The PARTI Stamp of Approval

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On Friday, some of our team visited Urbano to show Stella and Risa our first project iteration, which highlighted our suitcase proposal design for PARTI as described in our blog post from last week. It seems we got a preliminary stamp of approval, and Urbano has expressed how they’d like our team to not only design, but also build a prototype of our project installation. At this meeting, we devised the following flow of actions a potential user would take when interacting with our installation:

1a. Watch 1-2 minute long intro video created by Urbano students about Urbano and the year-long Emancipated City theme with thought-provoking, community-specific information.

1b. While an instructional animation plays, users create their own response to what they just saw, using the pens/papers/craft supplies supplied in the suitcase.

2. The user photographs a reply, optionally entering email/twitter handle to get a copy of the picture and/or to sign up for an Urbano mailing list.

3. PARTI posts the photograph social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.

4. The user may choose to take their artistic creation with them, to place it in a receptacle in the suitcase, or to hang it up on a foldable display that comes with the PARTI installation.

The proposed action flow prompted several questions that we need to finalize answers for before next week.

  • We need to work out a more concrete use flow

    • When do they watch the video? – Maybe a “press me” button? or incorporate a proximity sensor that triggers the video to play when a person is near?

    • When do they make their reply? – At the end of the video, we could have a screen that asks the user if they want to share their Imagined City, if so, press a button and an instructional video will play

  • What hardware makes sense (Android? Windows? Tablet? What capabilities does it need?)

    • Needs – simple input/output (press a button, play a video), picture taking abilities, video recording abilities, can connect to the Internet and send picture and video files

  • Do schools/libraries/other sites have wifi or should we provide that?

    • Need to look into the cost of creating our own wireless hotspot

  • What is in the box besides the hardware?

    • art supplies

    • stand or support or some foldable organizational structure

    • theft prevention (like a tether)

    • wifi capabilities (optional)

    • space to hold a foldable display board

  • How are physical artifacts (the responses) displayed/saved or is it just digital?

    • users could either take their picture with them, post it on a foldable bulletin board, or place it in the suitcase

  • How does this integrate with Urbano’s new site?

We put together the following schedule and general task allocations for the coming week before the second project iteration is due as well as planning for the final project iteration and presentation.

  • 11/4:   Buy materials

  • 11/11: Assemble

  • 11/18: Put together content, including video

  • 11/25: Document the PARTI

  • 12/3:   Present the PARTI

3 thoughts on “The PARTI Stamp of Approval”

  2. I really like how this is asking people to add in their stories. Will participants see what others have created before or after their exposure to the 1-2 minute video? Either is fine, but it might change what the output is. Seeing things after allows each person to lend their unique, uninterrupted perspective; seeing other works before allows people to weave a story together.

  3. In addition to Willow’s points, below are my comments and questions:

    – First of all, I want to commend you guys on finalizing a concrete idea. The PARTI addresses in a manageable way a lot of the needs Urbano expressed early on, and my favorite part is the suitcase! So creative! Also, you present a really clever way for staying in touch with people who contribute to the PARTI by collecting their e-mails and twitters – I like that you are aiming to create a feedback loop.

    – Speaking of the suitcase, I want to push you guys to think about this more. How does the design of the suitcase reflect the overall purpose of the project? What does the suitcase say about the Urbano Project? What message does it send? I think the way the suitcase is treated can give a lot of personality to your project, so be deliberate and purposeful with it.

    – You mention social media networks and posting the contributions to Facebook and Twitter. I have two thoughts about this:

    1) I would like to see an overall social media strategy explained and thought out for the PARTI. Does every contribution get FBed and tweeted? Who are you connecting with on these channels? What are you trying to achieve with social media? How will you facilitate dialogue with the PARTI through social media?

    2) Platforms such as Flickr, Pinterest, Vojo, etc. have a nice gallery quality that allows viewers to easily see images. I would encourage you to use this type of platform to showcase the contributions otherwise they will be hard to appreciate from just Facebook and Twitter.

    – I think it would be amazing if you could come up with a way to get audio recording into the PARTI contributions. This way people can leave voice stories or sounds, even video, which would add a whole new dimension to the content. Is it possible to do this at all?

    – I am not clear on how the Urbano Project is using the PARTI contributions. Once they are collected and exhibited on some site/platform, then what? Are the students using them to make art? Is the idea for people’s dreams of their city to just be accessible on the Internet? Be explicit about the goals. I know you are trying to broaden audience engagement, but then what?

    – Can people still contribute if they are not in front of the PARTI? What is the strategy for that?

    I am looking forward to learning more about the video that people watch – that will be really interesting and telling!

    Let me know if you have any questions!

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