Blog Post #3_Define target user group

User Modeling

 

#1 Freshman

Name: Jihoon Jang

age: 20

Jihoon is a freshman at Yonsei University. He is enjoying his life as a university student. He meets and hangs out with new people every day at various school events and club gatherings. It is very enjoyable to drink and play in a free environment that I did not experience until high school. However, when he wakes up the next day after drinking, I feel empty when I look at the numerous newly added Instagram accounts that I do not remember who they are. Also, even though he knows a lot of people, he sometimes feels sad when there is no one with whom he can openly talk about his worries.

 

#2 Intern

Name: Mina Kang

Age: 25

Mina recently graduated from university and started her internship at a company that she wanted. After graduating from a good university and joining the company she wanted, she seemed to have become a “successful adult,” but her first steps as a member of society were not easy as she thought.  Unlike when she was a student, she had to take responsibility for what she did and had to make many shallow business relationships for the first time. Also, her society forced her to wear the mask of “Mina” that others wanted her to be, not the true “Mina”, which made her exhausted. Sometimes, she has thoughts about being a student again.

 

#3 Foreigner

Name: Tom Stevens

Age: 22

Tom is a sophomore at a Korean university. He was born in the US and moved to South Korea in 2021 to study at Yonsei University. When he first arrived, he felt very lonely because he barely spoke Korean and had no friends here. As school started, he gradually started to make friends and things got a lot better for him. However, although he has gotten used to life in Korea, he often feels lonely. He sometimes can’t connect deeply with Koreans and other foreign friends due to cultural differences and different experiences. In times like these, Tom wants to talk to his old friends from school in the US. But that is also difficult due to different time zones. However, the next day his loneliness “fades away” when he goes back to classes and his regular club activities. But every now and then, loneliness finds its way back to Tom… or maybe it never left in the first place?

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User Cognition

1. How people interact with media art interaction- based on our field trip

Project Hashtag

Peter Weilbel

 

Seoul Vibe

 

• The media art exhibition was located in MMCA Korea which is a place where lots of people gather to experience the exhibits. From the stars, you witness people lining up next to the ticket booth, the stationary shop, or the entrance to the exhibition itself. From the first experience, this feels like a social event, where people came with the same goal and enjoy the same experience.
• The exhibition includes many interactive media art installations. People line up to interact with the art piece. While one person is interacting with the installation, others gather around to observe. This creates a somewhat friendly and supportive environment for all.
• When interacting with the art, visitors feel excited and intrigued by the interaction. It leaves a deep impression on them even afterward. Mostly, visitors figured out how to interact with the exhibit on their own, some read the manual, and some would give clues and hints to others, even strangers.
• The overall experience was quite intuitive and did not pressure the user to interact. However, some exhibits did impose a problem of understanding the usage, so the user would have to refer to a manual or human interaction. Users engaged in many types of interactions, such as instructing, conversing, manipulating, and exploring.
• How people interacted with exhibitions also depended on who they came with. People who enjoyed the exhibition with friends or family, they tend to move fast, and their movement depended on their companion rather than the way the artist intended. The people who came to the exhibition alone, they tend to read every note carefully and take time to interact with the art piece. 
• Art pieces used diverse methodologies to engage users in the interaction. Not only visual cues, but also used auditory, and kinetic factors in their pieces.
• Furthermore, they used diverse techniques such as AR, VR, motion-detecting cameras, and temperature detectors. Furthermore, one way to make user highly engage with the art piece was to make the user part of the piece. 

auditory cues

Being part of the piece

 

 

2. How people interact with “loneliness” (from our observations)

 

There are “degrees” of loneliness which differently affect the way users interact with others:

 

• Individuals who experience loneliness often seek social gatherings and events. People tend to discover communities online or through others. These social events help people to “fill” their schedules and gain support from people with similar interests. 
• Social events can be perceived as threatening and negative to people who constantly experience loneliness, as the pressure to open up and interact with others is very high. The sensitivity towards such issues hinders human interaction which leads to their personal coping mechanisms.
• A common coping mechanism is technological devices and social media. It makes users more trusting of people online, as well as interact with complete strangers, to cope with the lack of real-life human interaction. It creates an environment for lonely people to communicate with each other. Such communities tend to have a strong bond based off of mutual interests and respect. This helps to alleviate loneliness and find social support.