#service_design

[rommpenk]

FOOD:SERVICE DESIGN_AHO2022S

Week 11:

After a relaxing weekend respectively spent on picking ramsons in the spring forests and underground clubbing, Monday got us back on track. A quick update on tumblr refreshed our cloudy minds. We continued working on the association’s website, exploring tone of voice and dissemination. A lecture by Paola Trapani sparked some thoughts regarding product-service systems and rationalization of an open design brief; much like our own. Supervisor, Andrea, came by for a quick chat, and had a look at our website prototype. Her feedback proved to be a good base for our finishing work on the prototype, which we finalized in the afternoon.

We started of Tuesday by writing a one-pager about an important design choice for our project. This was an assignment we had due the coming Thursday. When that was signed, sealed and delivered, we shifted our focus from that to how we were to test our prototyped website. We ended up creating a narrative in which our test subject had noticed the association and went on the website to explore it further. This was a way to somewhat create a realistic point of perception which would fall in accordance with the follow-up questions. We wrapped up the day by analyzing feedback from our prototype-tests.

Wednesday morning brought iteration on the website following Tuesday's feedback. Some highlighted changes were hierarchy, flow and readability, i addition to minor touches such as image use and functions in the forum. A prototype review in a small group including supervisor, Diogo, brought some interesting discussion on user testing and time distribution on smaller touchpoints in the service. We concluded that we were ready to move further in the process, as our website was finished for the time being. This brought a continuation to our ritual development, buried under a serious layer of dust. We decided to look into "universal rituals" - rituals not bound by geographical location or relations. We quickly brainstormed a handful possible rituals connected to these prerequisites, and explored the value in shared and solitary meaningful experiences. As our service was to include both universally- and locally bound rituals, we found it rational to begin with the universal ones. Before ending the day, we selected a few favorite rituals for further testing.

On Thursday we had a chat with fellow co-students concerning the "universal rituals" we had created on Wednesday. We found the chat useful as it essentially told us that the rituals must be tested on people that are interested in doing them. After this "soft-prototype-chat" we decided that we needed to do a field excursion. In a perfect world, we would have people test our rituals on travels, however traveling people are harder to come by than we expected. Therefore, we decided that the best thing to do is to test them ourselves. We decided to travel on the coming Tuesday to the municipality Hjartdal, more specifically a valley named Bondal, as it is a place which you dont come by without intention. We used the rest of Thursday to delve deep in to Hjartdals history, nature and people, to create localized myths we could try out when experiencing the municipality.

We had a slow start on Friday, as both of us had taken part in the schools Thursday Pub offer. We spent some time creating a calendar for the last weeks of the project, mapping out key elements we had to produce. A chat with our teachers ensued the lunchbreak. We ended off Friday by reflecting on what we had done this week. A weekend was never more needed.

Week 11 was a week of vastly different topics and considerations in our narrowing design process. Starting off finishing the website as a promotional and informative service surface, gave us room to explore possibilities of local exploration in regional Norway for the sake of understanding the potential for association practice in the real world outside our "AHO office". Constructive feedback and discussions with fellow students, family, supervisors and pub visitors has been an important spice to the thickening stew that is our project. Now, to the countryside!

[rommpenk]

FOOD:SERVICE DESIGN_AHO2022S

Week 9:

On Monday we continued to work on our visual identity. Our trip to the Norwegian Folkemuseum was inspiring, and we spent some time creating logos using visual elements from the Norwegian olden days. Throughout the day we saw a problem arise. There was a mismatch in our visual concepts with how they felt and how we wanted to be perceived. First of all, the concept named "The mystical forest", became too visually fluid. We found it hard to encapsulate mystic feelings bound to the Norwegian forest, as the importance of minor details were key, and those did not translate well in to stylized logos. When it came to our other two visual concepts they had elements we wanted, but they also carried with them connotations we found problematic. We discussed, and came to the conclusion that we wanted a folksy visual identity that carried a sense of seriousness. This led us to a new visual concept; "Associations". We made a new moodboard, discovering the visual identity of Norwegian associations. By the end of the day we felt like we had gathered a respectable amount of insights, and looked forward to begin producing logos the next day.

Tuesday brought a morning of production in advance of our presentation and discussion in groups later the same day. Having decided to develop the concept as an association, Monday's gathered insight gave us a good base for further development of graphic elements. Four vastly different logo options were chosen for further graphic involvement, and were presented on possible promotional surfaces. The suggestions were printed and brought to the group discussion for input. The feedback included positivity on our choice of developing the concept as an association, as it directly answered the difficulties of user involvement and engagement. The vastness in our graphic suggestions proved to be good for discussion and the feedback pointed out the qualities of the different options. The logo concept constructed of the letters "U" and "A" was pointed out as being the most flexible option for individual development in local departments, and the possibilities brought by the customization freedom. These possibilities were not equally represented in the other concepts. However, the discussion sparked an interest of merging the ornamental qualities of the other logo concepts into the favorite.

Wednesday's production was somewhat different from Tuesday's. The presentation coming Friday had to include projected user journeys, so Benjamin quickly created two versions; one for first-time involvements in the concept, and one for more integrated users. The two versions showed the differences in users, and the importance of a meaningful inclusion of both person "a" and "b" throughout the experience of our concept. Meanwhile, Bjørn wrote a summary of the concept thus far, highlighting D4Me as an explored methodology, and how this colored our process. After lunch, an aggressive fever hit Bjørn, and Benjamin was forced to continue the process alone. Which he of course, handled perfectly. The afternoon was spent on mapping the coming presentation and on how to communicate this process.

Thursday was yet another day of design theory. Bjørn was at home struck by sickness. Benjamin started lightly writing parts of our final rapport, as well as drafting up a presentation we were to present on Friday. We had a lot of loose ends due to the sickness, however we pushed through and at the end of the day Benjamin, had a presentation of interesting scraps.

Friday was a day of presenting. Benjamin held a presentation using a written rapport, and our Miro-board. The feedback was mostly positive, and they looked forward to what was to come. The positivity was great, and at the end of the day we were inspired to tie up the loose ends which were consequences of sickness.

This week we produced a lot, and took some important decisions concerning both our project and our visual identity. We were sadly struck by sickness, despite this we ended the week on a high note. The change from creating a service to an association were and will be exciting to develop further.