Magic Carpet - Empowering team leaders to lead effective meetings
Design process
Design thinking
Timeline
13 weeks in 2022
Team
Ethan Pemberton - UXR + UI designer + Video prototyper
Alec Faeste - UXR + UI Designer
Project overview
This project was part of my User Experience Design Studio at the University of Sydney. We were given 13 weeks to progress through an end-to-end design process. We were provided with the brief 'The new workplace' in response to the rapidly changing workplace throughout COVID19. In the early stages, Alec and I partnered with Zoe Janssen and Nick Gunning for our research process. We then later split to pursue our own ideas (this was a requirement of the course).
The future of the workplace is changing rapidly
COVID-19 ignited the now commonplace experience of remote work within many industries. Looking forward towards a post-pandemic world, many employees are wanting to remain in a hybrid environment. But what does this look like for collaborative projects? How do employers ensure an equitable working environment for both types of workers?
This was our problem scope moving forward. Specifically, how might we ensure an equitable working environment for all types of workers throughout collaborative projects.
The solution
Magic Carpet is a interactive floor projection that guides a teamleader through an effective meeting. By prompting the leader with clear and helpful questions, the rest of the team is brought onboard to understand the vision and goals of the project at hand.
Furthermore, Magic Carpet creates a fun and supportive environment for team members to encourage free thinking and creativity.
As you may be able to tell, I indeed made this the night before. I am sorry in advanced.
Design process
The design process was unfortunately heavily forced by our assignment brief. However, it gave us a chance to explore a new research method we had not used before: context mapping. The process followed a design thinking methodology, however, we were told to hold off on testing the designs with users.
Empathise
Context mapping
Literature review
Define
Statement cards
Thematic analysis
Ideate
Mash-up workshop
Forced associations
Pugh selection matrix
Refine and Prototype
Further research
User journey map
Wireframing
Figma prototype
At a glance: Research
ur brief was still quite broad. Thus, through our research we set out to identify what characteristics culminate in a seamless and fun collaborative working experience that is conducive to both remote and in-person workers. To guide our research, and to ensure we would retrieve the right information, we defined four key research questions:
What are the key characteristics of a collaborative work environment that promotes equality and inclusivity?
What strategies, protocols, and processes facilitate effective collaboration within a hybrid work setting?
What elements can be leveraged to bolster collaboration in a hybrid work environment and what factors contribute to its success?
What are the potential impacts and consequences of undertaking collaborative projects within a hybrid team framework?
The journey to understanding and empathising
Our plan ahead
Based on the focus of our research, we decided to prioritise understanding the current experiences of team members working on collaborative projects. Consequently, context-mapping, a generative technique, was chosen as we wanted to encourage participants to reflect, re-feel and share stories about their experiences.
Generative sessions trigger deeper levels of feeling and knowing amongst a group of participants
- Froukje Sleeswijk Visser
We conducted two context-mapping sessions, involving a total of ten individuals who had previously participated in collaborative projects within their respective workplaces. To prepare them for these sessions, we asked participants to engage in a straightforward, seven-day sensitizing exercise. This exercise was intended to provoke introspection about their past experiences with collaboration, effectively setting the stage for the upcoming context-mapping sessions.
Inciting deeper conversations through collage
We incorporated collage-making as part of our context-mapping exercises. This hands-on approach of assembling words and images on paper facilitated participants in articulating their experiences in a more tangible and flexible way. As they arranged, rearranged, and reflected on these symbolic representations, participants initiated discussions around their past and present experiences.
For this exercise, participants were asked to position diverse, ambiguous images along dual axes: 'LIKE' vs. 'DISLIKE' and 'PAST' vs. 'PRESENT', reflecting their experiences and preferences. This setup enabled us, as researchers, to delve deeper and facilitate an open conversation about the challenges and requirements of individuals.
On the whole, the insights drawn from this research method will significantly contribute to our understanding, especially in relation to research questions 2, 3, and 4. This method yields pertinent data that closely aligns with the essence of these questions
Probing deeper into experiences through cognitive mapping
We utilized cognitive mapping as the second element of our context-mapping exercises. This technique involved participants recollecting a specific experience of workplace collaboration and mapping out key events from that experience along a timeline. Cognitive mapping excels at revealing underlying patterns or processes and will enhance our comprehension particularly in regard to research questions 2 and 3.
The cognitive map was designed to depict the journey from the 'START' of the experience to its 'END'. Participants incorporated simple icons, annotating them with their emotions and decision points along the path. This method was instrumental in visualising their experience and making it easier for them to share their thoughts and feelings during their collaborative efforts.
Literature review
To contextualize our research and reinforce the context-mapping findings, we undertook a literature review. This approach provided an economical way of identifying recurring themes early, guiding our focus during subsequent research phases. It also strengthened our theoretical foundation.
Moreover, amalgamating insights from various studies through a literature review enables us to address research questions more comprehensively than any single study could. While it offered a broad overview relevant to all research questions, it was particularly instrumental in addressing research question 1.
Defining the problem
To make sense of all the qualitative data, we took a bottom-up approach, collecting similar expressions and forming statement cards with key quotes from the interviews and context mapping transcripts. Each card was also given a summarised interpretation, for upper level distinctions.
Key findings
By collating and sorting these statement cards into better defined categories, we were able to draw some key findings. At this point of the project our group split into two. Alec and I then decided to focus and design for a few key findings that we believed would open up an interesting space to design for:
Defining the problem
Following our research, we chose to refine our focus within the overarching inquiry of the future workplace.
We discovered that diminished productivity, creativity, and innovation within teams fundamentally stemmed from a lack of clear objectives and supportive environments. This was often due to the absence of competent team leadership or, more frequently, a leader's failure to adjust to the demands of a hybrid work setting.
Consequently, our next step involved ideating solutions aimed at solving this problem:
How might we empower team leaders in a hybrid work setting to effectively communicate clear goals and foster a supportive environment that enhances productivity, creativity, and innovation?
Ideating solutions
The brief necessitated an approach that thoughtfully integrated both digital and physical components. By employing methods of forced association and mash-up for ideation, we generated a plethora of ideas, among which we chose four for further exploration and development.
To enhance our comprehension and effectively communicate these ideas, we crafted storyboards depicting various scenarios. This preparatory step would later prove invaluable in facilitating our decision-making process when selecting among the proposed concepts.
Mash-ups
The mash-up method involves combining elements from two unrelated categories, one connected to our project brief. We quickly list features of each category, then mix these lists to generate fresh, potentially innovative experiences to design.
We chose this technique as it is useful in encouraging creative thinking, helping us conceive unique solutions that may not be immediately obvious when categories are considered separately.
Forced associations
Forced associations is similar to mash-ups for idea generation. In this method, we combine disparate concepts and try to come up with ideas based around them by forcing the different components together.
By forcing difficult or illogical associations, we were able to generate fresh new ideas that are vastly different to the ones we may have though of in a simple brainstorming session or even our mash-up session.
Assessing these potential solutions
With a Pugh Selection Matrix, we rated our concepts based on a selection of highly relevant criteria. This aided us to come to a design decision in an objective and comprehensive manner. It further allowed us to see which aspects of other designs worked well to possibly incorporate into the final solution.
UX professional, Isabella Bain, largely influenced our criteria selection. She specifically directed us to focus on accessibility and the desirability, viability, feasibility trio.
Design exploration and testing
We decided to move forward with our Magic Carpet idea. We further refined the idea by researching into technologies and precedents in the design world. By doing so, we were opened up to the world of motion tracking technology and the efforts of some companies and artists to integrate projected images with this interactive technology.
Magic Carpet infuses an element of fun and creativity into collaborative project meetings. It offers structure and guidance for team leaders, empowering them to lead with efficiency, while prioritizing the establishment of a supportive atmosphere for their team.
Magic Carpet employs motion-tracking technology, multi-sensory design, and gamification to create an engaging team interaction. Team members participate in the projected activities and respond to prompts, which are predefined by the team leader using an accompanying app. This app not only offers a platform to set these prompts but also suggests potential meeting structures and questions to maximise productivity and support emerging leaders.
Magic Carpet thus cultivates a relaxed and fun environment where team members feel safe to voice their ideas without fear of criticism. Moreover, it guides the team leader in clearly communicating the objectives, goals, and vision of the current project, ensuring the entire team is aligned.
Communicating the idea
User journey map
We created a forward-looking user journey map to vividly illustrate our concept from inception to completion. This map showcases the key interactions, the accompanying emotional landscape, and the critical pain and delight points throughout the user's experience.
The primary advantage of a future-based user journey map is its ability to provide a comprehensive visual narrative of a concept before it becomes tangible. By projecting our concept into the future, we can anticipate user behaviour, reactions, and emotions at various stages, allowing us to pinpoint and address potential issues ahead of time. It also helps in identifying opportunities to enhance user delight at specific touchpoints.
Moreover, such a visual guide can be an effective communication tool, making it easier for stakeholders to grasp the concept and its potential impact. It allows us to convincingly demonstrate how our design interventions can transform the user experience over time.
In summary, a future-based user journey map serves as a crucial strategic tool for both design and decision-making. It helps us ensure that our concept aligns with user needs and expectations, ultimately contributing to a more successful and user-centric design outcome.
Click on the image to view the figma file of the journey map as it is quite a substantial asset:
Video prototype
Our video prototype extends the narrative of Magic Carpet's function in bolstering team leaders, offering a higher fidelity depiction of the design. This detailed representation allows stakeholders to more accurately envision the final product.
Key takeaways
Be agile
Initially, I was entirely captivated by the concept of incorporating interactive floor piano tiles, similar to the installation featured in the movie Big, into our design. The charm and novelty of the idea held a strong appeal, making it challenging to leave it behind. However, the practical constraints of introducing such a concept in an office environment made it abundantly clear that it was not viable. This experience provided a valuable lesson on the necessity of maintaining emotional detachment from specific ideas in the creative process. It highlighted the importance of agility and adaptability in innovation, reinforcing the principle that the research and process should guide ideation and iteration, rather than being dictated by personal preferences or initial fixations.