In this stage, I start testing my idea - Gesture Money, I draw a storyboard to explain my idea to the interviewees. Below is the storyboard showing how users can interact with the hand tracking machines without using a mobile phone, coin and banknotes.
Storyboard ✏️
Interaction ✋
Then, I also did some mockups to illustrate my idea. Below are the hand gesture actions regarding the interaction we have with digital money. It includes "Request money from friends", "Showing your spending summary", "Make a payment to somebody", "Showing your payment status" and "Unlock your bank card"
User Flow 🏃♂️
Then, I also designed the user flow which shows how the Gesture Money system may work. From transactions outside or at home to detected by the hand tracking machine, it will be encoded from "Gesture for spending", "Gesture for normal usage", and "Gesture for earning" to different types of music. The machine will analyze the frequency and the currency type to customize your spending summary.
Additional idea ✨
When I was thinking about this idea. I also think of how to link the currency personality to gesture and hand. Maybe it could be like tattoos to represent currency personality. Just like the below mockup images.
Sensory Experience 👂👅
In order to give the encoding process and result in more meanings, I think of an idea to give spending summary a repackaging. After analyzing users' gesture actions of using digital money. The system will summarise your spending data in a music playlist, tasting box or illustration. This can make your spending summary become more sensible. You can have a sensory experience to feel how you spend your digital money.
Testing 🧪
In the testing, all the participants have a chance to design their own gesture system. Then, they have to find another partner to interact with the role-playing scenarios of the storyboard. After the testing session, I asked them how they feel and do they have any feedback on this speculative design idea.
Project feedback & Reflection 🙌
In this stage, I know it is very important to make something real to test. Although time is always limited to finish all the stuff, I tried my best to illustrate my idea and present it to users in the user testing session. Turn out I got a lot of good feedback. Some users told me they worry about the privacy issue of using a hand tracking machine and they say they have to spend much more time to adapt to a completely new design for digital money. It is a very good point to consider. In functional consideration, it may not be the perfect design idea to develop. It may take more cost for a company. But I believe this is a good speculative experience to let people reimagine money, especially when our world is turning to be cashless. This still has the value to work on, at least it helps to build people awareness.
Please have a look at the next blog for further progress.
References 📖
Perry, M., 2017. Designing interactions with digital money. Interactions, 24(6), pp.34-37.
REMUND, D., 2010. Financial Literacy Explicated: The Case for a Clearer Definition in an Increasingly Complex Economy. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 44(2), pp.276-295.
Simmel, G., 1991. Money in Modern Culture. Theory, Culture & Society, 8(3), pp.17-31.
Stinson, L., 2014. Three Wild Concepts For The Future Of Money. [online] Wired. Available at: <https://www.wired.com/2014/10/method-money-concepts/> [Accessed 10 November 2020].