CMU MHCI - GM Network Project1 April 2004 ROADCASTING GM Car Network Project Jim Garretson Whitney Hess Jordan Kanarek Mathilde Pignol Megan Shia

CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 1 April 2004

ROADCASTING

GM Car Network Project

Jim GarretsonWhitney HessJordan KanarekMathilde PignolMegan Shia


ROADCASTING• The state of radio

• What is Roadcasting?

• Where we are

• How we got here1. Project focus selection

2. Design brainstorming

3. Contextual inquiries

4. Design issues

5. Participatory design session

6. Paper prototype

7. Prototype testing

8. Working prototype

• What’s next

Agenda




• Where we are




4. Design issues


6. Paper prototype



• What’s next

Agenda


ROADCASTING

More niches to support than even 150 radio stations can handle

Even internet radio not interactive

Untapped opportunity to make radio more entertaining, reach a broader, captive, audience

The State of Radio




• Where we are




4. Design issues


6. Paper prototype



• What’s next

Agenda


ROADCASTING

?New approach to community and communication

Service model that allows people to express themselves by offering their own radio stations

Allows communities to meet and share common interests

Provides methods for quickly finding the best stations for any individual listener

What Is Roadcasting?


ROADCASTING

Where we are, as of today:

21 group meetings

2 prototypes

14 users interviewed

92 pieces of content on project site

Where We Are


ROADCASTING

PrototypesOne on paper, looking at how users find stations.

Where We Are


ROADCASTINGPrototypes

One written in Java, looking at how users browse among stations.

Where We Are


ROADCASTING

User research

3 contextual inquiries with college radio DJs

7-person participatory design session

4 user tests of the paper prototype

Where We Are


ROADCASTING

Background research

57 articles

14 files

21 images of current automobile interfaces

Where We Are


ROADCASTING

Innovative services research

Matrix summary of innovative services that are relevant to our project

Where We Are




• Where we are




4. Design issues


6. Paper prototype



• What’s next

Agenda


ROADCASTING

1. Project Focus Selection

Narrowed down ideas from an initial 45+ to five finalists.

Sketched and developed concept documents for each of the five.

Ranked the surviving three by all relevant criteria and chose the best.

How We Got Here


ROADCASTING


Found two main areas to consider:

How We Got Here

Broadcasting•Definition and maintenance of live playlist

•Opportunities for commercials

•Deciding when and where to broadcast

•Differentiation from “real” radio

•Feedback regarding audience

•On-air light

•Signal quality

•Location of source music

•What happens when DJ reaches destination

Receiving•Definition of a station

•Locating a desirable or desired station

•Notification of new stations

•Dealing with non-persistent stations

•Identifying stations uniquely

•Definition of types of searching and browsing

•Avoiding undesirable or “bad” stations

•Agent guidance

•Definition of desirable filtering criteria


ROADCASTING

3. Contextual Inquiries

User research with contextual inquiries at college radio station WRCT

Watched on-air activities performed by each of three DJs

Concluded that in-car broadcasting can be much simpler, and feasibility is not as bad as we thought

How We Got Here


ROADCASTING

4. Design Issues

How We Got Here

Issues for Participatory Design

•Community-building vs. personal aspects of radio

•Types of use (music, talk, etc.)

•Level of control desired

•Interaction desired with station

Questions for ourselves

•Does the concept of a “station” still make sense?

•Do users need to know which station they’re listening to?

•Issues of station ownership & community role


ROADCASTING

5. Participatory Design Session

To determine target audience’s in-car activities and music-related activities

Seven participants

Average age 31

5 males, 2 females

Averaged 48-minute round-trip commute

How We Got Here


ROADCASTING

5. Participatory Design Session

Three activities

Questionnaire

In My Car collage

How We Got Here

Dream Radio collage


ROADCASTING

5. Participatory Design - Results

Questionnaire:

More participants listen to the radio than their own music

Vast majority of participants listen to FM stations

Participants listen to the radio primarily for entertainment, then for news

Most participants change stations after each song, or when commercials come on

Audience prefers music and comedy to political commentary

How We Got Here


ROADCASTING


In-car activities collage

Participants’ Activities / Concerns:

1. Safety

2. Isolation

3. Radio

4. Personal music

5. Aggravation due to other drivers

6. Delays

How We Got Here


ROADCASTING


• Make-your-own-radio collage

How We Got Here

Number of times each button was selected. (Includes write-ins)


ROADCASTING

5. Participatory Design – Discussion

How We Got Here

Radio as Controlled Chaos

Current radio is marketing songs

Satellite radio is an improvement but still does not offer sufficient breadth of programming

Participants appreciate “good” DJs

Seeking


ROADCASTING

6. Paper prototype

How We Got Here

Seeking information regarding:

Sending votes to a station

Blocking a station from one’s radio

Searching for stations


ROADCASTING


Ongoing

So far:

Difficulty with testing: Metadata and classifications of internet radio aren’t perfect

Users disinclined to “block” a station

Some participants had trouble thinking of genres on their own (and would prefer browsing)

How We Got Here


ROADCASTING


How We Got Here

Seeking information regarding:

•How users browse through large numbers of stations

•How the browsing problem can be narrowed

•Ways to introduce collaborative filtering




• Where we are




4. Design issues


6. Paper prototype



• What’s next

Agenda


ROADCASTING

What’s Next

Continue prototype testing of receiving

Iterate paper prototype

Implement collaborative filtering for Java prototype

Explore broadcasting

Has been delayed because audience needs and desired weren’t established

Create prototypes to test with real users

Continue to define larger-scale service and technical details

What’s Next


ROADCASTING

Much progress has been made

Timeline has proven to be fairly realistic but still need adjustments

Conclusion


ROADCASTING

Comments, questions?

Questions?

Documents

CMU MHCI - GM Network Project1 April 2004 ROADCASTING GM Car Network Project Jim Garretson Whitney Hess Jordan Kanarek Mathilde Pignol Megan Shia