I don’t feel particularly happy about writing this ‘round-up’ post as it implies that things have reached an end when they very much are just beginning. While the zoom phase has really helped me unpack my idea and repack it in a very strong way I feel like I’ve not quite got there quite yet. Perhaps I’m just being paranoid or maybe it’s a little flutter of low self confidence (read that in a non-pathetic, non-weepy way) but I’m slightly worried that my decisions are the wrong ones.

Nevertheless, I have made some design decisions which needed to be made and as a result have developed a concept project which has many strong idiosyncrasies.

A few months back in October I thought my Zoom phase was going to be about building prototypes and generally being hands-on and getting dirty with the WiiMote and the other mechanics behind the project. While this is necessary I think I neglected slightly the whole point of a zoom phase. Thankfully, however, I caught this in time and have really allowed myself to ‘let go’ of the (potentially) interesting, fun bits and delve into other elements of the project and ultimately into the End-User Experience of the project.

Initially I thought the project was going to surround the cameras and their mounts. All my boards from the PeDeTe phase suggested that this was indeed the case but I now realise that in order for the project to be truly exciting from the ‘average’ end-user I have to tilt everything on its side and redesign how everything works together.

In its current stage, the project (which still lacks a name) has developed from a technological product design piece to a concept project which incorporates multiple UI elements and is more focused on the user interaction than the physical components - hugely important in my role as an Interaction Designer.

In hindsight I am very pleased with how my zoom phase ran its course; I navigated many hurdles and nailed down many aspects of the project. If I could rewrite my Zoom brief/proposal I’d say I was going to do just that. While other Zoom blogs seem to portray a proof of concept, justify ideas or find niches in particular aspects of the project mine set things straight in my head; if ultimately the zoom phase was to help drive the project on then it has certainly been successful. The blog below highlights my journey from a confused ‘Movie’ project through to a very confident ‘Paint by Numbers’ project.