overview
We set out to understand how we might use technology to facilitate public art engagement as a means to improved livability. We identified that recommendations from other people are important to viewers, viewers care more about having an experience than simply viewing art, and that surprise is an important element of that experience. Specifically, we found that surprise as part of a public art experience was the most important. We propose a solution that combines Geocache-style experiences facilitated by an app to track progress and connect with others.
solution
We propose Geocaches located at public art installations where hints would help guide viewers to the cache. Viewers could then interact with caches like a normal Geocache, but also use a QR code contained within to let their app know they found it and finally comment to let others know about their experience! Users will not see public art pieces on our app to preserve the surprise as we found it to be very important to users that they discover details of the art in person.
Problem
This semester, we were tasked with answering the question:
How can we justify the cost of public art?
My team focused on understanding the specific value people gain from public art installations in order to better imagine how we could provide incentive to visit and engage with public art.
process
We performed observe & intercept interviews to gain an understanding of what public art viewers do in public art spaces and the value they gain from being there. We found that people often enjoy public art spaces for reasons other than the art itself and that, in seeking new public art experiences, people rely on recommendations from other people over a list or an online search.
We employed think-aloud protocols to help us understand how public art viewers might use a service or app with features we identified as important to our participants. Specifically, we tested apps that help with finding new public art pieces and that have social aspects around art experiences, including recommendations and sharing. Interestingly, we learned that users who were able to see photos of art through the app reported less satisfaction when they finally saw the art in person, as the delight of discovery had been taken away.
Creating storyboards encouraged us to think broadly about potential solutions to the specific needs we found.
After we created storyboards for each need, with one safe/simple idea, one slightly risky idea, and one “out-there” idea, we speed dated them with participants yet again to validate these needs exist and to see which ideas had the strongest reactions. We found that participants reacted positively to our idea of Geocaching near public art as they felt it was a good way to keep them engaged rather than a normal educational experience one might expect to have.
Finally, we created an experience prototype to allow participants to fully understand the solution we had decided to bring forward after speed dating. We understood that surprise was important as a part of a public art experience and that the experience overall was more important than simple viewing. We combined these ideas to create a Geocache experience and tested this concept with users.
findings
Recommendations
People viewing public art prefer to get recommendations from someone else, and preferably from a non-expert (tour guide, art critic, or similar), over a list, book, or online source—even strangers were regarded as having valuable recommendations for our interviewees.
Holistic experiences
Public art viewers want an experience more than simple viewing or information gathering when they are at an installation. People preferred public art that offers a utility or service or an experience that appeals to multiple senses.
Surprise delights!
Surprise is an important element of the public art experience viewers are seeking. We heard from many who expressed delight in seeing something out-of-the-ordinary or unexpected in relation to public art and we drew a clearer insight from their reports.
prototypes
Through speed dating, we saw that Geocaching had the strongest, most positive responses. We decided to move forward and create a Geocache experience prototype based around public art. We placed a clue and cache on site and engaged with viewers to see what they thought of the experience of searching for the cache as a way of engaging with public art. We also designed a companion app to support the experience by guiding users to public art, allowing for recommendations, and keeping the element of surprise by disallowing photographs.
lo-fi prototype
These sketches helped us to imagine quickly what an app to support Geocaching that involves public art and offers a way to give recommendations to others without sharing photos of the art and thus ruining the surprise.
hi-fi prototype
We further refined our lo-fi sketches into higher fidelity based on some initial user testing to validate our concepts. Given more time, we would have liked to validate features and design decisions in these prototypes as well. In addition, we would want to continue developing on the idea of offering a Geocache experience; what would be the best way to offer the experience in live public art settings?
