Responsible media experience design / Thesis project for Yleisradio Oy
Virtual environments are used by media organizations to provide events and other experiences to a various audience. Technological innovations require the organization to consider the responsible design of virtual media productions.
Expert interviews
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Service journey map
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Workshopping
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Expert interviews / Service journey map / Workshopping /
Picture: Yle
Immersive virtual experiences are revolutionizing various industries, such as media, by creating virtual worlds that facilitate new forms of social interaction. These virtual environments are paving the way for media content to transcend into the metaverse. In addition to genuine social connections, individuals can also develop parasocial relationships with virtual characters, leading to unique and engaging experiences.
However, such experiences come with downsides that need to be recognized. In this thesis project, I developed responsible design guidelines that can be applied to future media productions. The guidelines consist of the following themes: user autonomy and agency, user characteristics, cognitive dimension, emotional dimension, virtual character qualities and platform qualities. Responsible decision-making, design-level best practices and education allow media organizations to provide responsible metaverse experiences to a diverse audience. Guidelines for the implementation consist of 17 checklist items. See visualization for implementation below.
Learnings
Media productions that are available for everyone should be designed to address the needs of a varying audience. Attributes that affect how media productions are perceived consist of emotional and cognitive levels. Solely acknowledging the existence of numerous different attributes that people have contributes to an overall responsible media experience.
Implementing holistic research findings to concretion requires decision-making, following organizational best practices, and educating the employees of the organization.
Peerify / School project
Peerify is a peer-support service that was designed for university students to help them with themes such as time management, mentorship and more effective communication.
Conceptual modeling
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Visual prototyping
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User research
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Conceptual modeling / Visual prototyping / User research /
The service was designed with a team of 3 designer students. Thematic analysis was conducted to find out the main UX goals: helpful, useful, and accessible. The main features ended up being a schedule for uni-related events, a chat and a mentor chat which are all available day-round.
The conceptual model of the service was mapped and based on the ideation, the prototypes were iterated. Each team member did their own prototype and then we combined the best features. The service was optimized for mobile and desktop.
In the end, my work in this project consisted of interviewing potential users, conducting the thematic analysis, designing interface prototypes, drawing illustrations, and adjusting the final hi-fi prototypes with transaction and interaction patterns. Our team worked together seamlessly and also prepared an evaluation plan for the service. The team discussed the design together, and therefore there are also other students' contributions to the end result.
Learnings
This was one of my first projects during my university studies. I learned that it is very important to conduct interviews and gather enough data to design a product that responds to the needs of the users. Data analysis helps with ideating a lot. Building a consistent and accessible design requires lots of iteration.
mReports / Learning data reporting tool for Pinja LMS
mReports is a visual data reporting tool which was designed to be integrated in the Moodle learning platform. The amount of data that the learning platform handles daily is large and the project required multiple user studies to actually see what data is the most valuable to the users — what data should be visualized.
Data visualization
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Dashboard design
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User and admin interviews
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Data visualization / Dashboard design / User and admin interviews /
The reporting tool was designed with a team of 6 students. My work in this project consisted of interviewing, analysis of the user study material and designing the visual reporting tool prototypes (dashboard). The team discussed the design together, and therefore there are also other students' contributions to the end result. The users in this project were teachers and administrative staff.
Learnings
Data visualization is a complex process that involves a lot of ground work related to the data that is being visualized as well as a lot of work when considering how to visualize different kinds of data in a logical way.
GreenTravel / School project
GreenTravel is an electric bus concept that consists of the design of an electric bus and a web service. The basic idea of GreenTravel is to provide a service that makes traveling to close by national parks easier in a more sustainable way.
Conceptual modeling
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Hardware design
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User research and testing
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Conceptual modeling / Hardware design / User research and testing /
The user can buy tickets from the web service. The bus has additional services, such as more storage than in a regular car, seat warmers, freezer, wifi and screens, and a clothing dryer.
GreenTravel was designed with a team of 3 designer students. My role included user research, bus concept design, evaluation, and testing. The team mostly discussed the design together, and therefore, other students also contributed to the end result. The UI design of the website is another designer's work.
Learnings
Designing a more sustainable alternative to existing traveling solutions requires critical thinking and approaching the problem from multiple points of view. Values such as sustainability are important to people who travel to national parks and should be implemented in the entire design process.