Sunday, December 9, 2012

Mentor Speed-Dating

To get feedback on our preliminary ideas, we had speed dates with mentors.  Each of the six mentors had 5 minutes to listen to our pitch and 5 minutes to give us their opinion and tell us what they think about our idea.

The mentors ranged in areas of expertise, from music to engineering.  Each one had their way of looking at our concept that shaped the path we're going to go on now.

Amiel Shapiro:
He liked the social aspect of our design, and the discussion that will arise through interaction with the kiosk.  He advised us to create a system for comments, where people send in text messages, and comments are colored according to the side they take.  As for the step as a means of voting, he though it wasn't interactive enough.  It was also unintuitive to him, and if we are going to continue with the idea, we need more than a footprint on the floor to signify that stepping is voting.

Liat Segal:
She thinks that it is important that the user get feedback after he voted.  If an application is made, make it so that a notification is received when a decision is reached.

Yair Halevi (Spock):
Since the kiosk could be on a busy street, his thinks it is important to put an emphasis on the visual aspect of the videos.  He thinks the authentication is a viable option, but he suggests doing some two-step authentication with weight or height.

Gilat Parag:
She says the kiosk is not inviting.  Older citizens would not vote because they don't want to "play" (step on the pedal).  She suggests thinking about to to make the metaphor into something more accessible.  The shape needs to be something more elegant, maybe some element of the city that's also informative.  Maybe something three-dimensional with voting on one side and information on the other.
She think that maybe the metaphor for weight should be better used by pushing rather than stepping, since weight is problematic with people.  She thinks we need to find a fun and interactive vote that everyone would be willing to do.
As for the results, she thinks the idea is sort of gimmicky.  It's a good thing to have in front of city hall, but it could be better designed.

Itay Pries:
He thinks the test tubes are nice, but not the main part.  The more important part for him is an app or a website that will keep people updated.

Henit Vitos:
She set us straight with needing to meet with the city.  How much is public opinion really important to them?  Is it a gimmick or do they really use the information?



After the event, the following changes were made in regards to the feedback:

1. We decided to add comments.  we loved Amiel's idea, which game the audience a more thorough look at the issue.  The comments will be sent by text messages, and will appear on the system itself.

2. We decided to give up on the idea of displaying the results in front of City Hall.  We realized we would make better time by focusing on the main features of the system.

3. We decided to set up a meeting with the municipality to find out which procedures exist for public participation, whether they need a product like Stepolls, if there are specific needs/features that we are missing, and if there is a possibility of cooperation with them in the future.

4. We decided to change the way the kiosk looks, and to build something that is more connected to the city. We decided to build the system as a billboard.  A more detailed description will be posted later.

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