Generative AI | Week 6 | Micro UX

Brief

Design a way for a person to pass as a ‘generative AI’ in an everyday setting

Teammates

3 teammates | Hong Zhou, Qibin Chen, Xiaole (Zoey) Zang

Timeframe

7 weeks | 20.04 – 08.06.2023

Development

I had mixed feelings about the suggestion of creating a video to accompany our experience. On one hand, I believed it was a fantastic idea that would enhance the richness of the story and overall experience we were crafting. Consequently, I decided to proceed with it. On the other hand, I was mindful of the limited time remaining until the final presentation.

Our main point of contention revolved around the level of fiction we should incorporate into the video. I advocated for minimizing the amount of fiction and instead connecting the plot to our everyday lives. I believed this approach would enable us to establish a stronger connection with the audience. I pushed back against the idea of introducing more aggressive fictional elements. However, I did express openness to a higher degree of fiction if we could increase the intensity gradually, with the maximum level of fiction reserved for the video’s conclusion.

I spent approximately six hours developing a story, and despite we ultimately did not use it, I decided to keep it for potential future projects. I find comfort in the fact that I made a deliberate effort to contribute to the team’s work. Throughout the process, I applied the knowledge I had acquired to crafting compelling stories, and I reached a level of satisfaction that even impressed me.

I was willing to let go of my idea because I recognized that it didn’t align well with the desired direction we were aiming for. Additionally, I found some of the other ideas, despite being simpler in terms of depth and context, to be refreshingly light and more accurate than mine.

However, what I didn’t appreciate was the decision to discard our initial agreement of working on the project over the weekend, combining our efforts, and then starting from scratch on the day we had planned to shoot the video based on those ideas.

We ended up spending a considerable amount of time trying to perfect the video story, which bothered me because we still had unfinished work on our experience part. It felt like we kept moving the goalposts. I understand the desire for excellence, but I would have preferred to work on and present a partially prepared version for feedback or settle for a slightly lower standard, rather than rushing at the last minute with a questionable success rate.

To be honest, I was slightly annoyed and began to question whether the time I had spent on the project was wasted. However, I recognize that such feelings are a normal part of the creative process. Additionally, the lack of a clear and agreed-upon expectation and goal for the video resulted in all of our shooting efforts going in vain.

The feedback we received for the second time on our presentation truly infuriated me because once again our message was unclear to the audience. The blame for this problem lies with us, and it frustrates me that such a simple issue could have been addressed and resolved through a few informal presentations and gathering feedback from our peers or friends.