Ben Yee @ ITP

the game can be played using LEFT and RIGHT keys

you can play the game:

and view the working homemade sip’n’puff devices, which were designed to work with an iPac.

time has been dense. regarding the game, the plan i set out for myself fell between the cracks. the good news is, i still have two weeks. the bad news is, i don’t see how the coming weeks can be much different than the previous several.

my game now has a name — burbujitas, which means “little bubbles” and targets a latino audience, following a bubble blowing trend/phenomenon in mexico. the concept has remained fairly constant. i wanted to learn flash, develop my creative process, and produce a game that would be used by people of any age-group, but more likely children, who are into ice cream, bright colors and sounds, competition, and fun. the users are to test their lung capacity against one another, to balance their drive with a need to stay conscious, both in real life and in the game, and to essentially lightly strategize to get the prize. i’ve learned that while i’m drawn to working on the aesthetics of the mda structure, the mechanics are more challenging and captivating as well. the difficulty w the mechanics has kept me from really being able to address the dynamics, unfortunately.

progress includes:

-an improved interface, with scene changing functionality

-a scoring system that reveals the winner

-attempts with photo interrupters and ir emitter/detector pairs for the controlling units

challenges include:

-utilizing a timer function “to put a player to sleep”

-building controllers that function

-improving user feedback on the main screen and creating a more exciting conclusion

something weird i just realized when testing is that with each rematch, the sleepycount no longer decrements by 1, but instead by the number of rematches (i.e. down by two the first rematch, down by three the second rematch, etc.) — maybe a cool feature, but not sure why it happens.
burbujitas v. b5

Considering the various class assignments this semester, which problems have you identified in your design process? In other words, what were the biggest barriers that prevented you from accomplishing what you’ve hoped you could? Where there particular assignments that were more difficult then others? If so, which factors caused this? Discuss the relationship between the creative process, your personal work habits, and technical skills.

this may seem a bit dramatic, but the design process i’ve adapted seems to lack general foundation / direction. if i had a more specific background, a particularly strong skill set, or programming knowledge, i think my difficulties would be fewer. i do appreciate my interdisciplinary / unusual background, but it’s a challenge to pull things together in a cohesive way. a temporary obstacle i’ve been experiencing is related to time management, but moreso an actual lack of available time to manage.

i think the creative instinct in me tends to run through all kinds of memories and mental images and senses, scanning for something bright or interesting. it’s very open-ended and hazy, like a dream. (birds, particle systems, streaming things…foggy lights, and buckets of color, fluid movements.. elegant and curvacious women… rich nights with soothing rhythmic vibes and .. let me stop, cause i don’t know where this is going, but i know there must be patterns in there).

my personal work habits are basically the opposite. they are concrete and much more organized. i make lists. i use calendars. i love maps. planning ahead usually gives me comfort, and i will spend hours on a task overlooking sometimes food or rest.

the skills i have are pretty basic –html and processing, some photoshop… i’m trying to get a grip on php, sql, and flash this semester. my social skills aren’t really technical, but i feel they’re more developed for whatever reason. i try to connect these areas to make some sort of sense. i continuously want to contribute to a greater, big-picture good, while being conscious of a practical need to survive/live comfortably. external v internal drive.

so it seems, i need to be able to hone in on a subject, a project, and feel it’s worth the time and energy to explore and complete. i need more hard skills. i need a more efficient system, a network.

the assignments in this class have revealed pieces of the design process and ways of thinking of it. i wish i had documented more so through the course of the semester (i think i didn’t because the blog i’m writing in seems temporary and i feel very little ownership of it), but overall i think the concepts i’ve taken at this point are to seriously consider scope and audience of a project first, user test prototypes asap, know strengths and weakness and act accordingly to bring an idea to a final state. i was reminded that i like to use my hand to sculpt objects. i reinforced that i need more time to understand coding structures. i realized that my career path really needs to change directions now. time again is running out.

Propose a final project that will address the issues mentioned above. Describe in detail what you hope to achieve through this project, and the steps that you think are necessary for you to take in order to succeed.

in retrospect, i think continuing with my game could actually address these issues. i will extend my network, since i’m sure i’ll run into more tech difficulties. i will get user feedback, which will inform design decisions. i will further my understanding of mda and ingrain it into my process. i won’t need to begin the “what-should-i-do” brainstorm phase from scratch, so i already have focus, and this product could be marketed and mass produced.

steps: 1) make each of these steps more precise and give an actual deadline. 2) expand search for similar games. 3) get help w the functionality of the gameplay. intro scene, scoring limit and asynchronous actions, end scene. 4) improve prototype of controller. 5) user test to decide which visual elements are good/bad and how the controller feels. 6) revise animations, rewards, controllers.

_addendum: steps 1-3 can be combined into one week. the user test can be 1 person. i can expand to a second person also. the aim can include motivation to eat and to exercise lungs/body, as opposed to working in staring, static position.

Interaction design as means for behavior modification: Write a short blog entry about how the interaction design of an everyday device/system affects the behaviour and social patterns of its users. Do you approve of the behavioral patterns that the device imposes? If not, how would you redesign the device towards a healthier user behavior and habit?

my streams of thought so far have included big, sort of far-reaching systems with smaller tangent pieces slightly attached. they are mainly tied to ideas around designing for routines with which i take issue: a static office environment, public transportation, acquaintance etiquette .. i dunno, i need to organize my thoughts more and revise this, but i like the direction that this train of thought points me.