FEEDBACK

The feedback that i got was very helpful in the development of my process as i got advice in these areas:
- i needed to target an audience for my interface so they could be influenced by the energy saving device
- the interface needed to help the user not hinder them so i got a suggestion to add graphs
- the interface needed to look better and more appealing to the user
- how would the interface work with a certain user base

PROCESS

The target audience i wanted to relate to was a more family environment or for mature adults that are concerned about how much they are saving and how they are saving it. I pictured in my head when developing this idea a more male demographic as the idea was very different and i felt unsure how it would relate to everyone.

IDEAS

My main precedent that i want to take into my whole interface is the idea of a FUTURAMA the ironic industrial development of America. This idea is seen in the game fallout which features many classical ideas that i enjoyed whilst playing the game. These ideas are of the influence that Richard Nixon had on the american way of living and how they developed there nation into an industrial and a futuristic standard of living.

DSDN112 DEVELOPMENT

These images are of the development process i went through putting them through photoshop then into flash.

DSDN112 assignment2 storyboard

Proposal

My idea is to create an energy efficient interface that helps save on energy consumption within homes. The users of the interface are targeted to be designed into the future as the technology needed is very advanced a sort of artificial intelligence. The reason why I choose to design this sort of idea is based on the times when the users have left to go to work or on a trip away for the weekend and can check or get notified if their house is using un-necessary energy.

The idea had to have a sort of punishment or reward system that would help enforce the users to actually take energy consumption seriously. Creating an adapting artwork that coincides with the consumption of energy was an idea to force the punishment in a unique experience. The artwork would be connected to the interface and response to the use of energy by reflecting either positively or negatively. The colours of the artwork will reflect negative power use by using red and dark colours and positive by using bluish bright colours, a sort of light show that is interactive.

The interface is designed to connect to the power the appliances and lighting of the house. To explain what happens when for example a light is left on, the interface will pick up when the user is home and slowly dims the light meaning that there was negative energy consumption. The artwork would reflect this as it will be red flouriest lighting. The user will relise what has happened and tries to save energy consumption to get the artwork back to normal or back into the positive.

Storyboard of the proposal

DSDN112 assignment2 Ideas

Workbook

These are the images of what i have been brainstorming ideas and generating my initial idea to create an interface that helps energy consumption in homes. The idea was to help users turn off or become aware of energy that is being used un-necessarily and make tips on saving energy more known.

I was thinking of creating an idea here were the amount of energy used would reflect in a reward or punishment system, that coincides with the users shaver if you save enough energy for the week you can shave if you don't you cant. Therefore your neighbors can see if your are saving energy by the length of your beard.

Here i brainstormed up a couple of ideas that would maybe work more user friendly and they all reach a different target audience. The first idea was making a social networking group or activities for children that they access on the internet. This would be an educational, but also fun tool that they can make tree houses which relates to there energy usage and the bigger tree house the better energy consumption.

The second idea was making an interface that monitors the power usage of a house, which can limit or increase the amount of fuel used in a car of the household. This idea creates two types of energy consumption, but lacks greater detail and needs alot of figuring out.

The third idea was my favorite as it was the reflection of energy consumption within the home by a piece of electronic artwork. The artwork would have to connected to the lighting of the house and gives the user an experience at the same time as it changes with energy consumption.

DSDN112 assignment2 research

RESEARCH
Domestic energy concsumption is the amount of energy that is spent on the different appliances used within housing. The amount of energy used per household varies widely depending on the standard of living of the country, climate, and the age and type of residence. In an average household in a temperate climate the yearly use of household energy can be composed as follows:

Average domestic energy consumption per household in temperate climates
                                                    

  

12000 kw.h (1400 watts) Hot water

  

3000 kW·h/yr (340 watts) Cooling/refrigeration

  

1200 kW·h/yr (140 watts) Lighting

  

1200 kW·h/yr (140 watts) Washing and drying

  

1000 kW·h/yr (110 watts) Cooking

  

1000 kW·h/yr (110 watts) Miscellaneous 

These statistics are the averages of new zealand homes, and show that heat energy is a massive energy consumption. What i found interesting was that lighting was actually quite high up there with all the new energy efficient light bulbs. I think this would be a good type of energy to look further into:

This is an image that i found interesting as it is not a graph, but drawings of the type of appliances used within the home and shows what  energy they are using.