THESIS COMPLETE : MGD GRANTED

On May 4, 2009 my thesis research, Spatial Mapping and Navigation: physical and online environments, was presented to faculty, classmates, and guests. The final outcomes of the design investigations can be viewed on my portfolio website. For a complete PDF of the published document please contact me for the link.

This blog will remain as a permanent documentation of my graduate school experience, an experience that reshaped my thinking, modified my methods, and connected me to some of the most wonderful people that I am grateful to have met at this time in my life.

"We use the experience of the past,
in the present, to solve the future."
-Robert Downs, Maps in Minds

THESIS : Research Diagrams

The following diagram outlines general ideas in my thesis research. The second outlines the framework for each interactive investigation.

THESIS : Research Panel

My thesis research was presented in a panel display here at NC State College of Design.

THESIS : Midpoint Review

Thesis oral presentations were this week (midpoint review). The expectation was to be 80% complete with thesis progress in regards to the research and making, the writing process precedes the review...if we pass. I passed! The following three posts show what was presented: the presentation format and three interactive studies.

I am incorporating a few studies from cognitive psychology and information sciences. My presentation, writing the final thesis document, and revisiting the investigations are the next steps in preparation for final review on May 4th. The map posted below outlines the presentation. The presentation design follows an overarching concept that is incorporated in all the investigations; "where I have been", "where I am", and "where I am going".

Spatial Intelligence, Cognitive Mapping, Personality Dimensions, Navigation, Mental Processing Structures, and Activity Theory are the areas of research I have used to inform my process. The investigations are interactive online experiences, exploring tasks that take place in an online environment informing one's decision in a physical environment. The content of investigation is walkable communities.

As mentioned before, I have worked with an overarching theme of "where I have been", "where I am at", and "where I am going", inspired by spatial intelligence and cognitive mapping. Each study involves a goal, motivation, behavior, specific information needed, and a mental processing structure for organizing information. The behavior and motivations are informed by a study done on personality dimensions and information searching behaviors. Each scenario portrays a specific user that would benefit from a walkable community. Together the interactive investigations align to form a perspective that moves from macro to micro.


Presentation Map

THESIS : Investigation One

GOAL: safety
single mother wants to move to a walkable community that has a safe walking route for their child to school and other activities

MOTIVATION: seek acknowledged information from other parents to confirm previous knowledge / extrinsic

BEHAVIOR: nervous and anxious about crime in area, lack of time, difficulties with relevance judgement, insecurity in database
searching

INFORMATION NEEDED: needs to connect to other parents to get first hand knowledge of: people/safety/school programming/location

PROCESSING STRUCTURE: categorical structure

THESIS : Investigation Two

GOAL: comfort & health
senior citizen wants to find a community that has various walking routes close to accommodations

MOTIVATION: seeks new information which leads to personal comprehension

BEHAVIOR: curious and inventive about new options and a range of options, open for discovery

INFORMATION NEEDED: needs to connect to diagram with statistical data of information, seek options: paths/places/time/health

PROCESSING STRUCTURE: matrix structure

THESIS : Investigation Three

GOAL: lifestyle benefit of walkable community
young family of four wants to move to a diverse walkable community and eliminate the need for two vehicles, prefers yard and other children in the area

MOTIVATION: seeks broad and structured information / intrinsic

BEHAVIOR: efficient and organized, values plans and lots of information, willing to devote time and effort

INFORMATION NEEDED: needs to connect to a narrative tour for information on: people/places/land area/history/location

PROCESSING STRUCTURE: story structure

THESIS : Spatial Relationship Sketching

Before moving into Flash making (and applying content), I explored some forms of 3D sketching...with paper, tape and some string. Setting up the visuals this way helped me recreate the intended spatial relationships in Illustrator. I am still focusing on structures that one could interact with to retrieve information, using the metaphors of "Past, Present, Future" and "Where I have been, Where I am at, Where I am going". Next step is to plan for content placement and how one would interact within these spaces.


Spatial Relations :: Tubes


Spatial Relations :: Stacks


Spatial Relations :: Spins


Spatial Relations :: Planes


Spatial Relations :: Blocks

THESIS : Collage Sketching

Working out of the computer to sketch was going well so I decided to get out the magazines, glue, and exacto and begin making collage compositions. Could these be future interface designs? Maybe. Moving into Flash sketching next.

THESIS : Content Building

I continue to rework the concept maps that initially addressed my various thesis topics. I figured out that it works best if I put everything in one HUGE illustrator file and work from there. This is a peek at the thesis content building file (as I now call it)...soon to be printed.

THESIS : Spatial Sketching

Working with the idea of "Past, Present, and Future" or "Where I have been, Where I am at, or Where I am going..." I did some sketching on what this would look like in a spatial environment. I used various elements for inspiration; fruit, cities, books, etc.

THESIS : Update

Now that I am weeks into the final semester of graduate school and only weeks away from presenting my thesis at orals (week of March 8th), I thought it would be appropriate to share an update on the progress. I have been reading several resources recommended to me by my committee, but I have found with each new source I read I get my wheels spinning a bit more. I suppose this is good to an extent, but it is time to start MAKING. I have been reading about various topics such as experience, emotion, spatial intelligence, and cognitive mapping...all of which tie nicely into my interests and thesis research. This weekend I edited notes and the concept maps I have done up to this point. Next step is to pull content and continue sketching spatial relationships for interaction.

THESIS : Fall Review

Yesterday was our final review. It was an 8 hour crit with all the faculty. We had to present the "Making Raleigh Legible" project (project 2) and the Water project. I will post about the water project later as it is being entered in a national competition for AIGA. We presented our projects in groups, then the second-years presented thesis thinking. This is the thesis thinking I presented.

THESIS : Activity Case Study IN PROGRESS

This maps an experience of finding an apartment in a walkable community via Craigslist. Craigslist is not my form for research, but this map is helping to define the affordances and design opportunities of the experience. Next step is to add personality influences on the search behavior.

THESIS : Audience Map

For a paper on applying Lynch's theory of navigation to physical and online environments, I made this map to define the audiences.

THESIS : Content Map

This map outlines my areas of interest. Next step is to make this 2D map interactive and presentable. The greater theories of interest are: activity theory, schema theory, cognitive differences, emotional design and interaction, and finally, spatial navigation. As well as the tasks users perform online to inform their activities in a physical environment.

THESIS : Proposal Questions 1

These are the questions I presented at proposal/mid-semester.
These will be updated this coming week:

Researchable Question:

In what ways can the visual and organizational characteristics of an
online environment facilitate information seeking?

Sub-Questions:
What role does diagramming and mapping play in
constructing imageability in information structures?

How can emotional attributes inform visual and organizational
decisions in the design of online environments?

What are the visual and organization contributions to the
individual motivations in the online environment?

Definitions:
visual and organizational: design
online environment: internet
diagramming and mapping: a design process to organize navigation, content and behavior in an environment
imageability: Lynch’s theory of imagability,
making the environment legible
emotional attributes: from the five factors of personality
motivations: reasons one has for acting or behaving,
aligned with the five factors of personality

THESIS : Personality Types

A paper titled "Five personality dimensions and their influence on information behaviour" enlightened my interest in the cognitive differences of users. The paper provides a study for me to work from. The personality dimensions will only be used to help build possible motivations against the various behaviors. I do not want to use this to create labels for individuals, but rather generate some visual and interactive ideas.

THESIS : Users

In an attempt to categorize what users do online, I made this diagram to help further narrow my interest in the searching behaviors of users, specifically for information.

THESIS : Lists

The practice of working on 3 x 5s has followed me from my Hallmark days. Why change a good work process? These are the lists that I did over the summer. I often go back and look at these for interest confirmation.