysis and makes it simple when i review the info.

I will be adding photos as soon as my phone stops having a heart attack and decides to send the video file and photos i took.... why do i always have problems with technology i wonder... is something to think about!

Looking back over my very brief notes, i notice a bit of a trend in that i don't focus on the tactile experience of having lunch, but on what is going on around me. I wonder if this is out of boredom or if i am just a really nosey person...


__________________________________________________________

Aha! Photos came through!
















Girl in Red

Gahh! Why won't blogger let me upload the rest to this post?! Technogology drives me crazy...!

Finally! PC works!

Got the internet working on my new pc!

One of the most the most frustrating experiences EVER so i think this would be a good place to start, since internet and PC problems seem to be quite common to the majority of the population!

4pm, sunday: Got my PC from PCWorld (and feeling quite smug about heckling the price down by a measly £20). Why is it that a discount made me feel like i won something, or achieved something?? Perhaps because heckling is quite rare for me...

4.30 pm. Turn my PC on. It's an all-in-one so setup is meant to be fast and simple.

it isnt

4.35 i realise that the PC needs to be able to connect to the internet to register itself for various programs, but it's a bit of a catch 22 as norton can't start until it's connected, but i don't want to connect without norton being in place as i am slightly terrified of an overweight, balding 30-year old being able to hack into my computer (despite there being absolutely nothing on it at the moment

4.50 i am very frustrated as it can 'see' the connection, but after trying multiple times, it comes up in an error message saying 'limited or no connectivity'. ARGH!!!

5.30 after two cups of tea, one which the PC nearly wore i give up and go out. to make matters worse, i have a nasty little blister from doing 'DIY' earlier on in the day. My DIY consists of dismantling a bookshelf. No idea how i managed to get a blister. Seems today is REALLY not my day

Monday, 12:30am

I get back in, and suddenly the internet is back on. Despite being rather tired, i force myself to setup, download and install everything i need to. There is this sense of dread though where i'm fairly terrified of the net dropping out at any moment, as i am right now!