Water You Using?

Process

There was a lot of guidance given during this project, to simulate working for and with a client. I worked in a group with other students from different fields. 

Field research
We quite quickly went to the place where we would be designing for, and using different observation techniques to get a feel and understanding for the context. Heatmaps, interviews, data gathering, sitting down, etc. Combining this with a lot team building and design exercises, and we had a build a start to the project.

Concept generation
Using the post-its, we started generating concepts for our client. This proved difficult for my team members, but I found it easy by not worrying about the quality of the ideas. This way, we could continue the conversation and discuss what would work and what not.
Ultimately, we had a good couple of concepts we pitched for our clients, gather their feedback and start to work towards building a prototype. 

Playing around towards the prototype
Now we had the building blocks, we could start experimenting. We build a interaction with pouring water, made paper prototypes to test out how the "gameplay" loop would work. I used my experience with Processing and projection mapping to build a prototype, together with someone elses experience in graphic design. 

I experimented with Arduino on how to measure water level in a cup, to use as input. I had to learn how to build more complex structures using a lasercutter to piece it all together. The basis for the software we used to give the player feedback, was the same basis as for my previous one: Microbe Simulator. But here we had much more layers and calculations going on in the background. So it was still a quite challenge to put it all together.