Workshop/brainstorming with people outside of the design team

Opening the workshop, the audience was asked to think about what would personally attract them to a public installation, and write these suggestions down on multiple sticky notes. Sticky notes were then categorised and it was found that participants largely had similar ideas. From there, they were asked to describe, in detail, how and why their suggestions would generate appeal. Common ideas suggested, in order for the public installation to be successful, were for it to be aesthetically pleasing, entertaining, social and offer personal gain to the user. 

Under the aesthetically pleasing heading, it was suggested that the installation needs to be flashy, colourful or big in order to gain initial attention. Participants reasoned that attracting attention is the first step to creating appeal - without standing out and being visible, users lack the opportunity to notice the installation and therefore any chance of appeal is essentially lost. 

Developing an entertaining aspect was also highly suggested to increase user attraction. If the installation was humorous and could provoke laughter, participants believed it would captivate a larger audience as social spaces do not generally feature entertaining installations. Therefore it would be more unique and have greater appeal.

Following on, participants proposed that the humorous factor could encourage social behaviour. The installation is likely to gain a social aspect if there is something users can momentarily laugh or bond together over.

The personal gain suggestions fell into a category close to the humorous factor. If the installation is humorous, then users would likely feel more inclined to share it with friends and spread word of the installation. They also personally gain from the experience by being the cool friend who found it first.

After suggestions had been reasoned, a suitable concept was selected. The initially chosen concept, Mirror Messages, already supported the factors of being humorous, social and offering personal gain to users.

It was documented that the concept appealed to the audience as a whole and they saw the potential for it to be successful. Most participants admitted that they personally, regularly, check their reflection in mirrors and windows, therefore they believed it would be an installation that they, as well as others, would easily use. Participants also commented highly on the humorous factor of being caught staring at their reflection and confronted by the challenging message. Aside from the positive feedback, concerns regarding gaining initial interest and visibility to users were raised. Relating to their phase two answers, they suggested designing a flashy outer appearance or making the mirror supersize, unmissable.