Redesign: Image Search of Windows Live Search

Then, Microsoft people asked my opinion about their image search of Windows Live Search page.

I'm a designer, a programmer, and a manager, and also a family member of my sweet Taiwanese family, so for my personal experience, I search images for different purpose. 

While people told me that Britney shaved her head bold, I was pretty surprised and I couldn't wait to see her bold head. I used image search to find the picture of her bold move, bold head. For that experience, I just wanna see her head, the image, and pass the image to my friend without download it to my laptop. I was thinking about how I can do it, and found that no image search engine (Google, Yahoo, Windows Live) provide that "quick share" function.

While some other times, I use image search to find pictures that I can use for my blog, to enhance things I wanna explain in my article. Also, sometimes I look for pictures for creating website, design name cards, poster, make banner for my clients. I appreciate that most of the search page provide the size option of search results. However, that seems to be the only kind thing they have. 

Windows Live image search now has Black/White option I can choose, but it doesn't really feed my need(even though, it's a good start). Why not gives users more option they can choose? I believe there're tons of people search images for artistic and design usage, but they only have limited choices of function on search page. 

I have an idea that, it'd be great if I can manage those image search result on the site like managing my email. I can select them, and download multi images at once, or forward them to my friends, or even do some simple photoshop stuff on the search pages. (If you see some car manufacturer website, they actually provide the select and download interface like, shopping cart.)

To sum up, people use image search for various purpose, and use it in different ways, it'd be great to give people useful options of images handling for better user experience.

Something about accuracy

In fact, I got the experience of having hard time of finding the images that fulfill my need. Why? Because, first of all, it's hard to get the precise keyword to find images that exactly I need. Let's say, I need a pictures showing that people use internet to communicate with each other. What kinds of keyword come to your mind? internet? communicate? If you tried that, I believe you'll get lots of result that doesn't show you what you want. Then, I tried keyword like "internet", "social", and still, I don't get the image that I want.

What's wrong with this image search keyword problem? The problem is, I use the keyword that I'm describing a concept, instead of physical object that can be shown in the image. I used "Social", "Communication", and no one knows what they exactly look like. So, as a designer, how do I tackle this problem? The first answer come to my mind is, give people more detail option to choose, or to fill with, to find the images they really want. 

For example, provide a function call "Element". Let people to input the element that shows in images, like People, Action, Item, Place, and etc. Here's what I've got in my mind:

Through the more detail elements  showing in images, people can get more precise search result. By showing user those instruction box I design (as above), user might have better idea what they really want to search. You can type in different people's name in the box, and think about the locations, or what they're doing there.  For example, I can type Jennifer Lopez into the "people" box, and "Oscar" into the location box, and "dancing" into the action box, I can more likely get the image that I'm looking for.

Understanding the user scenario

This is how I started: Thinking out of the box. Because interaction design is always about deeper understanding of user and usability, so I thought about several questions:

1) Regardless of the PC or laptop I'm using to do video search, what would be the best way of viewing video? like watching TV, DVD at home? or watch movie in theater with popcorn? What kind of experience is enjoyable when you think about watching video? For me, definitely not like those using iPod, watching [Lost] TV series on subway.

This is a cellphone application, which lets you relax anywhere you want. No matter what kind of situation you're in, it suits your need with different modules (unless you're under water !!).

If you're busy at work, sound module allows you to relax with soothing music and comforting shapes, while you have both hands on work.



If you're tired both mental and physical, thermo module helps you relieve by helping you increase your body temperature. Base on the theory of the relationship between, once your body temperature get higher, your vessel get better circulation inside, and you will feel more relax.



What if you're really stressed by someone, that you hate or you love? Try "Shake Shake" module! It allows you to take a photo of the one you hate with cell phone camera, and shake him as a virtual character on your cell phone screen; The harder you shake, the better score you will get! [Try it] with your cellphone, if you have Nokia phone with Flash player in it.













This Relax Application is created by Daniela Stepensky and Roger TSAI, see the whole presentation [here].

Should you have any question of this application and related question(e.g. how to build a cellphone application, please do not hesitate to reply)

Rather than talk, we act. Rather than say it, we draw it. Here are the different scenario drawing to describe how people interact with various mobile relax modules.

1. Sound Visualization Module
(by Daniela)

1) standing on New York City subway platform, she's trying to squeeze in the packed cargo.


2) She feel exhausted getting a place on subway, so she started to use the mobile relax module: Sound Visualization Module.



3) As simple sound repeating, the peaceful ripple shape animation gradually changing with the tempo of sound.




4) she feels relaxed! Thanks for mobile relax module!!



2. Shake It Real Good
(by Roger)

1) in ITP workshop space(pcomp lab), things are messy; wires, cables, motors, soldering iron...


2) and crowded, people squeezing to find a place to work;


3) and noisy, metal cutting noise, people talk with unknown language, someone think he's a rocker and singing;



4) "I can't stand for these sh?t !!"


5) "go die" He pretend his cellphone is a wander stick, swing away these evil things (or a bat hitting someone)


6) he becomes Peacful again~




3. Temperature Module
(by Daniela)

1) He feels stressed from school works



(2)He use mobile relax module: visualizing your body temperature (above)


3) His body temperature get higher, using cell cable attach to his thumb and index finger to measure.



4) And as body temperature goes higher, he becomes relaxed

Conclusion:

Sometimes we need something physically balance our abnormal status, and sometimes we need an EXIT for our stimulated mind. We're trying to offer people various way to let go stress, come back to peace and relax. More thoughts will be updated on this blog.

----------This project is co-worked by ----------
Daniela Stepensky & Roger H.T. TSAI
---------------------------------------------------

So now, we have a bunch of ideas, and we thought about scenario, we started to think evaluate each ideas' benefits and shortcoming. Click on the link below and you'll see the analysis presentation.

See the analysis(click here)



This analysis brought us confidence and questions. Some of the idea are really attractive but with technical challenge, while others seems mediocre but more feasible. So, how do we proceed? The answer is: tackle challenge by using design method: Visualizing user scenario, animation prototype. We're gonna start drawing and some simple flash animation(specifically Flash-Lite, flash for cellphone). I also think about Google Sketch-Up which allows me to do fast easy 3D concept drawing/ simulation.

Since we decided to focus on ITP student as our potential user, we started to think about different user scenario, and also their potential need. Here is some interesting description:

1. Subway
User:
- Itp student, alone, commuting in a loud environment, with no privacy,
Stress Source:
- School work, loud environment, crowded places, time consumption
Existing Relaxation:
- iPod, PSP(game console), reading, cellphone game
Potential Need:
- entertainment relaxation method, talk to familiar people,

2. School
User:
- ITP student, faculty, admin, working on project
Stress Source:
- school project, time consumption, job hunting, noise, distraction
Existing Relaxation:
- iPod, wii, fuse-ball, friends, youtube video
Potential Need:
- quiet place, possibility of escaping ITP while at ITP,
relaxation method while working

3. Home
User:
- ITP student, faculty, admin, working on project
Stress Source:
- school project, finance in NYC, bills, grocery shopping, laundry
Existing Relaxation:
- TV, computer, bed & couch, alcohol, pot, Wii(game console), read, music
shower, smoke
Potential Need:
- to be discussed (you've almost got everything in your home)

4. Street
User:
- ITP student, faculty, admin, daily life and/or commuting
Stress Source:
- loud, crowded, time, crazy traffic in NYC, direction, weather
Existing Relaxation:
- iPod, smoke
Potential Need:
- wonderful map, portable entertainment relaxation

Later on, we'll discuss more about how we integrate our idea and the user scenario.

Exciting news! After our long journey on various research, the incubative energy in our team finally burst! Based on the research proposal we presented, we start brain storming and have crazy and wild ideas!

Let's see some fresh idea:

:: Wanderer's Compass ::
By using GPS or electronic compass embedded in cellphone, you can have a 5 minutes wandering experience.

:: Phonebook Lottery ::
Lottery go through your cellphone contact list, once you pull the bar, it directly pick random person in your contact list and automatically call them.

:: Temperature Module ::
Thermometer on the side of mobile that has a visual if desired. Keeps track of temperature and be it maybe with game interface. You have to learn to increase the temperature. -Daniela

:: Shake It, Shake It Real Good ::
By using cellphone embedded accelerometer, you can play games to throw out your stress or yelling at your virtual boss -Roger

:: Breath Helper ::
through auditory and image(maybe like an inflating circle), the mobile guides your breath, trying to make it more stable, slower, equal inhale and exhale, longer. -Daniela

:: Story Far Far Away ::
By using cellphone and wifi, you can experience others' story (Iceland, South Africa, India, Thailand...), share and see feedback. -Roger

:: Smile! ::
By using cellphone camera, you can capture your facial feature, and system will have a dorky face which leads you to do some funny face. Or simply use microphone to detect your sound, then guide you to laugh. -Roger

:: Replay Precious Time ::
Every time you laugh, you blush, you have joyful moment, you use cellphone to record your body info(bio info), next time when you feel depressed, you can recall this body info and try to make yourself back to the happy positive state. -Roger

:: ITP Mind Bath ::
Once you enter the physical space, 3 module you can choose:
1. Rest: peaceful music, dim light, soft couch.
2. Share: speak out your stress, sadness, secret.
3. Response: see others' stress story and response by leaving message -Roger

:: ITP Idea Generator ::
Everyday ITP student got an email asking for creative idea, these ideas will be stored in ITP server. Later if anyone need some inspiration, he can just log on the server to
check brilliant ideas. -Roger

After a long joyful journey doing various research, our team come to a place which is called "sharing". Here, we wanna share our special experience, people's story, and interesting finding. Please click on the link below to see the full presentation (PDF file).

click HERE to see

When I started to plan a good observation about how people relax, I thought about several things according to my habbit and lifestyle. I play guitar, piano, keyboard as my favorite when I feel emotional; I go out hit the road or go to gym when I feel energetic. I go to movie, brunch, dinner with friend when I feel lonely. I take shower, do yoga, sleep when I feel tired or stress. So what are the ritual other people take when they need to relax?

First, I wanna start research about physical aspect of relax, and I started to ask random people. Most of them drink, as a useful way to release their stress. When I discuss with my class advisor Rebecca and classmate Seanita and Daniela, we have several ideas about why drinking help people relax. For the first reason, the alcohol(No need extra explaination). Second, and very important, it's a social atmosphere the makes you feel comfortable. Third, and the reason I think is the most importatn, that you can freely speak of yourself, don't have to care about too much how people see you when you're tipsy; it's a place that you can be just whoever you are. (A bit dirty jokes you wouldn't say when you're sober makes people even happier!)

Then I started to interview people about how they feel about drinking as a way to relax. One of my friend says when people are tipsy, everyone is losen and easily you can make friend them. So that we know when people drink, it's a friendly environment and makes people feel good.

Another friend of mine who's a bartander in Taiwan talked about drinking. He think another reason why people feel relax when drinking, is about humor. When you see drunk people doing stupid things, acting awkward, shouted "I'm not drunk", these silly things initiate humorous sense and make others happy and relax.

This morning I went to Harlem, New York for brunch with gospell music, I met some new faces from all around the world. A mother and her daughter from Hokaido Japan ordered Magerita along with their delicious brunch meal. They started to talk about their family drinking habbit even before I asked them. For them, drinking is always about celebration. Even when they feel bad, they drink, and say: "This drink is to a better tomorrow, Kanbai!(the word they use whe tossing)". So drinking for them is always related to something possitive, happy, and joyful.

By analyzing the information above, I found some key element about how people relax. First, memory of happiness. Things that can recall one's happy memory contribute to make people feel relax. As we know that when people browse through their photo albums, smiling alwasy come to their face and good conversation can be easily initiated.

Second, being oneself. An environment that can let someone being their self can also make him relax. In this busy and highly structured world, it's not easy to be the one you really want 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. When you're home, you have to be strong and possitive in front of your children; When you are in office, you have to face your client, your colleague, and most important of all, your boss, the one who pay your salary. So we're living in an age that you have little time for being yourself, and that's why it become important to one's mental health.

To sum up, if a place, a ritual can let you be yourself, you can probably assume that it will help you relax. Moreover, if it also evoke happy memory, it'd probably be the first thing come to your mind when you're stressed and try to find a way out.

Intervew to be continued.

Hunt statement

Identify the relationship between cell phones and urban users in order to propose, design and develop solutions of cell phone module to promote quality of life and well-being in users.

Research Objectives

We seek to expose opportunities for the development of cell phone applications that promote quality of life and well-being in users. We will investigate two main realm:

i. How people interact with cell phone: cell phone usage, activities and environments of cell phone users.

ii. How people relax, relieve, and promote well being.

Base on these query described above, we'll look into more detail:

1. How do urban people promote quality of life and well-being? Specify all the rituals, tools, environment, and people involved in.

2. What do urban people currently do to relax and unwind? Identify daily operations towards this goal i.e., go to gym, yoga, dance, chat, etc. Identify any ritual, environment, tech or non-tech devices used.

3. What kind of situation is specified for one to relax? and what kind of situation is inconvenient or inappropriate for one to relax? what are the barriers?

4. What kind of cell phone usage makes users uncomfortable? why?

Research Methods

To accomplish our research objectives we will investigate and document users’ cell phone experiences at home, at work and during transition periods, i.e. walking or commuting, outdoors, on the subway, etc. We will use the following research methods:

• Shadowing
  
• Interview
  
• Questionnaire
  
• Phone Diary
  
• Stress/ Relax Diary
  

These methods are described below:

1. Shadowing

a. objective

i. observe how people deal with their life when the feel stress.

ii. observe how they relax themselves.

iii. observe what specific place or situation make people stress.

b. procedure

i. immerse in user’s daily life and photograph/ video taping the activities related to communication, relaxation, and burden.

ii. take notes of the users activities, having started with certain specific points that as observers we will be aware of looking for

2. Interviews

a. objective

i. query about previous activities that we might not be able to observe

ii. opinion of cell phones, learn about their interaction with other type of technology, sources of stress in their life, and ways of coping with stress

b. procedure

i. introduction and explanation of project to have people cooperate

ii. recording or taping if the person agrees on it

iii. group interviews to have more of a dialogue and not a one on one

3. Questionnaire

a. objective

i. to give us a broad opinion of the personal view of the uses and behaviors around cell phone users

b. procedure

i. write a questionnaire that would be sent electronically out to a specific number of people, and this data would be tabulated and analyzed

4. Phone Diary

a. objective

i. how much the user knows about the functions that are included in their phone

ii. learn how they use the functions of their cell phone

b. procedure

i. explain to user they need to show and tell us about their phone, how they use it, and what they use and what they don’t

ii. let the user speak and we takes notes

5. Stress/ Relax Diary

a. objective

i. observe the users environments for clues about activities that could provide important information for us

b. procedure

i. observation and pictures


Research subjects

Our research subjects are urban people, especially in big city. We are particularly interested in busy or stressed individuals who might be interested in using mobile modules to relax or enhance mood. For this reason, these modules might incentivize non-users to acquire this technology. Some of our research subjects will include:

1. Individuals with routine schedules, i.e. homemakers and moms

2. Individuals in high-stressed jobs, i.e. stockbrokers

3. Heavy text messengers, i.e. students

4. People who don’t have a cell phone

5. Cell phone application designer/ programmer

6. People who chase for new cell phone every month

7. Commuters --individuals in airports, trains, cars and street walkers

Logistics

Challenges:

1. It’s hard to find the right person to interview with.

2. User-testing

3. Coordinating activities to get useful information

4. Too much information

Experts

Linda Stone | Author, Continuous Partial Attention

Technologist with interest and expertise on the impacts of technology on health and well-being

Clay Shirky | Social software researcher

Expert on social interactions within online communities and the effects on real-world social networks

Shawn Van Every | Mobile media applications expert

Dennis Crowley | Dodgeball.com

Michael Sharon | Mobile applications expert

Introduction

After a series of observation and conversation, I and my classmates (Seanita Tolliver, Daniela Stepensky, and Tim Stutts) decided to discover the possibility of creating better cellphone services based on our further collected information through interview, observation, and other user experience design method.

Project proposal
1. Topic:
cellphone user behavior
Exploration of cellphone usage beyond core functions for subjects like wellbeing, social, and/ leisure.


2. Target user
1) Cellphone users between the ages of 15 and 65 who live in New York City
2) (for the specific project "modes", my thesis project) for those non-power user who strongly rely on phone chat

iPod, as most people know, is a sub-brand of portable media players designed and marketed by Apple.
The product line of iPod now consists of 4 types of models: iPod Classic, Touch, Nano, and Shuffle(see complete product description: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPod)
Most of the iPod products(excluding iPod Touch) also serve as external data storage devices.

Despite the wise marketing strategy of Apple, iPod has been always succeed not only in its unique styling, but also from several important aspects. First of all, the iTunes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes). Unlike other PMP(portable media player), iPod is perfectly supported by iTunes for the services of synchronizing music files, photos, video clips, podcast(orderable online radio program) and even calendar. Simply hook up your iPod to your PC, the iTunes take care everything for you. You can even buy music, movies, TV show, games, Podcast on iTunes without spend more effort on searching contents on other platform.



Other than these easy-to-use function, the hardware interface itself is also an appealing innovation. By simply rotating your thumb on the round shape touch control panel on iPod, you can use only one hand, one finger, to get you to every function you need. This creative control panel is not only fancy while using but also give the designer to have more spaces to work on its styling.

testing blog post

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http://rogeritp.blogspot.com


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