Ex-Change Week 9

Today we had another Ex-Change moment. We went around the group and each showed what we had been up to and asked for critique/helpful insights. Everyone's projects were super interesting and it was cool to see how they were progressing from the last time we met.

I showed the group our finalised campaign idea and explained the user's journey. I then also showed them the video of our prototyping on Lambton Quay. These were the comments I received:

• Look at insurance ad showing people how a smile can make a difference
• Could you have badges/wristbands/apparel available at the concert for people to buy to support the massage e.g. Look at ‘Are you ok?’ badge for Domestic Violence
• They really like that we’re spreading awareness for an issue
• They like that we’ve sorted out our whole campaign etc before we start to try and work out a name/slogan etc so that our name is informed by what we’re doing, not the other way around
• They love that we’ve been user testing on the street and our reasons are informed through actual research and insights from the real target audience
• They like that the event would be on a Friday as hopefully peoples bosses would be more willing to let people to leave early or take longer lunch breaks to enjoy the event
• They like that the ad would be on both TV and social media as they think that older generation still watch TV

Working Out Our Final Idea

Today we locked in our final idea; a campaign revolving around a 'Hi-Five Week', a week that raises awareness for workplace stress. Our campaign would start with a promo video, leading up to the actual Hi-Five Week where branded people go around high-fiving business workers on the street and there are also large foam hand installations, the week would end in an event on the Friday afternoon much like Cuba Dupa but with stand up comedians and trick performers etc and also branded merchandise, the whole campaign would be supported with a webpage with more information and resources.

More Research

As we have slightly shifted the direction of our ideas I decided that I needed to do some more research about how high-fives can improve wellbeing to support our concept. I also wanted to look into wellbeing awareness days for inspiration, and to see what seemed to work well and what were things I thought we could to better in our own campaign.

Refining Our Idea

Even though Hi-Five Cam was the main aspect of our original concept, we are thinking we are going to let it go as our ideas are developing in a different direction. Through prototyping I have come to realise that having to high-five someone while you are waiting at the traffic lights is actually quite awkward as you don't know what to do after you have high-fived - it was much more fun and exciting to high-five people as you crossed paths. Also, when discussing our idea with others, many have been worried that people would be turned off by the idea that they could be filmed and projected onto a giant screen at any moment. Our 'how might we' is trying to make streets more fun - not more intimidating. We also feel like Hi-Five Cam is quite exclusive as it would only be installed at one set of traffic lights, whereas we want to impact as many people as we possibly can. 

We are now thinking that we are going to make a social campaign around high-fiving. Maybe a 'High Five Day' or 'High Five Week'?

Interim Critique/Prototyping

Today we had interim critique which involved showing three prototypes for our ideas to a tutor and classmates from all of third year VCD. Our three prototypes were: a video of us prototyping on Lambton Quay, a teaser hand installation that let people know Hi-Five Cam was roaming about, and a Hi-Five frame that we used to spontaneously frame people around class to see if they would hi-five without any explanation. This class was great as we received lots of positive comments and engagement, but we also got people asking questions that made us look at our project from a new angle. We feel like this session has given us a lot to take away and ruminate over, helping us move forward more strongly. I especially loved today as I like any opportunity to see what everyone else is up to and to user test and provide helpful critiques on other peoples projects.

Prototyping On Lambton Quay

Today we went down to Lambton Quay and plucked up the courage to high-five strangers. We wanted to test whether our target audience (business people in the CBD) would actually be willing to interact with someone they didn't know through a simple high-five and how this might effect them. We did two types of tests; offering high-fives to people walking the opposite direct that we were down the sidewalk and high-fiving people waiting at traffic lights. It was significantly easier to be brave enough to offer a hi-five to someone walking than it was to go up to someone who was waiting. It didn't help though that people have a tendency to wait right on the edge of the sidewalk so you had to approach them from the side which often startled people as they couldn't see you coming and they were not expecting to be talked to, which made you feel awkward. Because Hi-Five Cam would be picking two people already waiting side-by-side at the traffic lights this wouldn't happen for the real thing. It was great to see how high-fiving made people smile, break out of their bubble, or even laugh. It was interesting to see how some people had to take a few seconds to decide whether or not they would participate whereas others were trying to inconspicuously get themselves ready to high-five you when they saw you high-fiving others in front of them.

Expanding On Our Idea

We have chosen to move forward with our 'Hi-Five Cam' concept but through more ideation and storyboarding we are trying to flesh out this idea further and make it more of a campaign (also giving us more that we can design rather than just conceptualise). We are currently thinking of things like, flyers, posters, installations (guerrilla marketing), events, competitions, social media.

Mid Semester Task - Platform

Over the mid semester break we had to find (in our teams) an example of a manufactured or social experience that addressed the users' wellbeing. We then had to analyse, describe, and critique our exemplar and prepare to present our findings to our class on the first day back.

We chose Coca-Cola's 'Friendly Twist' campaign. We wanted to look more in depth at this campaign as this design challenge is very similar to our own (although our target audience and environment is different) so we were interested to see how Coca-Cola approached the problem. Although the brand is not exactly something I would endorse (I rather like my teeth the way they are thank you), I really liked how they had clearly thoroughly analysed their target audience and the situation they were trying to effect as this helped them easily reach their desired outcomes for their 'social experiment' using their product. The overall message of the ad; something facilitating small interactions that improve people's wellbeing, really resonated with us as this is what we are trying to achieve with our project.

We were spontaneously chosen to present our exemplar to Streams C and D which was a bit nerve-wracking to be put on the spot, but luckily we had a short spiel prepared. Once everyone dug deeper through the cheesiness that Coca-Cola ads thrive off (for example: "Open a Coke, open a new friendship!") I think everyone could see the reasons why this was a good example and what we could learn from looking at it.


My three favourite exemplars that other groups found:

http://bestawards.co.nz/entries/interactive/a-dogs-story/
http://watermarkltd.com/article/pedigree-a-dogs-story

http://bestawards.co.nz/entries/public-good/lin-breaks-her-arm/

https://www.cna.com.br/speakingexchange/