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Project CoMo is my Capstone Project for the Masters in Human-Computer Interaction Program at Carnegie Mellon University. The project was divided into two phases. The first phase was dedicated to conducting domain and field research as well as finding a focus for redesign. During the summer, my team iteratively designed and tesed a prototype of a proposed solution.
The capstone project at Carnegie Mellon University is an start to finish research and design project. As the user research lead, my job was to design and employ the research protocol which included contextual inquiry field guides and diaries for diary studies. I also assisted my team in improving their interview skills by practicing with them before a CI. I also propelled my group forward during the synthesis phase by enforcing a specific method for transcribing and coding the interview recordings.
My team was challenged to identify the breakdowns in CoMotion, a powerful software to build visualizations and the flagship product of General Dynamics Viz, whose biggest client is the US Army. My team dedicated the first half of the project to collecting data about the Application Development Kit (ADK) of their flagship product, CoMotion. In addition to a competitive analysis and literature review, we performed field research on current users of the ADK and their workflow. We then synthesized the data and presenting the findings to our client in the form of 9 overarching problems, one or more of which would become our design focus for the summer. To get our client invested in the decision, we engaged them in a ranking exercise.
My team was tasked to design a visualization-building tool that would give more people access to the power of CoMotion, especially those intimidating by creating charts using XML. We were building a tool to be integrated into our client’s current system, but we wanted to think of novel interactions, so we moved our brainstorming outside and began sketching on the ground with chalk. When we were trying to figure out how the interactions of a chart-building tool could be related to using everyday objects, a teammate almost jokingly suggested chart building should be like a kid playing with scraps of paper. I was inspired. What if a chart was just a bunch of “scraps,” or objects, put together? I built a rough paper prototype in about half an hour. Our testing was so successful that we kept the interaction for our final design.
BluePrinter Video Sketch from Jordan Sinclair on Vimeo.
A group (of 4) project to design a clothing system for expert and novice users. We began by conducting user research in the form of competitive analysis, directed storytelling and interviews, brick and mortar observation, as well as prototyping as user research. Our team then developed two personas, an expert an novice, and created scenarios for each persona. Prototypes began as sketches, evolved into wireframes and a navigation design. I presented our final design in a workshop as a series of hybrid HTML/JPG/Flash screens based around our scenarios.
I designed, developed, and deployed an interactive art exhibit, Flegs. I iterated through multiple project ideas and tested them for feasibility (could they be implemented in less than a month? are they interesting?) because no prompt for this assignment was given. I used OpenFrameworks and C++ to detect people and project silouhettes of funny legs on them.
My final project for Interactive Art and Computational Design at Carnegie Mellon University. I knew I wanted to somehow make the Gate's Helix come to life with an assignment prompt of "do anything." The Helix is a large circular ramp that connects the third, fourth, and fifth floors in the Gates Center for Computer Science. It's a pleasant walk, but suffers from a lack of visual stimulus. What a perfect opportunity for some sort of interactive "art" installation. Flegs began as nothing more than a photograph of a sketch of feet placed in an opportune location.
In less than one month, I learned OpenFrameworks and C++, I coded and coded and coded until something worked, and then I tweaked and tested until I ran out of time. I did all the programming and animations. To test, I recorded a video in the location I intended to place the installation. I used that video as input for the application.
Flegs - Final Project for Special Topics in Interactive Art and Computational Design from Jordan Sinclair on Vimeo.
Technology, Tools, & Methods: Visual Studio 2008, OpenFrameworks (with OpenCV), C++, Adobe Photoshop CS4, Final Cut Pro
I designed and implemented metaViz (http://metaviz.ics.uci.edu), an online collaborative information viualization that uses computational metaphor identification with the goal of fostering critical thinking and creativity. Work began with domain research. I created an interview protocol and conducted 11 interviews throughout the project. Prototypes started on paper, then moved to flash and java, and the final implementation was created on the web (HTML, jQuery, PHP, MySQL). I presented weekly iterations to a team 10 colleagues. The work resulted in two conference publications, including a presentation at ACM SIGCHI, Atlanta 2010.
I conducted contextual inquiries on Mechanical Turk users. Understanding their motivations and processes helped our team redesign a research-oriented Mechanical Turk HIT for our client, resulting in greatly increased participation rates.
I designed, developed, and presented a snake game on an 8x8 LED matrix using the Arduino microcontroller platform.
My goal was to create a game using an 8x8 LED matrix and an Arduino. I wired and developed this game in about two days and gave a live demonstration of the game to a class.
Technology, Tools, & Methods: Arduino microcontroller and environment, simle hardware on a breadboard, C
This was a class project in which the class was split into two groups of 13. Within each group were 4 teams: Web, Desktop, Database, and Communication. Our task was to create a robust instant messenger application that included desktop and web access, file transfer, saved history, sign-ups, and customization. I oversaw all teams by mostly coordinating with the other team leaders. I also led the web group in designing, architecting, and developing the web portion of the site, including the communication protocol for the web end.
Technology, Tools, & Methods: HTML, jQuery and lots of AJAX, PHP, CSS, JSP, Visio