The Idea
We created an interactive tabletop that displays a geographic map of the world. Twenty countries are assorted around the globe, which can be opened simultaneously, allowing for a multi-user experience. Tapping a flag will bring up a story of the Bible’s presence in that government, including the location and date of the event.
The Space
The Interactive table is designated at a circular space in the corner of the museum – as located in the blueprint below.
Designing for a Multi-user Experience
A maximum number of six people can access the content from any side of the table. With this given user case scenario, and without any use of sensors, we had to think about how the cards open up in a way such that the text content is automatically angled for the user to read.
When a user opens up a country’s story and drags it closer to himself, the deck automatically adjusts its rotation based on the angle that it is being dragged – such that it is always orientated upright for the user.
As a user drags, the card detects the angle and position of dragging, automatically shifting it’s orientation.
Prototyping User Interaction
As each of these countries contain written content and supporting artefacts, we had to think of how these items can be collectively grouped together, while still making each piece accessible on the multi-touch screen surface. The first micro interaction prototype reflected how the close button alternates in appearance when a user swipes through the deck of cards.
The close button took up space on the card, and was confusing to users each time the close button appeared and disappeared. We then iterated on another concept — When a user taps on a flag, it transforms into a close button, which can be tapped again to close the entire country collection. Each evidence piece appears simultaneously, such that the write-up is given priority in hierarchy.
Lebanon’s flag was designed by Henri Philippe Pharaoun, a Lebanese businessman who promoted peaceful co-existence between Christians and Muslims
Designing in Context
Each flag represents how the government has been influenced by the Bible. For instance, in Russia – the 1936 USSR Constitution directly quotes 2 Thessalonians 3:10. It was claimed as a socialist principle by Lenin, and the same verse has been claimed on the other end of the political spectrum by Max Weber, as essential to the rise of American capitalism. We wanted to also include real evidence, in this case it was a1920s Soviet Constructivist poster that says, ‘He who does not work, does not eat!’
The Final Product
We did on-site user testing and I observed how some of the interactions we had planned for did not work the way we expected users to. It was an iterative process where we quickly prototyped alternative methods for users to access the cards quicker.
Credits
Agency— C&G Partners
Role— User Interface Design, User Interaction Animation