Introduction

This is a concept of a method of exploring collections. It is aimed at the more curious than knowledgeable, looking for things that they want but maybe don't expect. 20–30:s Internet savvy.

Problem

Our crowd find themselves paralyzed by an empty search field, blinded by endless pages of seemingly identical results or frustrated about the expressionless query language and abrupt movements between scenery.

• I don't know what I'm looking for!
• I don't know how to articulate my search!
• It is not possible to create a query that reflects my flow of thoughts!

Solution

Empathetic discovery and search, where you are at the front and center.

Even if you just know you really like pink you should be ready to start exploring!

ATT puts you in the cockpit:

• To move freely through the dimensions of art and history, ranging from time and space to cuteness and flair
• To be pulled into the flow of serendipitous discovery
• To be served with the gems that you will claim to make your own.

Three parts:

• Collection
• Position
• State of mind
• Smart view

Position – Where are you really starting from?

• You can drop your pin in a different location (by starting out from a collection)
• You will explore your surroundings from the most relevant pieces
• You set the rules for rankings as you go (in a friendly dialogue)

Position data

• Sequence of previous positions
• Time
• Space
• Tags

State of mind – Who are you and what are you up to right now?

• You can configure rankings and interestes seemlessly by exploring
• You can influence what positional data are most relevant to you

State of mind data

• Preference
• Intention

Smart view and direction – In which direction would you like to continue?

• You get to see the best possible summary of all the objects in your current vicinity/view
• You can refine your view by selecting the object that is most interesting and discover more items in that direction
• You can seemlessly direct your path through the collection along any dimension

Smart view data

• Position
• Selection
• State of mind
• Collection

The general idea is to:

1. Simplify results that are too large or too complex.
2. Highlight objects that are of special interest to you
3. Use samples from the collections to you a way to express the direction that you want to explore without prior knowledge.
4. Use your state of mind, starting point, path and current position to refine the next step.

Implementing the interface

• Visually pleasing
• Familiarity
• Tangible

The bigger vision

Walking along a curated path

How do you create a sense of where you are?

• How do you navigate / manage the flow. Sense of direction. Where you came from and where you are going.
• You could be starting from an exhibition or your own collection or Google search? Pulling facts to pinpoint a position

How to summarize the available options from your current viewpoint?

• Showing the results as images, tag clouds, sounds – different methods to summarize
• Embedded question on what media type to explore etc.
• Wikipedia categories or labels from Google Vision.

How to highlight?

• Ranking.

How to choose the direction?

• How do you get feedback from the user?
• Embed questions in the grid / use a second image to pinpoint the direction / questionnaire or interests / learning from navigational patterns / learning from other users

How do you get users to contribute with preference?

• Spotify uses it to improve radio, sharing playlists, tracks etc.

Challenges

• How well the object represent the user’s idea of the physical entity

Example