Thesis project was just ended.

My thesis project was just ended today. It went well, and the responses was just fantastic. Here is the original link for the presentation:

http://prezi.com/62553/

I'd also love to attach some screenshots of this piece of software, and deliver the documentation on Thursday.

Thesis topic: Social network for collectors - moving design from physical to virtual.

Literature framework: Russel Belk's consumer behavior theory - possesions as extended self.

User research was conducted in 12 collectors' homes.

The final software contains 4 main components: A media center allows collectors to manipulate, organize and manage their media files(pictures or videos). A data pool that stores all the meta data. An exhibition areas in which peole can build their personal displays(virtual white shelves). A ritual/social component that helps people to assign life to their collectables, in order to express and extend themselves.

Shelfee is a social networking tool for collectors, they can build their own virtual shelves and exhibit their collections, and view them in many different ways.

Open, linked data describe object's properties, and link to each other, construct a social knowledge web according to semantic connections, everybody can contribute and benefit from this community. The bar on the top shows the tonic bottle's category/family tree edited by everyone, and it also potentially helps collectors to find items they are interested in.

By inputting their life stories, collectors can build an experience timeline constructed by multiple collecting events, in that way they will reserve their memories, and possibly share those stories to the community. This is a screenshot shows two pictures Christina took, and an adventure she had with acquiring this bottle.

Collectors can also input the stories about a specific object, where does it come from, and how was it being made and used. Here's a screenshot shows a journey map an object has went through, and a map shows all the related tonic bottle collectors in the world.

Publish an object to the web, also means create a digital life for it to grow in a social context. Here's an screenshot for an object which was just created 35 seconds ago.

Here's a screenshot shows how this object grows in the virtual world, people visit by and leave comments.

Designer's notes:

I'm working on the documentation right now, during the summer I'll build this thing out. Before that I need lots lots of professional feedbacks, and need user validations on my design. Future plan also includes a case study paper in CHI.

Let me know if you would like to get involved into this product. I'm also seeking business oppotunites with eBay.

And final note: Design softwares that is simply stunning, beautiful, right, functional, attractive, is just more fun than fun.

This is the Demo(not the final version yet):

Comments

[David Raffauf]

Very nice work. You do a great job of telling a story to wrap the entire experience together. The illustrations really help set the tone and tie the UI back into someone's real life adventures.