what is nrel's role? (process book)

What is NREL’s role? | An Interactive Explanation

World Eventsinfluence governments...

Governmentwrites policies...

Policycreates environments... affects the people who reside within it...

Environmentwill make the difference.

People

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Interaction Design | motion space time

appearance texture sound

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world events

government policy

environment

people

This is a process book that documents an interactive design project.

The project is a continuation of exploring ways to communicate an idea through new medias. The original goal was to give form to the complex situation like the energy crisis, and quickly supply the essence of the situation to those unfamiliar and uninitiated. While each previous media has had its effectiveness demonstrated, this Interactive Design course was to engage the user in an interactive experience.

Introduction





People

Though the visual designs have remained consistent through this work, the challenge becomes inherently more difficult as conventional tools give way to new tools and methods. Interactive Design is essentially designing for behavior. With considerations to motion, space, time, appearance, texture and sound, I’ve documented my process on how best to achieve an effective interactive experience.

The results are projected through a sequence of steps in two scenarios which give a sense of NREL’s role in an ever increasingly complex and interconnected world.

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The Visitor’s Center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

3

Design Brief

Research

Personas

Scenarios

Interface

Conclusions

Colophon

Table of Contents

571319293941





People

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Existing space that leads into the Visitor’s Center gallery.

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NREL wants to inform new and existing audiences of their role in developing renewable energy solutions and how it affects their lives.

The goal is to explain what NREL does, the

complex issues surrounding renewable energy,

and how these issues are interconnected. The

next touch point of this effort would be an

interactive explanation that would involve

multiple viewers.

The existing model to create an interactive

experience that will be engaging, accessible

and informative. Users should leave the

experience and feel informed about NREL and

empowered by understanding the nature of

energy related issues and what their role is

within them. Intended for the NREL Visitor

Center, but would like the ability to reach new

audiences as a possible installation piece. It

should engage not only the single user but also

have some multiple participatory component

that allows others to observe and learn.

By creating an interactive experience

that explains the NREL model, you should

understand that this is an open ended model

and that many perspectives and stakeholders

are necessary for it to be successful. By

interacting and watching others interact users

will have a deeper understanding of the roles

and functions of each area. The emphasis is on

the interactive experience. They would walk

away with an understanding of the complex

issues surrounding energy and NREL’s role.

Should include:1. Issues relating to each category (World Events, Government, Policy, Environment, People)2. Scenarios of issues3. How issues are related4. Where people fit in

Feature Set:An interactive experienceAt a scale that can be experienced by a group (10 - 20) people.An installation that can be experienced off-site.Be engaging and have an exploring non-scripted component

Who are users? Students (age: 12 – college), teachers, community stakeholders, congressional aides.

What are users needs? Engaging, quick, useful experience and informative

How will users interact?By physically interacting with the virtual NREL model.

Design Brief





People

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I built a scale model to examine perspectives, traffic flow and prototype scenarios for possible solutions.

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I began my research by visiting the Visitor’s

Center (VC). I wanted to walk through the

building and experience it as it was. By

walking through the building I gained some

insights of the space and how I might take

advantage of the existing structural layout.

I interviewed the Director of the VC, the

volunteer staff that operates and answers

questions for visitors, NREL employees and

visitors themselves.

The common links I found that connected all

these perspectives was none of the exhibit

material explained the big picture and what

exactly does NREL does to help.

I also looked for examples of interactive

experiences. I was looking for large exhibits

that would provide opportunities for

multiple users at one time. I remembered Sigi

Moeslinger and Masamichi Udagawa’s long wall

of flowers “Power Flower” and began to explore

similar technologies and interface possibilities.

Research





People

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Research

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXbims0yPhU

Adobe Creative Suite Virgin Megastore Union Square, NYCInteractive Public Installation

This installation creates a sequence of images that paints up as you walk by. This led me to think of unique images that could appear as you walk by. The five NREL categories from the model would fit neatly into this scenario. Each section could light up and reveal the long sentence that connects them.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-NRdyUx8Lc

Levono - Showroom North Carolina

A projection based interactive installation for Leno-vo’s head office showroom in North Carolina. A large body of 3D virtual water is projected along the cor-ridor’s wall. Visitors walking by are optically tracked and their motion is translated to ripples and waves along the wall. This display responded to individual touch.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ltp9nKKzsA&fea

ture=related

Power FlowerBloomingdale’s New York, Häagen-daza Cultural Initiative, 2002Interactive Public InstallationAntenna Design

This installation utilizes a long horizontal space by mirroring the motion of people walking by and lighting up as they move along side it. This was the first digital influence.





People

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Research

Nextfest Interactive video wall??????

Responding to touch and motion. The grass responds to touch and I thought this could be useful to animate the sequence of sections.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3BJqSIK890&fea

ture=related

Interactive floor projection system Virgin Megastore Union Square, NYCInteractive Public Installation

Interactive floor demo using thermal detection? This projected display changed how I thought of the interaction. And how two people could interact at the same time.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWcVk7ekNdI&

feature=related

Ringo - Holographic Interface GUIJerusalem, 2008

A graduate project by Ivan Tihienko from Bezalel Academy of Visual Communications. This showed how two people could interact and change the experience from a scripted series to something more, organic and unique to the user.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0H1NNa6zXc





People

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Research

The Art of DiningDetroit Institute of Art, 2008Pentagram

Pentagram created several exhibits but these two, in particular caught my eye. First, setting the table was an experience several people could participate in. Sitting at table added to the realism. The table was accessible and inviting to the experience.

Link: http://pentagram.com/en/new/2008/05/new-work-detroit-institute-of-1.php

I like how four people could be involved, but no one person was driving the experience. It is communal. More people could gather and watch as well. There wasn’t any interaction with the elements, but the experience of several people added to the demonstration.

The wall silhouette was similar in that several people could watch at the same time. The scale of technologies is creating new opportu-nities for interactive experiences.





People

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Interviews

Visitor Center DirectorVisitor Center staffNREL employeesVisitors

Reading

Sketching User Experience, Bill Buxton

Designing Interactions, Bill Moggridge

The Design of Everyday Things, Donald A. Norman

Designing for Interaction, Dan Saffer

Designing Gestural Interfaces, Dan Saffer

What is Interaction? Are there different types? Hugh Dubberly Link: http://www.dubberly.com/articles/what-is-interaction.html#more-199

Talk to the Hand: Dan Saffer and Gestural interfaces Link: http://www.core77.com/blog/featured_items/talk_to_the_hand_dan_saffer_and_ges-tural_interfaces_by_andy_polaine_12522.asp

Other sources of influence

Denver Museum of Science & Natural History

Colorado History Museum

Denver Art Museum

The CELL: Terrorism Museum

Detroit Institute of Arts - Art of Dining installation by Pentagram

Building miniature model of Visitor Center space

Research





People

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Walking through interface scenarios

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PersonasDeveloping archetypes of the people who will

interact with the display give a greater sense

of who will be involved.

“Users,” suddenly become people. Design

considerations emerge from this personas that

would not have otherwise. The personas are a

mosaic of the commonalities amongst people

interviewed and observed. They can be diverse

representatives covering ranges of age, skill,

etc.





People

They are useful only if referred to and adhered

to. Marnie, Kwon, Chris and Marla all seemed

like real people, with real motivations. They

aided my scenarios with a component of human

empathy and stood in for particular issues. For

example, Marnie’s image with her friends hinted

at a real possibility that she may be distracted

when interacting with the display. Questions

arose on timing and how to engage parties of

people instead of a single person.

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Marnie is learning about energy in Girl Scouts. She is excited about her troop field trip to NREL. She hopes she has fun and enjoys exploring NREL’s Visitor’s Center with her friends. She doesn’t like pollution and wants to know what she can do to stop it. She thinks wind turbines are beautiful and wishes she had one on her house. Her troop is visiting Saturday at noon and plan to have lunch there as well. They expect to be there for an hour.

Marnie Provenzeno

9 years oldLafayette, CO

Marnie is a Girl Scout who wants the world to remain beautiful for all the animals, and people too.

Goals: to stop pollution, use wind energy and save earth

Tasks: see what NREL does, learn about wind turbines and see what she can do to save the planet

Personas| MarnieWorld Events

influence governments...




People

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Kwon recently won The Science Bowl Team. He’s been excel-ling in science at school and beginning to think about careers in the “green economy.” He doesn’t consider himself a tree hugger, but more of a realist concerning the environment. “It makes sense to use resources that are local and infinite,” says Kwon. He’s also learning about energy issues in social stud-ies and now is going to NREL to learn about renewable energy. His trip is with the school on Monday afternoon and is for 30 minutes.

Kwon Sang16 years oldGolden, CO

Kwon is a high school student (Science Bowl Team Winner). He would love to have a job that involved science and applied to environmental concerns.

Goals: reduce carbon emissions, learn how to prepare for a “green” job have a career as a scientist

Tasks: find out what NREL does, see what sciences NREL advances, research renewable energy and related job fields within

Personas| Kwon





People

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Chris read that the National Renewable Energy Laboratory is researching energy efficiency in homes. He wants his community to adopt some of these practices and thinks it would be great for Broomfield to lead the way. He knows a little about solar and wind energy, but what he wants to know about is how scalable these technologies are to communities and homeowners. He’s going to visit NREL on Saturday morning with his son.

Chris Dulcamaro46 years oldBroomfield, CO

Chris is a community leader and city council member.

Goals: live in a better environment, become a knowledge able speaker on renewable energy, adopt renewable energy in his city, development and implement energy efficient practices for his city Tasks: seeking information on renewable energy so he can give presentation to city about NREL find out what NREL does

Personas | ChrisWorld Events





People

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Marla is researching federal laboratories and their role in developing renewable energy. She’s been touring several labs in the western states. She visits the labs without a formal tour. She is traveling alone and has set aside Thursday morning to visit NREL, then she will fly down to Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Marla Mikalit39 years oldBethesda, MD

Marla is a congressional aide assigned to environmental policies and provisions. She is influential to the decisions maker in Washington.

Goals: Inform congressman and committees of efforts and initiatives the energy programs are achieving by visiting each lab Tasks: gather information on NREL, see what role NREL plays in energy solution, create report on each lab

Personas | Marla





People

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New solutions emerged through quick prototypes.

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ScenariosScenarios are prototypes built of words. They

help assist a temporal creation of situational

possibilities. They are used like mini stories

to conjure up the personas in potential

environments and interactions.

Each persona was run through, “what if”

scenarios. Marnie’s persona brought up issues

of multi people entering the visitor’s center

and being distracted. Kwon’s persona has

similar issues; Teenage boys unsupervised and

more demonstrative can be its own distraction.





People

Both Chris and Marla’s scenario revolved

around time and interest. They delved further

into the model and time became a concern.

To assist the scenarios, storyboards were

created to help illustrate concerns as well.

For example, positioning the interface for

Marla’s height was not going to work for

Marnie’s height. That lead directly to using

motion to aide the various heights of users. To

accommodate this difference the options would

slowly rotate, making them accessible and

various heights.

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Marnie walks into the visitor center with her friends. After a brief introduction by the volunteer staff, she and her troop is allowed to walk down the corridor and into the main demonstration area.

As she is walking past the wall display her friends notice that a large display screen has changed. Then they notice how it has changed as they are walking by, and that it’s following their movement.

They stop.

Five icons have appeared and are animating. A sentence that appeared when they walked by begins to dissolve. One of the girls walks to one of the icons and the sentence that con-nects them begins to appear. Noticing that the sentence appears as she moves along the line of icons, she walks along all five and the sentence reappears. (!)

The girls read the sentence out loud. And as they read the sentence because they have re-mained in front of the World Events (WE) icon a halo of words surround the WE icon.

The halo of words are actually issues that surround the icon topic.

The girls read the words and engage each icon the same way. Then they walk away.

Scenarios | Marnie

1 2 3

World Events World Events

energy security

energy sources

carbon emissions

geopolitics

unstable

World Events

energy security

energy sources

carbon emissions

geopolitics

unstable

reliancereliance

The first layer consists of the categories and a sentence that strings them together. Because of Marnie’s age and knowledge she would understand the first layer and some of the second.





People

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People

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Kwon walks into the visitor’s center with his friends. After a brief introduction by the volunteer staff, they are allowed to walk down the corridor into the main demonstration area.

As he is walking past the wall display he notices that the screen has changed. He noticed how it has changed as they walked by, and how it followed their movement.

He stops.

Five icons have appeared and are animating. A sentence that appeared when they walked by begins to dissolve. He walks towards one of the icons and the sentence that connects them begins to appear again. Noticing that the sentence appears as he moves along the line of icons, he walks along all five and the sentence reappears. (!)

He reads the sentence. And as he reads the sentence because he has remained in front of the Government (GE) icon a halo of words surround the GE icon.

The halo of words are actually issues that surround the icon topic. Below the icon a subtle hand appears which indicates that touching a word will reveal more info.

He reaches for one of the issues. As his hand gets closer to one of the words it enlarges and then shakes as the other words disappear.

A paragraph below appears with the word chosen and explains how “leadership,” the word he choose, affects government and how NREL is influenced and can influence that issue. After he reads it, it disappears and the halo of words returns.

Meanwhile Kwon’s friends have selected another word in front of another icon. They all can read each of these separately.

Then he walks away. And the display slowly reverted to the state it was when they first encountered it.

Scenarios | Kwon

The first layer consists of the categories and a sentence that strings them together. Because of Kwon’s age and knowledge he might understand all of the information but still I thought, the third layer might be a challenge contextually.

1 2 3



energy security

energy sources

carbon emissions

geopolitics

unstable

reliance


energy security

energy sources

carbon emissions

geopolitics

unstable

reliance





People

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People

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Chris walks into the visitor center with his son. They walk down the corridor into the main demonstration area.

As he is walking past the wall display his son notices that the screen has changed. He noticed how it has changed as they walked by, and that it followed their movement.

They stop.

Five icons have appeared and are animating. A sentence that appeared when they walked by begins to dissolve. He walks towards one of the icons to see if it was motion activated. The sentence that connects them begins to ap-pear again. Noticing that the sentence appears as he moves along the line of icons, he walks along all five and the sentence reappears. (!)

They read the sentence out loud. And as he reads the sentence because he has remained in front of the Government (GE) icon a halo of words surround the GE icon.

The halo of words are actually issues that sur-round the icon topic.

Below the icon a subtle hand appears which indicates that touching a word will reveal more info.

He reaches for one of the issues. As his hand gets closer to one of the words it enlarges and then shakes as the other words disappear.

A paragraph below appears with the word cho-sen and explains how “world events,” the word he choose, affects world events and how NREL is influenced and can influence that issue. After he reads it, it disappears and the halo of words returns.

Meanwhile his son has selected another word in front of another icon. They read each of these separately. They occasionally look at what each other is looking at.

Then they walk away. And the display slowly reverted to the state it was when they first encountered it.

Scenarios | Chris

For Chris, he would clearly understand all the levels. For him, learning of NREL’s role within each one would be of interest.

1 2 3

World EventsInfluence governments...


energy security

energy sources

carbon emissions

geopolitics

unstable


energy security

energy sources

carbon emissions

geopolitics

unstable

reliancereliance





People

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People

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Marla walks into the visitor center alone. She is greeted by the volunteer staff. She asks some questions and the guide directs her to the wall display. She explains the wall is interactive and some of her questions are explained here by choosing each surrounding each icon.

She noticed how the display has changed as she walked by, and that it followed her move-ment when she walked by.

Five icons have appeared and are animating. A sentence that appeared when they walked by begins to dissolve. She walks towards the first icon (WE). The sentence that connects them begins to appear again. Noticing that the sen-tence appears as she moves along the line of icons, she walks along all five and the sentence reappears. (!)

She reads the sentence out loud. And as she reads the sentence stays illuminated because she has remained in front of the Government (GE) icon a halo of words surround the GE icon.

The halo of words are actually issues that sur-round the icon topic. Below the icon a subtle hand appears which indicates that touching a word will reveal more info.

She reaches for one of the issues. As her hand gets closer to one of the words it enlarges and then shakes as the other words disappear.

A paragraph below appears with the word cho-sen and explains how “world events,” the word she choose, affects world events and how NREL is influenced and can influence that issue. After she reads it, it disappears and the halo of words returns.

She reads several of the topics and the issues within each.

She walks away. And the display slowly reverted to the state it was when she first encountered it.

Scenarios | Marla

For Marla, she would clearly understand all the levels. For her, learning of NREL’s role within each one would be of interest. Contextually, it might bring up issues that she hadn’t thought of before.

1 2 3



energy security

energy sources

carbon emissions

geopolitics

unstable

As the world demands more energy, how

efficient we use it, where it comes from,

and how we secure it becomes crucial.


energy security

energy sources

carbon emissions

geopolitics

unstable

reliancereliance





People

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People

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world events

government policy

environment

people

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InterfaceThe style had been established on previous projects. Even animation and motion was demonstrated on previous projects. But how to break the model into consumable chunks that users would choose to interact through hadn’t been done yet.

I decided to divide the information in three parts. Level 1 would introduce the concepts as a long sentence. Level 2 would reveal the issues that surround each section. Level 3 would provide an explanation of a selected issue that addresses NREL’s role.

There would only been one new element added to assist in forwarding to each level. A hand symbol. The hand symbol would appear and pulsate when an advance in a stage was required.

Level 1Intial sentence introduces topics

Level 2Issues surrounding each topic

Level 3Explanation of NREL’s role in relation to issue selected

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world events

government policy

environment

people

world events

government policy

environment

people

touch topic

The NREL model will cycle slowly. This motion re-enforces the cyclic nature of energy issues but also arose during scenarios when comparing the users various heights.

When someone walks by, a small hand symbols appears and pulsates. Below it reads, “touch topic”.

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world events

government policy

environment

people

touch topic

world events

government policy

environment

people

The user would select one of the topics that had be cycling.

The selection would hightlight and the other topics would dim (as would the hand)to indicate a selection has been made. [Note: The display knows where the person is standing based on what selection they made and position it was selected in.]

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People World Eventsinfluence governments...




People

After the selection is made, colored feet appear on the floor directly in front of the display except for the one that corresponds to the selection just made. That would align with the position the user is in and form a circle.

At this point the user would notice the col-ored feet and how where they are standing is a circle. If they were to move to another colored feet position, the circle they were in would change to feet and the colored feet they stepped on would changed to a circle.

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PeopleWorld Eventsinfluence governments...




People

cleanrenewable energy

new paradigms

sustainable

abundant

economy

alternatives





People

clean renewable energy

new paradigms abundant

economy

alternatives

touch issue World Events





Peopleclean

renewable energy


economy

alternatives

The conditions that arise with new

paradigms will change the way you

live with new technologies, new

markets and new innovations.

As the user is standing in front of their selection or onto a set of colored feet...

...a halo of issues emerge and float (orbit) around the topic.

The little hand symbol emerges and pulsates and reads, “touch issue.”

When an issue is touched and explanation of it is given within a context of NREL’s role. Choosing another issues replacing existing choice.

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world events

government policy

environment

people

world events

government policy

environment

people

touch topic

The NREL model will cycle slowly. This motion re-enforces the cyclic nature of energy issues but also arose during scenarios when comparing the users various heights.

When someone walks by, a small hand symbols appears and pulsates. Below it reads, “touch topic”.

35

world events

government policy

environment

people

touch topic

world events

government policy

environment

people

The user would select one of the topics that had be cycling.

The selection would hightlight and the other topics would dim (as would the hand)to indicate a selection has been made. [Note: The display knows where the person is standing based on what selection they made and position it was selected in.]

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People

After the selection is made, colored feet appear on the floor directly in front of the display except for the one that corresponds to the selection just made. That would align with the position the user is in and form a circle.

At this point the user would notice the colored feet and how where they are standing is a circle. If they were to move to another colored feet position, the circle they were in would change to feet and the colored feet they stepped on would changed to a circle. The circle indicates that the section is active and will begin its sequence.

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Peopleclean

renewable energy

new paradigms

sustainable

abundant

economy

alternatives





Peopleclean

renewable energy

new paradigms

sustainable

abundant

economy

alternatives

touch issue World Events





Peopleclean

renewable energy


economy

alternatives

The conditions that arise with new

paradigms will change the way you

live with new technologies, new

markets and new innovations.

You can make the choice for our

environment to be clean and

sustainable by working together to

advance alternative energy solutions.

Nations require affordable energy to

be globally competitive. A new direction

can begin with consistant leadership

and a strategy to secure alternative

energy sources.

touch issue

scientistsinnovate

explore

engineering researchers

advancing

develop

solutions

touch issue

commitment

strategies

competitive

direction

leadershipfuture geoeconomics

scientistsinnovate

explore

engineering researchers

advancing

develop

solutionscommitment

strategies

competitive

direction

leadership

futuregeoeconomics

As the user is standing in front of their selection or onto a set of colored feet...

...a halo of issues emerge and float (orbit) around the topic.

The little hand symbol emerges and pulsates and reads, “touch issue.”

When an issue is touched and explanation of it is given within a context of NREL’s role. Choosing another issues replacing existing choice.

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Affordances, like the pulsating hand symbol, indicate touching the display is invited/required.

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Other considerations included audio. I selected

an audio track by Colleen titled, “Summer

Waters.” This track creates an ambient scene

that loops in a slow progression. It has a

sense of wonder as it creates a contemplative,

expansive and shimmering textural audio-

scape. Link: http://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=LbUG29uNYXo

Selecting the pulsating hand would activate it

to shimmer and also have a faint bubble sound.

The reason behind the audio selections are

to create a sense of wonder and openness. I

want the user not to feel rushed or pressured.

Soothing sounds will encourage exploring

and learning and hopefully create a pleasing

experience.

Conclusions

Other visual cues to initiate or change behaviors was the foot prints. Once you stood over a set of foot prints, they would disappear, then a color circle would appear. This would begin the sequence.

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PhotographyJonathan Steinberg: Cover image, inside cover, page 12, inside back cover.

Holly Canfield: page 18

All other images by Bill Gillies

IllustrationsBill Gillies

Design/CopyBill Gillies | Interaction Design | Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design | Spring 2009

TypefaceITC Officina

Credits

what is nrel's role? (process book)

Documents

interactive design project

interactive design course

nrel model

governmentwrites policies

policycreates environments

renewable energy solutions

new tools

new audiences