COZY FURNITURE WORKSHOP
As part of a multimedia design course, Cozy Furniture Workshop is an interactive simulation that walks the user through the process of building a wooden coffee table involving player interactions with illustrated graphics. This project has allowed me to incorporate personal illustrations, taking the designs to create an interactive environment for a users to be guided through a task.
When designing the graphics and interaction methods for the simulation, creating clear object illustrations and intuitive interaction cues in an environment is significant in communicating the relationship of the items in the setting with the audience. As users are interacting with the items, I aimed to create simple indicators to accomodate the player for each step while simulating an ambient environment through the illustrations.
To understand how users respond to actions and visual cues to compose a smooth interaction process, I needed to recognize methods of communciating direction to users and how they respond to cues.
I first approached the concept by organizing each player interaction and layout of the table construction event, illustrating an initial storyboard to outline the progression of each step, while also indicating animated object elements to experiment with ways to cue players to interact with an object. As I brainstormed each frame, I considered the interaction flow and the composition so objects are positioned visibly in the setting.
To initiate a user response with an item, I positioned each object to appear at the beginning of each step as a subtle cue to the object needed to select, and removing the tool to signal when the action is completed. Through these indicators, it creates clear prompts that direct the player as they progress through the simulation to highlight instructions for each step that are understandable.
I combined visual noise effects with the illustrated graphics to emphasize the action and responsiveness of the tools, improving user engagement with the environment. However, actions with the tools often require time to complete; so I included timed graphics that appear and dissolve automatically to simulate the process for more immersion.
Through the development of the application, I felt that the simulation could be enhanced further with the background setting and that some interactions were relying on the integrated text to direct the user. I realized that a sudden appearance of an object may be overlooked by users through the quick transition leaving me to my next solution:
I included call-to-action techniques by implementing tilting motions on the tools and materials to cue and immediately direct users, driving the attention to the item and improving clarity of interactions for each stage.
To engage users with the overall environment, I included time progressing through the day by incorporated moving environmental elements with animation techniques to actively display continuity as the task advances.
From building the interactive simulation, I improved on familiarizing myself in understanding how users respond to environmental signs to create an engaging step-by-step system. I have also gained practice in understanding the relationship of graphics and visual cues in communicating to users to develop an intuitive experience in multimedia while expanding on creating graphic assets and directing users through an event.
Moving forward from this project, I would improve on having smoother interactions, and further refine the simulated experience by including more steps within the environment for a more coherent and logical transition between events.
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