First Reworking of the Brief

Thanks to feedback, the brief has been reworked. The concept of memory has been detached from objects at the moment, but this will be further explored through two museum visits and through reading academic texts. This is part of my plan to explore the field of memory and its relevance within advances in design.

The Brief

Memory: Hiding In Plain Sight

Project Deadline: 17 December

Context:

This project is an exploration of the unnoticed and the overlooked within personal memories. Human memory is a complex system, with massive loss occurring on a daily basis. Some of this information may form an invaluable insight into things such as personal understanding and development, but it is lost. Sharing and communicating this information with the individual themselves or others forms a critical part of this brief.

 Designers are often devising ways to ‘notice the unnoticed’ through techniques such as data mining via the quantified self to see how interventions can be created to enrich understanding of both their own and other people’s lives. This project challenges me to gain a solid academic understanding of how human memory works which is related to every aspect of design; from the design of new interfaces for maximum acceptance to the development of time saving tools. This project will require me to develop and tailor my existing research techniques and incorporate existing psychology techniques into my own investigation.

Developing technological understanding to cope with potential informational streams is massively important during the course of this project, as is an appreciation for how to analyse and represent these effectively. Time should be allocated to understand and develop skills within related technologies that emerge throughout the course of the research process, even for experimentation purposes.

Insight:

Memory is a critical process which guides people through their lives, and it is important in determining how individuals interact with the world and each-other. Of particular interest within this project is the way in which we retain information and conversely an examination of what and why we lose information.  There are a group of designers who explore the concept of ‘the quantified self’ who form design interventions based on data collected about themselves and others. Attention or analysis is often drawn to information that is usually overlooked or ignored. Data streams are collected and collated: ‘pachube’ is one example of mass data collection where anyone can contribute to or use the API to form their own software and often hardware.

The first part of this project is to gain a deep academic understanding of cognitive psychology theory, in particular that of memory. The next stage is to investigate different ways that individuals lose information, what this information is, how it affects them and how it could affect them if it wasn’t lost. It is also of interest to investigate how and what information is saved and what they use it for. Memory that the individual might not notice is being received/retained (subliminal) is also of interest. The final stage is to be determine a mediating lens within memory, develop a community (whether this exists or is currently non-existent) and starting to work towards an intervention.

I will need to consider everyone you come into contact with as test subjects; whether they are aware or non-aware participators. An example of this could be the introduction of an object into a space to test the acceptance of it. Creating parallels between subjects, observing parallels and commonalities is extremely important. Perception and recognition also plays a part and will be investigated through the course of the research.

Objectives:

Understanding memory and to break it down in to critical areas of interest. To then research, design and test an intervention. A part of this is to also develop research techniques, analytical skills and technical skills. Part of this project will examine user’s engagement with objects and spaces around them to investigate memory, as this is essentially only possible when individuals interact with their environment. A community or spatial are will be identified in the course of this project, once parallels between individuals have been established. Understanding the importance of the individual is just as important as understanding the community as a whole, and respecting their differences. You will engage with a wide range of different people during the course of this project to thoroughly investigate the subject matter.

Reading:

Cognitive Psychology: Christopher C. French & Andres M. Colman. Chapter 1: Memory

Memory in the Real World: Gillian Cohen.

Cognitive Psychology; Mind and Brain: E. Smith & S. Kosslyn

Interface Fantasy-A Lacanian Cyborg Ontology: Andre Nusselder

Cognition and reality: Principles and implications of cognitive psychology.

Further Reading:

 A cognitive psychology of mass communication - RJC Harris