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 19 April 2004

ROADCASTING Agenda CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 19 April 2004 • The state of radio • What is Roadcasting? • Progress since last presentation • Design brainstorming • Contextual inquiries • Participatory design session • Paper prototype • Working prototype • Service definition • Scalability • Persona creation • What’s next

ROADCASTING The State of Radio CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 19 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 19 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 Progress Since Last Presentation CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 19 April 2004 • 1. 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 Progress Since Last Presentation CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 19 April 2004 • 2. 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 Progress Since Last Presentation CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 19 April 2004 • 3. Participatory Design Session • To determine target audience’s in-car activities and music-related activities • Three activities • Questionnaire • In My Car collage Dream Radio collage

ROADCASTING Progress Since Last Presentation CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 19 April 2004 3. 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 Progress Since Last Presentation CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 19 April 2004 4. Paper prototype Seeking information regarding: Sending votes to a station Blocking a station from one’s radio Searching for stations

ROADCASTING Progress Since Last Presentation CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 19 April 2004 5. 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 Progress Since Last Presentation CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 19 April 2004 6. Service definition

ROADCASTING Progress Since Last Presentation CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 19 April 2004 7. Scalability No listeners: Systems selects songs from personal collection based on driver’s personal preferences. 1 listener: Station begins to tailor its track recommendations to agree with tastes of both the broadcaster and the listener. 10 listeners: Because of taste diversity, the identity of the station begins to exert itself through the broadcasters selections, and certain genres become more popular than others. 1,000 listeners: Fluctuations in individual listener’s preferences have little impact. Voting becomes an optimal way to gauge audience’s taste. Note: Broadcaster always has the option for full control of song selection.

ROADCASTING Progress Since Last Presentation CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 19 April 2004 • 8. Persona creation • 3 personas • Ryan Walsh: primary listener • Rolando Guzman: primary broadcaster #1 • Melissa Devers: primary broadcaster #2

ROADCASTING What’s Next CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 19 April 2004 • What’s Next • Continue prototype testing of receiving • Iterate paper prototypes • Implement collaborative filtering for Java prototype • Explore broadcasting • Has been delayed because audience needs and desired weren’t established • Create prototype that fakes the receiving end to better understand broadcasting issues • Work towards a combined unit that can be distributed to users “in the wild” • Continue to define larger-scale service and technical details

ROADCASTING Questions? CMU MHCI - GM Network Project 19 April 2004 Comments, questions?

CMU MHCI - GM Network Project