Project evaluation & reflection

Now that our project has come to an end it is time to look back at our process and see if we would have done things differently knowing what we know now.

On the entire projectIf we look back on our briefing the first thing that notice is that the theme we chose (Arrival vs Departure) is only a starting point for our final concept. Our final concept ClimbUP does not contribute directly to the contradiction of Arrival vs. Departure, but rather combines all travelers. In our final design we have found a way to create bond both arriving ánd departing travelers to the new station.

ClimbUP is designed for use on the platforms of the new railway station. Travelers will have to deal with a dramatic change in the environment in which they arrive or depart. For instance, all train platforms are located below ground, a great contrast to the current situation.In our briefing we stated that we design for travelers characteristics; and this still holds true. Boredom, the need for fun and to be entertained, getting a sense of direction in the new railway station; these are all traits that our design works with.

Arrival vs. Departure has been our main inspiration and starting point for this project. With it, we defined our target group and it helped us target the traveler’s characteristics. We have designed according to our theme as a starting point, meaning we could have just as well arrived at a different design, with the same theme.

In the end we would have liked to have designed a less general solution. Our project is connected to the Spoorzone Delft, but our concept ClimbUP could work for other train stations too, or even different venues altogether. Though only as an entertainment solution.

On design changes:There were to important changes in our design after the presentation of our media strategy.We decided to make use of a small application for mobile phones, instead of using the device’s Bluetooth-name as a means of interacting with the screen. This was due to technological limitations.In order to maintain an easy accessible service we decided to drop the use of SMS-texting, as this costs money, creating a barrier for potential new users.

On testing: We intended to do a user test using our paper prototype. We do have the necessary screens in order to conduct a test like this; but unfortunately we were not able to fit a test of this scale in the time available to us at the final design stages.

On the videoAs expected, the making of our video took more time than expected. In other words, we scheduled extra time which still proved insufficient. This left us less time to evaluate our concept. Instead we chose to interview a people after showing a preview version of our video in order to assess whether or not our concept was clear to them, and how to improve the video.