Patrick Purdy
experience | interaction | design
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Mobile Music Player
Wedding Vows Mobile App
Zeitgeist
Saving The News
Microsoft Studio
Uniquity
bullsmadtown.com
Sponsored by Microsoft, this Masters Capstone project focuses on researching how the Millennial generation communicates and collaborates digitally, then designing a new tool to allow them to work more effectively.

We created a new communication ecosystem involving a web application, desktop gadget and mobile application focused on making information public and using it to get things done. Through this ecosystem, Millennials would receive messages using a hybrid subscribing/directed communication model. The ecosystem would be optimized for temporary messages and provide a way to save, share and discard information as needed.

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Through interviews, directed storytelling and an academic literature review we learned that available communication mediums did not allow Millennials to effectively communicate the actionable information needed to get work done. In many cases our participants were making due by adapting available techniques.

Existing communication platforms did not adequately address the easy saving and access messages, public accountability, accessibility of information and flexibility of interaction.
To appropriately address the issues we discovered in our research, we knew that we had to create an ecosystem of multiple elements that would work together. A priority also was put on exploring a new kind of communication model where information is sent to a particular person but also shared publicly. Information needed to be available from any location and interactions optimized for each viewing platform. We also knew we needed to create an interaction that fit with the temporary nature of the information being communicated.
To emphasize accessibility and flexibility we created our ecosystem in three parts. A web interface would be used for main application interactions involving sending, receiving and organizing messages, a mobile application to be used as an on-the-go viewer and a desktop gadget for receiving notifications.

To keep interactions casual and focused on temporary information, we designed a unique method of keeping relevant and time sensitive information viewable and accessible at all times. We call this method "pinning".

We chose to limit the overall functionality of the mobile application and the gadget as our research indicated that these touch-points would be used almost exclusively as message consumption.
Our solution provided Millennials with a means to effectively communicate temporary information in order to get work done. We created an accessible application ecosystem that encompassed three touch-points, web, mobile and desktop. Messages were sent and received by individuals but made public in order to increase accountability. Interactions were designed to keep the focus on the task at hand, important messages were made easy to save, retrieve and discard, maximizing the effectiveness of the communication medium.
Our initial research focus
Modeling research data from 30 participant interviews
 
Dots within shaded areas of the same color are messages observed to be effeciently sent using that medium.
Paper prototyping new interactions
 
User testing and evaluation of our mobile and web applications
Initial wireframes were used to evaluate interaction design
 
Final design of our ecosystem including web application, mobile application and desktop gadget
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© Patrick Purdy 2011
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