PAOLO TANEDO
Creative Technology
If a picture is worth a thousand words, a prototype is worth a thousand meetings.
-Tom and David Kelley (IDEO)
To better prepare for the not-to-distant future, simulation can help provoke deeper, more meaningful insights. They are safer and can present difficult or even impossible scenarios that can illicit unique reactions. They encompass endless possibilities, and yet they are precise in their intent. Simulations help usher in a future that is safer, greener, and more fun.
My Tools and Methods
Figma | Pandemic of Pixel Perfection
My position as Digital Product Designer at Chicago-based Magic+Might was held when the COVID pandemic was in full-swing. Collaboration was key, and Figma was a powerful tool to connect us designers during that time. I have been using it ever since. I have taught my grad students Figma, along with my recent co-workers at International Motors. It has since become a standard tool on all of my teams.
Although, after a while, even Figma's capabilities to create convincing interactive UIs was lacking. Hence, following my proposal, my team and others have adopted a new tool to couple with Figma to bolster our prototyping capabilities. Enter: Protopie.
Protopie | Becoming a Pro Prototyper
When I first found Protopie, it reminded me of Mac-only software called Principle, but after a few months, and now, years of exposure to it, the difference is quite drastic.
I have become quite the Protopie-Power-User.
I've again translated what I've learned into a curriculum for my grad students and, more recently, for my co-workers. We use it heavily for prototyping all on-screen interactions with complex, diverging logic that closely mimics 'real' behavior in vehicle.
Arduino | "Little Arthur" That Could
Yet another powerful tool in its own right, Arduino is and was always in my tool belt for almost every project. I've used it to make IoT devices for my home, smart workout/biometric trackers, robots, music players, the list seems endless.
I've brought this pro-sumer knowledge into my professional life, and with the aforementioned tools, Arduino comes in very handy to bring physicality into interaction design; a god-send considering there is a movement away from purely touch-screen based interaction.
My Arduino knowledge in particular has grown to accommodate specific use-cases in a vehicle's cabin. I've asked myself new questions on how I can leverage the power of the open-sourced tech.
How might I used Arduino to command high-powered HVAC blowers? ping an API? read a driver's heart beat? multiplex to hundreds of inputs using a single board?
All together now!
Figma, Protopie, Arduino.
The 3 main tools that can enable any physical and digital designer to create convincing experiences without (much of) a learning curve.
I've personally put together and coordinated these tools and more at my current position to address a fundamental issue.
There is a severe DISCONNECT between designers and their visions.
The goal of this toolbox was to bridge that connection.
I chose these tools for my students and my coworkers because they are well-documented and learnable.
Not only that, they are actually FUN to use!
In short, I wanted to coordinate this ecosystem so that designers can see their concepts quickly and more often to get the most out of their creative juices. It allows them to see their designs in context and with more representative interactions and environments.
But wait, there's more!
I am an advocate of failing-fast and just trying new things, especially when it comes to prototyping with new tools. The following are what I've been doing recently in addition to the major tools above.
IoT, API, IDK...
Especially for the advent of software-defined vehicles, I have generated workflows for connecting prototyped experiences to the web.
This can be something as simple as getting the real time of day to way-finding via open-map APIs inside of a concept HMI.
OBD-II,
Connecting concept designs to real data from real vehicles is an exploration path I am forging in service of user-testing with drivable experiences. In other words, how might we test under the most realistic conditions... ON THE ROAD?!
Share and democratize technology.
Give designers creative freedom without the steep learning curve.
My experience as a grad student and as an Adjunct Professor taught me that designing something meant collaboration in every form.
Sharing what you've built and, more importantly, HOW you've built it is what is most valuable.
Make the tech-tree transparent so that everyone can benefit.
Find the balance in fidelity.
Simulation should convey a level of realism that is enough to make the scenario believable. If the simulation is too low-fidelity, then the simulator is of little use since a questionnaire could have been used instead. If the simulation is too high-fidelity, then some effort and energy was wasted because the level of detail is rarely, if ever, needed to produce genuine responses. Different studies will require different levels of realism as well. Find the balance in each, generate the environment quickly, and get your results.
