Routinely taking the same route from one place to another can often make us grow so used to our surroundings, that we no longer notice the beauty of it. But what if we challenged this familiarity and created more opportunities for noticing? My speculation led me to create Designer’s Detour, an app tailored to UT Austin design students, that introduces and guides them through a more isolated, scenic, and nature-filled alternative way of getting from one design building to another.
tools used: Framer, Illustrator
instructor: Cathryn Ploehn
course: DES 334C / Interaction Design I
timeline: 5 weeks
My objective was to design an app in which users engage with their natural surroundings in order to develop a stronger appreciation and curiosity for the campus.
Our assignment asked us to create an interface that brings together its users and some form of ecology on campus through the cultivation of relationships in curiosity, care, maintenance, appreciation, and/or respect.
The above highlighted area marks our geographic boundaries for the assignment.
Before being introduced the project brief, our class had to complete and reflect on the following video and walk. This was the research phase of our process.
To preface this assignment, we first watched Jenny Odell speak about the art of “doing nothing.” In this talk, Odell describes spending a lot of time in her local rose garden, allowing herself to get lost in its labyrinth-like structure while observing its plants and animals. I found her account of these visits to be both fascinating and inspiring—I deeply respect her ability to put down her devices and open up her senses to the nature surrounding her. To her, the rose garden is an escape from the constant pressures of life to work, buy, work, buy, and is the perfect environment to do nothing.
My classmates and I then embarked on a small journey—the Odditree Society walk—that essentially allowed us to put Odell’s outlook into practice. This activity sent us on a hunt, but in a way, also enabled us to do nothing since we were forced to gear up our observation skills. For the walk, we needed to refer to the Odditree Field Guide, which acted as a physical interface between the user and the walk.
Odditree Field Guide, Unfolded (Front)
Back
After completing the activity, we heard from the creator of the Odditree Society herself, Ann Armstrong. I found Ann’s presentation on her works and the thoughtfulness behind them so inspiring. I love how she decided to take her peculiar findings, and transform them into landmarks that you can observe along an immersive walk (or bike path!) throughout Austin. This idea of “place interfaces” forces users to notice their surroundings in order to advance and continue fulfilling the intended interactions.