Field Research

Research Method 3

Semantic Differential Analysis

Description:

Research which involves obtaining direct insight from participants of the environment. My research group took a group of people out into the city, to observe the visual language that they had come across, whilst responding to the form that we had provided. This form of research was a little bit like a focus group, except instead of keeping people within a closed space, we took them out to experience something.

The way that a Semantic Differential Analysis works is that there a set of questions that form into three groups: Evaluative, Potency, and Activity, creating ideas and concepts to measure. These questions have two ends: for instance: bad, good or Nice, horrible. 

With people filling out these forms, it is helping us to obtain their real emotional responses to what they see.

 

Example of form we used

Conclusion:

This method of research has been very beneficial for us, being able to take people out into the real environment in which we are studying, and getting peoples direct emotional feedback. Being much like a focus group, except it isn’t inclosed in a laboratory environment, it’s out in the field, which we felt was much more appropriate for the research.

When we went out to each point, each place all had their main aspects of attention that would continue throughout the group, which gave us ideas that there were specific visual mediums within the public there were more effective then others.

 

Summery:

• unique and simple (straight to the point), were aspects for attention in public

• unusual types of visual language captures attention.

• The positioning of the medium is also a huge factor when trying to get the attention of the general public.

• Somewhere that people have time to briefly look around or a position that people can’t avoid to look at is an effective position to put visual language.

• We found a lot of visual language, which moved around or wasn’t stationary was very successful in getting people to look at it.

• Creating curiosity and a sense of mystery is another area, which we found was an important aspect to get people interested and involved.

• This may also mean, if something isn’t completely understood people will try and investigate further.

• Emotion and memory could also be another possibility: If something is seen that relates to other good memories, such as the Mario sign in the city.­

 

Curtain project

Images are now here!!!!

Experiment 6

Curtain project

Description:

Going by one of the three points of attraction: Unusual happens to be one of them for attracting attention. Our idea of something unusual would be to place a strange object in a place that may not have these sorts of visuals in the chosen environment, which happens to be in the city. This strange object is a bright orange curtain, which may contain messages behind it, to either get direct attention, or even intrigue people to look behind it.

Aim: 

As some of our past experiment have involved slight twists of usual visual language “piano warning sign”, we wanted to try and see if we could make something a bit strange that may get peoples attention, attempt to distract them from the heavy artillery of public media.

Curtain Placement 1:

City: Bouke street and russle street, 

Location: On a construction fence, aside of the walkway

 

Curtain Placement 2:

City: Southbank

Location: On a wooden fence, not near any other visual distractions, next the river.

 

 

 

 

 

Method:

We recorded the information into three categories, separated into three, 

5 minutes segments

Seen but kept waking past – male/female

Stopped to look – male/female

Not looked – male/female

 

Result:

City Placement

• The placement of the curtain in the central part of the city did not get much attention.

• People generally either walk straight past it,

• See it and ignore it,

• Glance and point and it.

• 70% of people don’t seem to even acknowledge it.

 

Riverside placement

• More then half the people walking past it has looked in the direction

• More females seemed to have looked at it

• A small amount of people, (mainly couples) had actually stopped to look and see if there was anything behind the curtain. (in first placement, we didn’t put anything behind it.)

Conclusion

Results were similar to the sign project, where the placement of the object in the busy parts of the city, were mainly ignored. Changing the placement to a place with less visual clutter seems to gain more attention.

This time with an added element of intrigue by placing something behind the curtain, more people had also seemed to have looked then before. People actually had some level of wanting to be involved with the object, which is a good sign for our research.

In the sticks – sign project

In the sticks – sign project

Description

A sign has been created, mimicking the information that is usually displayed on such mediums. These types of signs are usually in public places, displaying information that maybe be important to the surrounding peoples safety, because of road works, building construction, or other dangers. These signs are normally brightly coloured, using colours that cant be ignored eg: red, bright yellow acting as waring signals.

Aim:

Much like the city sign project except in a new environment, in more rural areas. Although this particular sign’s use was created for placement in the city, I felt that the city was too greater place to compete with such overwhelming visuals. The new placement idea, of taking the same sign, and putting somewhere that isn’t taken over by billboards and tram adverts will hopefully get some different responses.

 

Time: 8:20am (School starting hours)

Location:

Macleod station / Macleod College, outside train station sign post

Environment:

On a fence, near the exit from a train platform, going towards the school. Also on a sign post outside, the the platform going to the city.

 

Results:

From my previous results, it seemed that younger people were the ones that noticed such an object more often then anyone else, when it was placed in the city. But also in the city, it blended in a bit more. Now in the new environment, in a place where people had to stop for trains, the sign gained a lot more attention. People would not only just look and walk past the sign, but also stop in confusion as to what it was. Students going to school having to wait for the train seemed to stare at it, mostly in silence. I heard a few students discussing what the sign was.

 Some comments such as:

• WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?

• We aren’t in the city, what’s it doing here?

• What retard put this here?

• Ha ha, that’s funny, someone pushing a piano off a building.

• Why would someone push a piano off a building?

Conclusion:

Although people and students in this area may not have all positively reacted to the sign, it still caught peoples attention, (I think mainly being so wildly out of place).

The sign post placement was mostly just for fun. Due to it being on the city side and away from the school, it either couldn’t be seen, or people were too much in a rush to see it.

 

 

City signs project

The sign project

Description

A sign has been created, mimicking the information that is usually displayed on such mediums. These types of signs are usually in public places, displaying information that maybe be important to the surrounding peoples safety, because of road works, building construction, or other dangers. These signs are normally brightly coloured, using colours that cant be ignored eg: red, bright yellow acting as waring signals.

Aim:

The aim of this project is to see how people actually respond to such signs, and if the signs are actually paid any attention. But due to the amount of these kinds of signs out in public and type of graphic style, people do seem to ignore them. My take on this was to make something within the same vain except using an image or idea that isn’t normally used. The idea is that I can place such a sign in an environment where it may blend in, and see if people may notice the difference between a real warning sign, or something comical.

Sign placement 1:

At 10:14 am, 14th April

Placement location: Corner of Flinders lane and Elizabeth street

Environment: The area where I had placed this sign was appropriate as it is already covered in warning signs.

Results:

45 minutes had lapsed during my first observation, and it seems that maybe the sign had blended in too well. Almost no-one passing during this time had seemed to have noticed it.  People would stand at the corner, waiting for the lights to change but still, no response. I feel that either people do see it, but ignore it and don’t see the humour behind it or people don’t actually see it due to its environment. 

I had noticed that kids mostly aged between 5-15 were the ones that mostly noticed it.

I am not sure whether it is their ways to perceive things and actually look around for visually stimulating things or “I just placed it at their hight”.  

Sign Placement 2:

At 10:50 am

Location:

Corner of Elizabeth street and Collins street

(behind a pedestrians sign)

Environment:

It seems that when people are in a hurry, people mostly don’t look around, they generally just see what’s in-front of them. I also wanted to know if people do actually watch where they are going apart from just avoiding other people.

I had placed it where people would have to look, next to a pointing “pedestrian” sign.

 

 

Results:

Perhaps due to the direct placement of the sign in front of people, they tend to see it a lot more then they did before, but people don’t really stop to look at it. As it’s a sign that in almost a feet level, a lot of people don’t notice, most just look directly ahead as I had mentioned. It did bring some smiles to peoples faces, this was probably the biggest indicator seeing if people actually saw it and responded in some way.

To some, it was such a distraction that it caught people off guard, by looking around and noticing the sign, someone kept walking and looking, to almost trip on something. This tells me that signs may also do the opposite to what they are supposed to do. Instead of informing someone of a danger, it may distract them from it.

 

Sign Placement 3:

At 11:25 am, 14th April

Location:  Out the front of flinders street station (the stairs)

Environment:

On a maintenance fence in front of flinders street station, placed around head height just off a narrow corridor from finders street shops and the temporary fence that follows all the way to Swanston street.

 

Results:

Although, there were distractions near by that may have caught peoples attention more then this petty sign, such as road works going on and change collectors for sick children. People also ignored the change collectors, just as much as my sign (so  it didn’t make me feel so bad) apart from the fact that those people shouldn’t have been ignored.

I guess it just shows what people wish to actually pay attention to, which is usually just what they are doing and where they are going, (which I believe there is a theory behind why people don’t notice much of what is around them… I may go into this later.)

The same results as before really? People see it, but don’t wish to pay any attention to it, as its something of no importance to them. Mainly younger people would stop and look and sometimes take pictures.

Conclusion:

I think the city in general is a difficult area to try and get peoples attention, as you are competing with a massive amount of media that happens to have a lot more BRAND power then what you can produce. In this kind of environment, people mainly will only pay attention to things that are important to them or things they may want. My understanding of this would be that if people noticed and paid attention to everything, people wouldn’t be going anywhere, but would appear to be zombies, slowly stumbling around everywhere. This in Itself is a danger, as people would no longer pay attention to things that threaten them. (which may be a brain function that only restricts us to perceiving things in direct importance to us at those given times).