Mette G

Music Cures Everything

Sat, 12 May 2012 07:30:00 -0400

REUTERS/PETR JOSEK/LANDOV

Well, maybe not everything. But low birth weight, the effects of brain damage, illiteracy, droopy plants, teen loitering, sluggish alcohol sales…

Read More: 11 Problems Researchers Think Music Can Solve

Fuck cancer - Let music play!

Tue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400

At UX Camp CPH I did a workshop to explore music in the ideative process. It was an experiment to see, if different kinds of music helps creating different kinds of ideas – and we had some interesting insights! I used the project I’m working on right now: “Ditliv” at the Danish Cancer Society - It’s mainly about giving people with cancer the power back and help them find quality of life.

So in my session I introduced some music theories, my “Ditliv” case and some trends related to health and empowerment. This is the slides including the personas and design principles, we used in the brainstorm:

From this we did the following brainstorm: First we listened to 3 kinds of music while brainstorming individually on 3 kinds of post-it colors. I asked the participants to close their eyes and feel the music, and then afterwards start sketching. I think this is an important point, to really feel the music and let it inspire you. Afterwards we gathered in groups, presented the ideas and tried to boil it down to the best idea for each kind of music. It gave some good insights and some cool ideas:

Wellness music
The ideas were focused on relaxation, health and nature, e.g.:

Cancer gardens for cancer patients: Webcams show activities, progress and motivate people to join
Pushymum for cancer patients: An app that disturbs you in a fun way, like a beloved but annoying mum, with tasks about health like taking a walk in the forest
Different kinds of meditation apps: Use it and learn how to relax, clear your thought and get help sleeping

Pop music
The ideas were focused on positivism and happy thoughts, e.g.:

Happy app: An app that asks you to tell one good thing that happened to day. Or to do one good thing, like making a friend happy – a positive version of “the dice man”
The personal helper: It helps you set goals, track your performance, calories, miles walked, hours slept, vegetable eaten etc. It consists of steps with rewards. It’s supportive by remembering your habits, helping you on the right track and involving other people
Dancing game: A way to regain positive energy and have fun with other people

Thrash metal
The ideas were focused on aggressiveness, violence and hardcore physical activity, e.g.:

The aggression over comer: It helps you set goals, convert frustration and anger to shaking, jumping, lifting and throwing! It keeps track of adrenaline release, and helps you overcome challenges and regain control
Carl Mar Møller bootcamp for cancer patients (this idea is weird, but I kind of love it)
Fight cancer game: A monster you have to fight, by keeping track of exercise, food etc.

So the point is that specific music can give your brainstorm a specific focus. Depending on your goals and target groups, music can help generating ideas for a wanted theme, mood, persona etc. This particular brainstorm gave me some fantastic ideas to refine further – both for the female “company loving” persona and the male “machine loving” persona, with different focus on relaxation, optimism and hardcore physical activity.

Did a very interesting brainstorm using music as a tool at UX...

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 04:41:58 -0400

Did a very interesting brainstorm using music as a tool at UX Camp Cph - Will soon write a resume here with the findings :-)

Going home (Taken with Instagram at E20)

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:11:46 -0400

Going home (Taken with Instagram at E20)

A Few Successful Things Focus Groups Hated

Sat, 05 Mar 2011 07:13:10 -0500

A Few Successful Things Focus Groups Hated:

mentalflossr:

First National City Bank (now Citibank) tested an early version of the ATM in the 1960s. According to a write-up of the experiment, “It seems the only people using the machines were a small number of prostitutes and gamblers who didn’t want to deal with tellers face to face.”

Two of…

An interesting presentation from Josh Clark about designing...

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 07:32:00 -0500

An interesting presentation from Josh Clark about designing iPhone interfaces for delight and usability. It gives good examples on how to optimize your app for certain tasks and then optimize the hell out of them! Cut all the crap and focus on the user’s specific task, I like that. And I like the 3 design principles from the users point of view, when you make an app:

I’m microtasking
I’m local
I’m bored

You’ve got one part of that wrong: This - is NOT meth From...

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 02:46:15 -0500

You’ve got one part of that wrong: This - is NOT meth

From Breaking Bad, my new favourite series! About a high school chemistry teacher who gets diagnosed with lung cancer. To secure his family he starts cooking and selling meth…

Money machine

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 08:18:23 -0500

Money machine

I love GraphJam's poor mental models!

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 05:24:48 -0500

When I look at GraphJam from a UX view, I see a lot of funny examples on mental models gone bad: The intended use of a product can be very different from the actual perception or use of it. Like:

Not really using google translate for translation
Not really using the phone for communication
Not really using glasses for watching 3D films
Not really using superglue for gluing materials

Dinner’s ready!

Fri, 04 Feb 2011 12:14:49 -0500

Dinner’s ready!

UFO in Copenhagen?

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 08:02:54 -0500

UFO in Copenhagen?

"Generally, persons who take part of an entertainment experience like to FEEL, an education..."

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 05:42:00 -0500

“Generally, persons who take part of
an entertainment experience like to FEEL,
an education experience like to LEARN,
an esthetic experience like to BE THERE,
an escapism experience like to DO.”

- Lena Mossberg about Event Experiences

I’m reviewing my friends master thesis about experience economy at museums and found a new “friend”, Professor Lena Mossberg - Lot of interesting points on this subject.

Online Art Stories

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 10:10:00 -0500

Online Art Stories:

The National Gallery of Denmark just launched Art Stories, a new portal for exploring art. It’s a part of a programme that should bring the museum to the forefront of digital arts communication.

I like:

Different entry points in the IA to the art pieces: Works, Artists, Stories and Tracks.
Expanded content via connections to other museums’ collections.
The possibility to look beneath the surface of an art piece with X-rays.

I miss:

User involvement: Since the portal is about stories, this is an obvious way to let users participate. The National Gallery write, that they work with users as co-creators - let’s hope this will be a part of the portal in the future.
Mobile access: I miss it a lot! Both to browse the content at a mobile device and some options for using it at the museum (like the MoMA iPhone app).

Dear National Gallery, if you want to bring the museum to the forefront of digital arts communication, please consider user involvement and other digital platforms than the computer! This is by all means the future.

markralphs: Interactive shopping window in Stockholm promoting...

Sun, 23 Jan 2011 17:15:34 -0500

markralphs:

Interactive shopping window in Stockholm promoting Swedish streetwear brand WeSC.

By Hyper Island.

WHAT IS YOUR EARLIEST HUMAN MEMORY?

Sat, 04 Dec 2010 09:00:00 -0500

My childhood dog Buster peeing in our newbuild house