W8 — Ways of Materialisation
User Testing
After the feedback session with Al and Greg, David and I straightly did user testing. As Luchen was not aware of the technology itself, she questioned the purpose of all the steps she was going through. It was hard for her to understand the concept of encryption and consensus. The very interesting feedback was from Slyvester. He pointed out his role suddenly changed on the Consensus layer, from blockchain user to a validator and it made him confused why he has to validate his own transaction. I totally agreed on his point. From Luchen and Tiana’s feedback I thought the target audience should be the people who use Blockchain Technology but do not know how it operates behind it.
Fig 1,2,3,4. User Testing. Image by Sue.
Fig 5. User Testing Results. Image by Sue and David.
Refinements
Fig 6 and 7. Ideation for Encryption Layer. Image by Sue.
Fig 8. Final Concept for Encryption Layer. Image by Sue.
In the previous prototype we had an idea of comparing in the third layer. This was for the verifiers to validate the transactions if the information was correct. David suggested removing the comparing aspect as it will be too complicated and make the experience time consuming.
For me, In users' perspective, whoever makes the prior action (transaction) they do have a valid reason to invite others but then there was not much reason for the verifiers to come and join the experience from their point of view. David had a point which I agreed on, to focus on the main audience only, not making the experience too complex with several steps.
Fig 9. Moodboard for Interactions. Image by Sue and David.
Fig 10. Final Concept of Model. Image by Sue and David.
Fig 11. Adding Criticalities. Image by Sue.
Idea one demonstrates the diverse use of materials. It is to illustrate the criticality of each layer on the exterior surfaces. Idea two focuses on exemplifying the criticality of the blockchain System holistically. This idea is to implicate the fact that the blockchain is hard to see in the real world. It shows the only apparent layer is the first layer which is the application layer by using clear acrylic. And the rest are obscured from the users using a mirror, reflecting back the surroundings and hiding from others.
Fig 12. User Journey. Image by Sue.
Fig 13. Technical Journey. Image by Sue.
Fig 14. Network Layer Journey. Image by David.
Fig 15 and 16. Measurements for Building. Image by Sue.
Encryption Layer
At first, for the aesthetic purposes, David preferred a three dimensional alphabet to demonstrate the encryption layer. After trying them out, I thought making them as a box has way more benefits than cutting all these letters, thinking it is not worth of our time nor it is efficient use of it - we had to make 100 alphabets to fill in the layer. We will be able to deliver something much quicker. Sometimes we have to admit that this is not going to work and move on from the idea. The quality of the work versus the time we put in does not justify this.
Fig 17 and 18. Materials for Encryption Layer. Image by Sue.