Unplugging the Wireless Network

The world needs a cure for its digital addiction.

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After a bit more research I’ve found out more about NDEF data, how it works, and how I can create my own then write it to the NFC tag.

Unfortunately the biggest obstacle I can now see is that I will need an NFC reader that connects to my laptop. Writing to tags via a cheap app on my phone is one thing, but to really customise the code and corresponding function, I need to be writing from a computer.

gototags.com provides free software to manipulate tags from a computer, but I’ve had to order an NFC usb reader from Hong Kong ($60!), and will need to find myself another computer as well- at this stage the software is Windows-only.

There’s a great entry-level tutorial on the gototags.com website that looks like it covers most of what I need.

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The next issue I’m trying to solve is how to get my NFC tag working universally. So far I can successfully write data to the tag that is read by my phone and has the result I want (turns on airplane mode). However when I test it on other Android devices the tag simply directs them to the Google Play store to download the Trigger app, which is the software I’ve used to write the data to the tag.

Clearly other users would also need to have installed Trigger on their own device for this (apparently Trigger-specific) data to be read and operate correctly.

I’ve gone over to the trusty Stack Overflow forum to ask: Can I write a universal NFC tag that reads on all phones without installing a specific NFC app?

From the response I can see that there IS a format for transferring basic protocols without the need for a specific app as a middle man to translate the request. However. This restricts the range of commands that can be interpreted; text, uri etc. More sophisticated data still needs to be interpreted by a specific app. But this means with further investigation I could find a way to write ‘NDEF’ data to the tag without any third party apps being needed at the receiving end.

My aim now is to see if I can write data to the tag that prompts my own custom app to respond; although I won’t be able to make a tag that universally switches people’s phones into airplane mode, I should be able to make a tag that universally activates the xen app if it’s installed, or take a leaf out of Trigger’s book and have the tag direct them to the Google Play store to download xen.

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This is the video I produced for the week 6 presentation. It provides a general overview of the features and navigation of the Xen app, as if a user were interacting with it.

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This video shows my successful (eventually) attempt to use NFC to trigger airplane mode on my phone. 

You can’t really see it very well because of the over-exposure, but when the tag is tapped the first time, a message appears saying ‘xen mode activated’, and the airplane mode icon appears in the status bar. After the second tap the message reads ‘xen mode deactivated’, and airplane mode is switched off.

Of course if I had a working app the nfc tag would activate the app, not airplane mode. The key difference is that airplane mode disables all wireless networks, but my study has shown people are uncomfortable with this. Instead, xen will work as a kind of virtual secretary, and screen all incoming communications. Users can be assured that any urgent messages can still come through, and vice versa (they can use their phone if need be. Except for internet. Unless they manually turn xen mode off first, discouraging spontaneous browsing!).

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Since I only have very basic Android development skills I’ve focussed instead on developing the concept and refining the user interface. Now that I have digital wireframes I’ll use After Effects to bring them to life, and create a video emulation of how I imagine the app will work. With this I can pitch the concept to someone with more technical abilities.

In the meantime, I was investigating NFC technology for another paper I’m doing at uni and thought it could be useful for prototyping my xen app as well. Until an app developer gives me a hand with geolocation, I need another way to demonstrate the app being activated when the phone enters a space. Instead of just cheating by manually opening xen, I’ve looked into setting up an NFC tag so that I can press my phone against it (simulating what will happen when users enter the radius of a point they’ve set on the app), and xen will automatically open.

To get to grips with how NFC works, I delved into several forums. Over a couple of hours I tested different softwares and setups, before finally arriving at a process that is reliable and achieves what I want; the ability to both read and write data to NFC tags. The logos here represent this investigative process; I’ll write a brief documentation for each here (left to right, top to bottom):

Android Forums- An online forum where a community of app developers share questions and answers.

Android- The operating system on my own phone, which I have been using for tests. In 2014 Android held a 81.5% market share of smart phones, plus I have developed basic apps for Android before, so it makes sense that for our prototyping at least, we use an Android device.

Blogger- An online blogging platform owned by Google. I found a helpful how-to guide on here from a tech guru explaining how to set up Secure Settings using Tasker to alter default Android settings, switching to a custom configuration we needed.

Google Play- This is where I bought and downloaded Trigger Pro, NFC Actions, Super User, Secure Settings, and Tasker. This is a reliable source for software that can be used on Android devices.

NFC Actions- The first software that was widely recommended on forums for writing data to NFC tags. After trialling this I was dissatisfied with the restricted options regarding manipulation of both the tag and the device reading it, so kept looking for other options to see if there was anything better.

Super User- This software was required to gain root access to my device (Samsung Galaxy SIII), which was needed to alter settings that usually aren’t available to standard users because changing them can affect the operation of the device.

Rapid NFC- This is one of the companies I looked at buying NFC tags from. In the end I went with TagStand because they had cheaper options, but the help sections on Rapid NFC’s website were very useful, and pointed me to the Trigger app which is their recommended software for programming NFC tags with an Android device.

Secure Settings- More of a plugin than a stand-alone app, Secure Settings gave me access to alter some of the more delicate settings on my phone that Android doesn’t bother providing as publicly accessible.

Reddit- When I ran into some steps that didn’t make sense to me or didn’t work as other forum members said they should, I Googled the issue and found a few workarounds on Reddit.

Tasker- In one of the forums I was recommended to use Tasker, an app available for download on the Google Play store. This was how I manipulated the settings opened up by Secure Settings, defining a new task by listing what I needed changed, then running the task to automatically apply the changes.

XDA Developers- This is another helpful forum for Android developers that I have used in the past, which has a bank of questions already asked that often match the exact issue I’m having.

Trigger- Finally after testing different apps and altering many settings on my device I landed on Trigger, a fantastically versatile app that (with a few tweaks to set up the settings of both app and device) can now be used to programme NFC chips from my phone. I also installed a plugin allowing me to wipe the chip again, so I can read and write as many times as I like.

Using the Trigger app on my phone I have now successfully managed to write an NFC chip that, on first tap, will activate airplane mode, and on second tap will deactivate airplane mode.

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I now have a group of volunteers putting my tokens into action. I’m hoping to get the group back together at the end of the week and hold a discussion on whether these tokens prompted any kind of discussion of digital distraction in social scenarios, and if catching people in the act had a positive response.

It’d be great to hear that people using devices exclusively were guilt-tripped into turning them off, or that it made them acknowledge their lack of courtesy.

I doubt that this approach can enforce a prolonged change in behaviour, but it’s a step in the right direction, and a bit of fun.

My questions for participants:

Did the person you passed the token to put their phone away?

Did they defend their actions, or accept that their priorities were a bit out of line?

After raising the subject, did you talk about the issue? If so, what conclusions did you come to?

Would you use these tokens again if they were available in social settings (ie dispensed at a bar, a party, a café...)?

Do you think you could be caught out in return, and would you see the benefit in some form of reminder that saves you from your own impolite digital habits?

I’m also still considering the results of my consultation with Donald Preston last week, and the recommendation that these tokens be in some way used as a promotion for my otherwise solely functional (ie not fun or engaging) app concept. Given some thought, the principles of humour and deliberate intervention could liven the app up. If it had some kind of competitive factor to it, scoring users based on how often they’re busted using their smart phone inappropriately, the whole socially awkward situation itself could be gameified. You could compare your habits to those of your peers, and counter the current mode of passive acceptance of the problem, making it something that is okay to be acknowledged and acted on.

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I’m finally putting my tokens to use! I’ve just posted on the paper’s Facebook page to recruit some volunteers. I’ll meet with them on Monday, explain the concept, then send them out into the world armed with a small token each, and instructions to present them to people who seem to be more interested in their phone than their peers. I’ll then have everyone regroup on Wednesday, and hold a group discussion on what they thought of the results.

Hopefully I’ll get a demonstrable insight into attitudes and what happens when you take an offensive rather than a defensive approach.

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Week 5 consultation

I’ve just had a consultation with Donald Preston to get an entirely new perspective on my approach, since he hasn’t seen my project before. It was interesting that, like many others, he was equally as interested in my play theory (test) approach as the final solution I’m designing. After discussing the potential of the tokens I made, we realised that they could contribute to generating the hype that the strictly functional app can’t manage by itself.

I’ve known since writing my exegesis that the app is probably the best way to impose a long-term change in social behaviour, but that it simply isn’t an exciting or novel concept that will sell itself. I need a clever marketing strategy to generate hype and operate as a call to action- I need to create something more engaging. Once my audience buys/installs the app the job is done, because it will keep running in the background, only very rarely requiring any kind of user input. The key is to get people enthusiastic enough to make that first step.

Donald thought it might be worth adapting the tokens to tie in with the visual language of the app design, so that they can assume a promotional role, engaging audiences then recommending the benefits of the app. This way, the app can remain purely functional, and all the humour and brand personality can be expressed in another medium that is more extroverted.

Maybe my final submission will be three pronged; app, token, and video. The app to promote long-term change, and the token + video to get people talking about it.

Video & token = ‘you’ve got a problem’

App = ‘here’s a solution’.

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With all the fundamental layouts designed, the next step is to produce an animated video explaining the features and operation of the app. Ideally I would build a prototype, but I know that I have better skills in motion graphics than I do in Android development. I will firstly focus on a video that shows off all of the features, then if I have time later I will investigate how much I can also develop as a mock on an actual Android device.

If by the final presentation I have this video prepared, I can use it to pitch the concept and clearly illustrate its operation, using it as a kind of visual brief for developers to get on board and take it to the next step.

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With the main screen designed, I moved on to digital wireframes of the other screens. Again, each screen provides one function only, to keep navigation simple, and to keep the visuals clean and simple.

The first two screenshots are what users will navigate to when creating a new xen location/contact. After it has been set up, whenever the user returns to the location or comes into contact with the person, xen will automatically activate, blocking all digital intrusions. The tabs at the top, and ‘+’ button at the bottom rely on familiarity with these types of operations- with my target market of digital natives, this is a guarantee. Nothing more than the strict, functional elements are given. Users can turn xen on and off for each saved location/contact, or tap the location/contact to change the name, radius, or delete it.

The third image here shows the page (’activity’ in Android jargon) where users set up their auto-response messages. This works like an answering machine, sending out a response to anyone trying to contact them. This way users can rest assured that others aren’t left unacknowledged, one of the main concerns I found when discussing my project with focus groups. Users can record a number of messages, then select which one they’d like to be used. If the user was in a quick meeting for example, they could record a message the equivalent of hanging a sign in a shop door; ‘Back in 5′. If in a longer engagement, the user could switch their message to something else.

The fourth image is the map. This only opens if users want to establish a xen location somewhere other than their current position (eg in anticipation of going to a movie theatre). Users can navigate to the location, tap to set the location, then pinch/spread their fingers on the screen to shrink/grow the xen area radius. The location would then be saved to their locations list. I changed the colour scheme of the map to tie in with the main activity (home screen), for an open and receding look.

The final image shows the status bar on an Android device. Because most of the time the app will run in the background and not require any interaction from the user, the xen icon will just show up at the top to subtly indicate when it is operating. Users could then swipe down and turn xen off manually if required.

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On the main (’home’) screen of the app I want users to be greeted with a sense of their own achievement. To avoid disconnection feeling like an aimless inconvenience, the dominant focal point is the number of minutes users have managed to spend in ‘xen mode’ for that day. I originally planned to show this as a bar graph, but after sketching it on paper it looked dull and uninspiring. I decided instead to have the number represented visually inside a circle that grows in diameter. Outer rings show the user’s best time achievement to date, and the number of minutes they ‘achieved’ the previous day. The inclusion of these markers inherently implies a target to be met, encouraging dedicated xen app use.

I had wanted the ‘scores’ for the past 7 days to be included as a way of tracking progress, but this cluttered the visuals, and after consideration I decided it was unnecessary anyway. Users instead aim to beat the previous day’s quota, and have their ‘high score’ always visible as a kind of celebration of what they are actually capable of.

It was also important that the ability to manually turn xen on and off was prominent. When sketching this on paper it occurred to me that it would be clever to use the logo I had made as the switch itself. This is oversized so that it is easy to find, and supports the simple use approach.

I had wanted to flip the entire screen upside down when xen was disabed- the problem is that users should still have access to their xen settings whether on or off, and when I had it in front of me on-screen it just looked unnecessary.

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I took some quick photos of my sketched wireframes. Working with paper and pencil gives much more freedom to the design; it’s easier to change things on the fly, and I don’t get distracted by refining elements too much as I work.

This initial drafting helped me identify which elements logically belong on the same screen, and how they should be represented in the visual hierarchy. In pursuit of intuitive navigation and a sense of calm (’zen’) I’m aiming to strip back the number of elements on each screen, keeping plenty of negative space. It’s simple to make something complex. What’s complex is to make something look simple...

My palette is very minimal, using mainly only tones of one colour, and a lot of white. I’d like most of my icons to be outline only, to avoid any bold or overly dominant features. I’m also being conscious not to over-design anything, since as usual, less is more (cheers Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe). There are a lot of concepts I’ve toyed with on paper here, ways of styling elements to make them more interesting- and then stepping back and going for a purely functional aesthetic, which is much more elegant than ornamentation for ornamentation sake.

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Preparation for Wk 5 Consultation

In preparation for my week 5 consultation I’ve made a progress report of how my project currently stands, to quickly communicate what I’m doing.

What I’ve done:

Assessed/researched digital distraction

Held talks with focus groups to substantiate my theories and assumptions

Developed a well rounded analysis of general attitudes (ie people are aware of the issue but unmotivated to accept responsibility or act. There is also a paranoia surrounding disconnection that presents a major tension for me)

Designed an app that responds to my research and structured the navigation/interaction with this app

What I’m doing next:

Play theory tests to justify that people can/will opt for self-initiated digital disconnection

Comparing experiences of directly accusing distractees vs more subtle self-help tool approach (I suspect accusation is less likely to help long-term)

Producing video to show operational features and benefits of ‘xen’ app.

What I’m concerned about:

How can I make the app an attractive thing to market?

What is the best way to reach my audience and raise awareness of the app’s existence?

What can I promote when most of the functionality is behind-the-scenes?

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As I move on to wireframing the layouts for my app, I’ve had a look at some existing app designs to inform my style. I want the app to look very elegant, intuitive, and play on negative space for a sense of inherent calm.

Instant Shift provides a list of interesting UI toggle elements, which I’ve found inspiring.

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This is a first rough draft of how the app will function. I want to keep the interface easy to navigate, which means as few levels as possible, and intuitive navigation.

When in use the app will mostly be functioning in the background without the requirement for much user input, so there really should be as little navigation as possible.

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I want to have a strong brand identity for the app that I create. Initially I liked the name ‘Oasis’, but I thought this was something that carried too many visual associations already. I wrote a list of words, both nouns and verbs, trying to hone in on something that sums up the intent nicely.

Oasis

Peace

Calm

Tranquil

Rest

Unplug

Serenity

Respite

Escape

Zen

In the end I thought half of them sounded like a business that offers day spas. Plus every time I hear Oasis I think of the band. I finally arrived at the name ‘xen’. I actually thought this would already be an existing app or brand, but after a quick check on Google it seems like it’s pretty open to use. I think it’s perfect because ‘zen’ immediately tells people this app is about following a set of principles to lead to a state of calm, escaping the demands of everyday life. By spelling it ‘Xen’, the name is unique, and not by accident starts with an X, with a cross being a universal symbol for blocking or prevention.

When designing the logo I started with basic geometric shapes, to emphasise the idea of simplicity. After a few drafts I decided to only use one geometric letterform, because together they were extremely bold, and too confronting to represent the idea of tranquility. I put this letter X into a heptagon, then spelt out the full name underneath using a light geometric sans serif typeface, to highlight the sense of a light touch. A heptagon evokes our familiarity with octagonal stop signs, working with the cross to promote the idea of blocking. Octagons and hexagons are usually preferred over heptagons, so it’s use here makes the form more unique. The orientation with a point at the base is a subtle but intentional reference to a shield.

For the colours I wanted to stick to lighter tones, again to prevent any sense of confrontation, and to convey openness and peace, hence the large negative space.

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This article by Simon Khalaf (2014), provides a few useful statistics on ‘mobile addicts’. Although I think that this term sensationalises the problem, and that actual addictions are a serious, diagnosable condition that shouldn’t be defined so lightly, the numbers themselves are very useful for corroborating my claims on how wide-spread the issue is. The data here is international, covering a wide range of mobile users. Although it isn’t specific to NZ, I think it is fair to say that mobile use culture shares traits both here and abroad- the problems shown by these statistics do indeed represent the problems we encounter in NZ. Caitlin Dewey from Washington Post further analyses what these statistics mean in her article here.