Growing phonebook of real human stories



Intertwined is a location-based CAVE experience where guests are invited to share deeply personal stories through a telephone. Guests are also invited to listen to stories recorded by previous guests from an ever-growing archive.

Project Overview:
  • Project Goal: Design, build, and deliver a location-based experience for the Askwith Kenner Global Languages and Cultures Room at Carnegie Mellon University, that deals with intersectionality, social issues and safe spaces.
  • Role: Producer, Experience Designer
  • Time: 14 Weeks

Contributions:
  • Managed a team of 6 in developing a location-based experience for Askwith Kenner Global Languages and Cultures Room in Carnegie Mellon University.
  • Managed scope through prioritizing tasks and forecasting time costs to deliver final playable product in 14 weeks
  • Resolved internal conflicts between client and team to unify vision and maintain team motivation
  • Documented design process, feedback and meeting notes for future technical support
My reflection on Intertwined

Stills from video


The Archive of Human Stories


The Archive serves as a fictional environment that collects recordings of responses from the guests. The guests are prompted to respond to questions that deal with personal relationships between either friends or family. As the guest responds to the questions, the environment slowly transforms into a serene lake, with a tree in the center that begins to grown and blossom over time.

At the very end of the experience, the guest is invited to dial numbers that correspond to a specific question, which then plays back a random selection of a recording of a response to that question. All guests have the option to opt-out of recording, and may skip the responding section entirely, if they wish participate by listening only.




Design Process


Our creative development process began with the team exploring to understand our very own identities. What kind of questions resonate the most with us? What made us feel less comfortable when answering such questions? What are the most important things when asking someone sensitive questions?

We sought aid and inspiration from existing exercises and games that explore social identities to help us guide our initial drafting of our experience.

Social Identity Wheel from University of Michigan Inclusive Teaching
“Where Should We Begin” by Esther Perel
We recognized that while asking and answering perosnal questions tied to our identity could be difficult, we found ourselves bonding over the conversations. Then it struck us that a simple conversational interaction; giving people a sense of being heard, could be lead to an impactful experience.

Pitching
 In close collaboration with our client, we came up with an idea for a location-based experience that utilizes three-wall projection and a rotary dial telephone as a main point of interaction. The guests would pick up the phone, which will trigger a series of questions in a conversational style. Guests will be able to then provide answers which will then be, with their consent, recorded into the “Archive”.




It was critical that our script was carefully crafted and tested thoroughly as we were exploring a very personal and sensitive space of the guests interacting with our experience. 

We had to made sure that regardless of the personal stories people were ready to share, the script had to hold up and make sense without making it feel detached and ‘automated’. 

We wanted to simulate a true conversation where the “listener” (scripted voice) showed empathy towards the guest sharing their stories. To give the experience “replayability” and to gather diverse voices and stories, we created a branching script that would randomly select a topic around which the questions will be asked.


Playtesting


Testing in office
Testing on-site
 We iterated on our script, informed by playtests and post-test interviews. Playtests were scheduled weekly, and ocurred in parallel to the development. By week 7, we began playtesting on-site of where our final experience would live in.

Post-playtest interview

Delivery



By week 15, we were able to curate our experience with two branching question topics, and deliver it to our client at the Askwith Kenner Global Languages and Cultures Room.



Reflection on this project

Project Website