DATE
April - July 2022
SoundStep
Interaction design project at Triangln Station
DATE
Oct - Dec 2020
RESPONSIBILITY
Research
Ideation
Interaction design
Visual design
TOOLS
Adobe illustrator
Adobe Photoshop
Miro
INTRODUCTION
In September 2020, we have done a project at the Triangeln Station in Sweden, Malmö. As the project aims at generating sound experiences from our everyday life, our team chose to create a unique experience at the train station in order to enhance the linkage between the station space and our user group.
Our team is formed of 6 teammates who have different backgrounds, and I am responsible for the research and the ideation part.
CHOOSE THE LOCATION
At the very beginning, we considered several locations in Malmö for the project, including a bike station at Triangeln, a scooter station at Centrum and a Södervärn bus station. Yet, we decided to work at the pathway inside the Triangeln Station (southern exit) as there are a few reasons.
1.
There is no connection between the space and the people
2.
There is loud noise instead of sound in the pathway
3.
The place is very static, unlike other public places
The map of Triangeln, from Skånetrafiken
Photo by Felix Gerlach
Photo by Emilie Oksholt
RESEARCH
After deciding on the location, we conducted surveys and field studies in order to collect more information.
SURVEY
For the online survey, we received 38 responses about how they felt about the Triangle Station and how they would react when passing through the pathway. And we found that most of the people haven't paid any attention to their surroundings and there are 20% of people didn't even notice there are art pieces in the pathway area. Nearly half of the people said they have no special feeling about the station and 65% of them graded the station as noisy
(number from grade 5 - 10).
FIELD STUDY
Besides doing the online survey, we also went to the site to observe how people behave at the station. (Due to the Corona, people often work from home, therefore the number was for reference according to that special period.)
Data Wednesday 9/9 (8:00 - 8:30)
Standing llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll 58
Walking llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll 34
Phone llllllllllllllllllllllllll 26
Without phone llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll 66
Earplugs lllllllllllll 13
without earplugs lllllllll 79
Data Friday 11/9 (15:00 -15:30)
Standing IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 51
Walking IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 25
Phone IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 25
Whitout IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 50
Travel Alone IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 46
In Couple IIII 4
Right escalator IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlllllllllllll 25
Left escalator IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIllllllllllllll 25
With travel bag III 3
Without IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlllllllllllllllllllllllllll 73
* The number indicates the person-time that passes through the pathway.
OBSERVATION
While we were collecting information from the travellers, we also made observations of the area. For example, to the floor tiles of the pathway. It is an art piece that was designed by Gunilla Klingberg. We have also noticed that there are handprints all along the wall at the pathway, perhaps some people wish to have some kind of connection with the place. As leaving a mark is part of human nature and we decided to develop our concept with that.
FIND THE PROBLEM
After the research, we found that there is a common phenomenon in the public place - people lack consciousness of their surroundings, and some of them often feel stressed while passing through.
Therefore we think of a few questions:
LEAVE A MARK
We have noticed that there are handprints all along the wall at the pathway, perhaps some people wish to have some kind of connection with the place.
Design concept
With the information we have, we kept developing our concept by using some brainstorming methods to find out the core concepts and keywords for our project. By combining sonic and leaving a mark, we came up with the idea of having a sound journey at the station which aims to enrich the everyday life experience passing through the station and perhaps would able to give them a mindfulness journey.
CONSIDERATIONS
Before sketching the ideas, we have identified a list of considerations:
1. Sonic experience should be the primary element
2. Visual expression should be the second element
3. The design should consider the 'social' perspective
4. The design shouldn't disturb the train announcements
5. The design shouldn't affect the users' journey
6. Be corona friendly
SOUND JOURNEY AT THE STATION
By combining Sonic and leaving a mark, we came up with the idea of having a sound journey at the station.
SKETCH THE PATH
For this sound journey, we tried to sketch the path and pattern by visualising through videos and sketches. And we even did some body storming to test the effect with some sounds. We tried to indicate the path by putting some memo marks on the floor and "experiencing" the journey.
PROTOTYPING THE WAY
Considering the functionality, we have considered the design from a technical perspective and also tried to design the way according to the existing pattern on the floor. Besides that, we also measured the area and sketched the pattern for our reference.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
In order to detect the footsteps, we considered placing a sensor layer with a layer of transparent plastic over the floor tiles at the station. The sensor could activate sound and light according to the weight (pressing force when people step on it).
Light effect when stepping on the tile, pattern designed by Gunilla Klingberg
The ratio of the tile patterns
Distances testing and time measurement for the light duration
SOUND DESIGN
We have considered several sounds to apply to the design. Since we aim at giving a unique experience for every traveller, we decided to make use of the weight of every traveller to activate different tones of the sound, for example, heavier > lower tone, lighter > higher tone. The ideal outcome would be all the travellers composing a choir at the same time.
REALITY CHECK FOR CONSIDERATIONS
For the reality check, we tested our design with some travellers and check if it would fulfil our considerations that were set before.
1. Sonic experience should be the primary element
> Yes
2. Visual expression should be the second element
> Yes
3. The design should consider the 'social' perspective
> Different tones according to different weights, the users would have an overlapping path to create harmony in tone together
4. The design shouldn't disturb the train announcements
> The sound effect would fade out when having the train announcements
5. The design shouldn't affect the users' travel
> The design would be activated naturally when stepping on it without doing any extra movements
6. Be corona friendly
> The travellers need not have physical touch but still can interact with each other
REFLECTION AND FUTURE PLANS
-
Consider more time for the research, ideation and reality-check phases
-
Ask for permits to Malmö Kommun with enough time ahead
-
Research for technical solutions with experts
-
Testing the final concept with more users
-
The pattern could have size recognition for the sensors, e.g. small feet > children