#reflective report

There were quite a few challenges over the duration of this project; whether it’s regarding the challenges that surfaced whilst working alongside my partner or just the tasks in general. Now that the project is finished, I genuinely appreciate communication now especially when working in groups/pairs. This is because often times I found myself lost and confused as to where the project was leading to. The overall communication between us was not the best especially when it came to the project itself which made the tasks harder. We also have very different work ethics. It was interesting and difficult working alongside someone to start the year. Personally, I got accustomed to doing things on my own without someone else’s input; however, this experience gave me a glimpse of what it would be like to work alongside others. It is important to create a strong sense of cooperation while still in university. We have to be collaborative and learn how to compromise. Through this group/pair project, you always have to speak your mind because it helps discuss, improve and/or resolve issues. Also, when working with someone, you should have mutual agreement and understanding because it helps the project flow better all together. 

Our collaboration was not 100% successful because of a few reasons: 1) communication, 2) the way work was ‘distributed’ wasn’t a collaboration; I found myself making small models, sketching concepts, writing down ideas and barely getting any input from my partner, 3) similarly, there wasn’t equal effort put into the project. I found myself contributing more than my partner did. Yes, majority of the ideas were agreed but where the ideas come from and execution of experiments were mainly coming from me. 

From the project itself, I found it challenging on how the brief was open - it was harder to come up with initial ideas as there wasn’t a lot to work with; however, it taught me that sometimes I have to think outside the box.

This project made me aware of my own strengths and weaknesses. I realised that I had so much to learn especially when using digital programs. For this project I contributed rapid visualisation sketches of concepts and developments (as seen throughout my blog), small quickfire models made out of paper to explore forms and shapes for our waharoa, I also made the final model out of formacote cardboard and pins; I also put together one of the two A1 sheets - for this, I asked and consulted my partner whether everything was good and that if she wanted to add or change anything there, she could but alas, she didn’t. 

Overall, the project we produced was sufficient - I can’t say whether it’s good or bad; all I know is that that this is only the beginning and there’s always room for improvement. Hopefully, we’ll both be able to use the things we’ve learnt in this project in the future. 

Our idea for the theme “Where we are” has changed in so many ways during the period we had. Our final idea was to make a camera obscura. Camera obscura is simply covering the whole room in black showing no light at all and making a hole in an area where the view of the outside can be reflected inside (the hole is normally made where the window is). The view of the outside is then reflected on to the walls upside down. 

As a group we played various roles. The roles kept on changing for each person. We had the mind set of doing things in turns. However the stuff I did were as followed:  researching (giving out ideas), help set up the room (covering the windows with black sheets) - photographing (I didn't really play so much in this role but I tried to help with the technical problems however I did take some test shots!), gathering equipment from the kit room (I would say that this was probably the biggest and hardest role due to asking for equipment on the day without booking, but still managed to get it!) and lastly carrying equipment around locations.

The research I did online, looking at different artists work gave me a good range of outcome. In other words it allowed me to see that photography isn't only images. One of my inspirations for the project we made was Won Ju Lim. Her work just felt so perfect on where we wanted to take the project. and in fact we ended up in the same lines of what she was created. One of the key point I learnt in this project is: the more effort you put in the more better outcome you will have. We spent ages trying to cover the rooms for few 8-10 minutes long exposure. I have also learn that: longer the exposure the better quality the image gets however you need to be careful on not to over expose the images which can turn out incredibly wrong (it will just look to washed out). 

Our project had a slow development, in other words at the very beginning we had a completely different idea to what we have created for our final. Our decisions kept on changing with the feedback's that we were getting from classmates and lectures. Before getting the feedback’s we tried number of different things. We took photographs of living areas where we were going to bring it together with how it looks from the outside and ect... Through out the project we did face different challenges. One of the challenges I faced was getting to peoples homes. I was given a role where I had to try and get in touch with somebody that lives in Elephant and Castle and visit their living space. I couldn’t really get in contact with someone and my mother was a bit worried about this task and didn’t want me to do it. However I over came this challenge by telling my group about the issues that I was experiencing. They were all very supportive and gave me a different role, which was to research into the area in bit more depth. Another challenge was trying to meet as a full house (having everyone involved in the project to meet up). At the beginning we had poor communication but eventually we started to build better communication with the support of our lectures. 

Now that we have finished our workshops we have to write a reflective report. During Mino's lesson on Monday he talked us through points of how to do this, and the differences between writing an essay and writing a reflective report.

Essay Writing

Argument - 2 views

Facts

Formal

3rd person

Theory

Research

Structured

Conclusion

Topic/Title

Reflective Writing

Personal

Reviewing

Informal

1st person

Experience

Combining notes

Improvement

Professional Development

What worked/What didn't

Less structured

Open ended?

What? - where, process, your contribution So What? - feelings, what went well ; good, bad, what changed; before, after, others opinions What Next? - future, changes, improvement

This final blog post aims to create a summary of the work done on the project dedicated to the Responsive Environments module at Edinburgh Napier University. It will work as a reflective report on the process of creating a prototype of an interactive intervention meant to improve the way one Edinburgh based park is used. 

There were four main learning outcomes that this project was aiming at:

LO1: Design multimedia projects that make appropriate use of physical, aural, visual, time-based and interaction components to convey a message and reinforce its content.

LO2: Identify the appropriate technology to design a product or installation.

LO3: Develop working prototypes to appropriately augment an interactive product or installation.

LO4: Appraise their work in relation to current practice and theory.

This blog and the prototype itself have helped their creator achieve the first learning outcome. The blog has been updated on regular basis and made good use of the video and photo uploading services offered by Tumblr. On the other hand, the prototype of an interactive screen, created using Max/MSP, has also contributed to the successful completion of the tasks included in this outcome. Although there were a few obstacles along the way of the project and it has been a great challenge, it has also shown the amazing variety of things you can do with this software. The blog and the prototype effectively work as one multi-level multimedia project, highlighting important issues in the environment we all live and work as well as solutions to the worst problems it has.

On the other hand, the second outcome has been achieved again by choosing Max/MSP as a main software solution for the creation of the prototype. The end product aims to work as an interactive screen which will make one public space more exciting, informative and safe.

The third outcome has also been achieved by finishing the prototype developed with the help of Max/MSP. It has been an interesting opportunity for the researcher to communicate an idea born as a result of extensive observation of real-life situations.

The fourth learning outcome of this module has also been achieved as part of the creation of this blog and the prototype. The work on both these projects has highlighted the importance of up to date knowledge about the way public spaces can be improved, as well as interesting ideas on the ways Max/MSP and similar software programs can make design interventions available for the general public. The lectures and tutorials as part of this module has also been a great inspiration for the exploration of other interactive projects such as this one.

As a result of the work on this multimedia project, all four learning outcomes have been given equal level of attention which gave better value to the final products.

The BLOG

Working on a blog like this one has proven as a great challenge to this project. The most difficult part of it was the concept that this is a live, evolving document which would be read by different readers. However, once the first observation part of it was finished, it has become more clear and precise that the blog will not only describe the work done on the project, but it will share with its audience some interesting ideas on how things should be done in order to improve the public environment we all use on daily basis.

The PROTOTYPE

Certainly, creating a working prototype by using Max/MSP has been the hardest part of the project. It is a wonderful piece of software which allows you to create exciting interactive projects, but it has been at times overwhelming and very hard to use. For the creation of the prototype, sometimes interesting solutions to some of the problems have been scrapped because of their unavailability for non-iOS users. At the same time, it has become obvious that the final prototype should consist of less complicated parts in order to work smoothly and present the general idea which has been developed right after the observational part of the project.

Looking back at the final products of this project, it seems obvious that more work can be done in order to create more complicated prototype which can have real impact on the environment it was aimed for. However, the more important bit was the realisation that the public spaces we use every day affect the way we live and that we all can make some changes in order to make them more interesting and pleasant for everyone. There is a little bit of effort needed in order to define the needs of a public space, but such observational projects offer a great way of helping these environments become more user friendly, safe, secure and enjoyable.

There are probably a lot of ways we can make our own life better – by making some changes to the way we do things; but there is a lot more that we can offer to the environment we use and live in. We have to be more open to the ways the technology can improve these places and we should not be afraid to implement even our craziest ideas as working products or prototypes. We are the designers of our future and being able to appreciate the world around us is one of the greatest things we can do. One day our work can make people’s lives easier and this is definitely a cause worth working on and developing even further than this academic module.