CMU MHCI - GM Network Project

ROADCASTING GM Car Network Project Jim Garretson Whitney Hess Jordan Kanarek Mathilde Pignol Megan Shia CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 1 April 2004

ROADCASTING Agenda CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 1 April 2004 • The state of radio • What is Roadcasting? • Where we are • How we got here • Project focus selection • Design brainstorming • Contextual inquiries • Design issues • Participatory design session • Paper prototype • Prototype testing • Working prototype • What’s next

ROADCASTING The State of Radio CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 1 April 2004 More niches to support than even 150 radio stations can handle Even internet radio not interactive Untapped opportunity to make radio more entertaining, reach a broader, captive, audience

ROADCASTING What Is Roadcasting? CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 1 April 2004 ? New approach to community and communication Service model that allows people to express themselves by offering their own radio stations Allows communities to meet and share common interests Provides methods for quickly finding the best stations for any individual listener

ROADCASTING Where We Are CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 1 April 2004 Where we are, as of today: 21 group meetings 2 prototypes 14 users interviewed 92 pieces of content on project site

ROADCASTING Where We Are CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 1 April 2004 • Prototypes • One on paper, looking at how users find stations.

ROADCASTING Where We Are CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 1 April 2004 • Prototypes • One written in Java, looking at how users browse among stations.

ROADCASTING Where We Are CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 1 April 2004 • User research • 3 contextual inquiries with college radio DJs • 7-person participatory design session • 4 user tests of the paper prototype

ROADCASTING Where We Are CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 1 April 2004 • Background research • 57 articles • 14 files • 21 images of current automobile interfaces

ROADCASTING Where We Are CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 1 April 2004 • Innovative services research • Matrix summary of innovative services that are relevant to our project

ROADCASTING How We Got Here CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 1 April 2004 • Project Focus Selection • Narrowed down ideas from an initial 45+ to five finalists. • Sketched and developed concept documents for each of the five. • Ranked the surviving three by all relevant criteria and chose the best.

ROADCASTING How We Got Here CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 1 April 2004 • 2. Design brainstorming • Found two main areas to consider: • Broadcasting • Definition and maintenance of live playlist • Opportunities for commercials • Deciding when and where to broadcast • Differentiation from “real” radio • Feedback regarding audience • On-air light • Signal quality • Location of source music • What happens when DJ reaches destination • Receiving • Definition of a station • Locating a desirable or desired station • Notification of new stations • Dealing with non-persistent stations • Identifying stations uniquely • Definition of types of searching and browsing • Avoiding undesirable or “bad” stations • Agent guidance • Definition of desirable filtering criteria

ROADCASTING How We Got Here CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 1 April 2004 • 3. Contextual Inquiries • User research with contextual inquiries at college radio station WRCT • Watched on-air activities performed by each of three DJs • Concluded that in-car broadcasting can be much simpler, and feasibility is not as bad as we thought

ROADCASTING How We Got Here CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 1 April 2004 • 4. Design Issues • Questions for ourselves • Does the concept of a “station” still make sense? • Do users need to know which station they’re listening to? • Issues of station ownership & community role • Issues for Participatory Design • Community-building vs. personal aspects of radio • Types of use (music, talk, etc.) • Level of control desired • Interaction desired with station

ROADCASTING How We Got Here CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 1 April 2004 • 5. Participatory Design Session • To determine target audience’s in-car activities and music-related activities • Seven participants • Average age 31 • 5 males, 2 females • Averaged 48-minute round-trip commute

ROADCASTING How We Got Here CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 1 April 2004 • 5. Participatory Design Session • Three activities • Questionnaire • In My Car collage Dream Radio collage

ROADCASTING How We Got Here CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 1 April 2004 • 5. Participatory Design - Results • Questionnaire: • More participants listen to the radio than their own music • Vast majority of participants listen to FM stations • Participants listen to the radio primarily for entertainment, then for news • Most participants change stations after each song, or when commercials come on • Audience prefers music and comedy to political commentary

ROADCASTING How We Got Here CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 1 April 2004 • 5. Participatory Design - Results • In-car activities collage • Participants’ Activities / Concerns: • Safety • Isolation • Radio • Personal music • Aggravation due to other drivers • Delays

ROADCASTING How We Got Here CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 1 April 2004 • 5. Participatory Design - Results • Make-your-own-radio collage Number of times each button was selected. (Includes write-ins)

ROADCASTING How We Got Here CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 1 April 2004 5. Participatory Design – Discussion Radio as Controlled Chaos Current radio is marketing songs Satellite radio is an improvement but still does not offer sufficient breadth of programming Participants appreciate “good” DJs

Seeking ROADCASTING How We Got Here CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 1 April 2004 6. Paper prototype Seeking information regarding: Sending votes to a station Blocking a station from one’s radio Searching for stations

ROADCASTING How We Got Here CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 1 April 2004 • 7. Prototype testing • Ongoing • So far: • Difficulty with testing: Metadata and classifications of internet radio aren’t perfect • Users disinclined to “block” a station • Some participants had trouble thinking of genres on their own (and would prefer browsing)

ROADCASTING How We Got Here CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 1 April 2004 8. Working prototype • Seeking information regarding: • How users browse through large numbers of stations • How the browsing problem can be narrowed • Ways to introduce collaborative filtering

ROADCASTING What’s Next CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 1 April 2004 • What’s Next • Continue prototype testing of receiving • Iterate paper prototype • Implement collaborative filtering for Java prototype • Explore broadcasting • Has been delayed because audience needs and desired weren’t established • Create prototypes to test with real users • Continue to define larger-scale service and technical details

ROADCASTING Conclusion CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 1 April 2004 Much progress has been made Timeline has proven to be fairly realistic but still need adjustments

ROADCASTING Questions? CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 1 April 2004 Comments, questions?

CMU MHCI - GM Network Project