Meeting with NYC Tour Guide, Barry Feldman

I met with a New York City tour guide named Barry Feldman with the hopes of getting another take on my project and hopefully a story or two. Barry was incredibly helpful. He and gave me some insights into collecting stories from people and also helped me to think of numerous people and organizations to speak with throughout the city.

Barry first suggested that I split everything up into a few geographic areas around the city to focus on. He also thought that I should focus on speaking with two groups in particular: the older people that have been living in these neighborhoods for a long time, through many different changes, and the younger people who have moved in more recently. At first, I wasn’t sure about this, but after speaking with a number of people, I realize that changing neighborhoods are always on everyone’s mind and that it is a good way to get people to start talking about the places they live and work in.

Lower East Side
In the Lower East Side, he suggested that I speak with the Angel Oreansanz Foundation. Angel Oreansanz is a Spanish sculptor who bought an old synagogue in the Lower East Side to use as his studio in 1986. He also suggested that I speak with the people that started the Tenement Museum. A specific event that he suggested I look into is the Eggrolls, Egg Creams and Empanadas Festival in June in the Lower East Side. The festival celebrates the cuisines and cultures of the Chinese, Jewish and Puerto Rican immigrants that have called the Lower East Side their home for many years. Barry also suggested I look into Chinese American Community Centers and talked about the Museum of Chinese in America on Centre Street in Manhattan.

Barry also recommended that I speak with the owners of Russ and Daughters to hear more about the history and mission of the store throughout its lifespan in the city.

Brooklyn Heights
Brooklyn Heights is where I have lived for the last four years and Barry told me a bit about the area’s history. In 1965, Brooklyn Heights was established as the first “Historic District” in New York City through the Landmarks Preservation Act. The city approved the designation after many blocks in the neighborhood had fallen into disrepair and the neighborhood began to resemble a slum. Neighbors rallied to make sure that these old, historic buildings weren’t knocked down to build new, modern buildings. Barry suggested that I try to find people in the neighborhood that might remember the fight and might be willing to talk about their experience with it.

Barry also suggested that I speak with the Brooklyn Historical Society and the Brooklyn Women’s Exchange. He even suggested that I walk around the promenade on a nice day with a tape recorder. Another interesting landmark in Brooklyn Heights is Plymouth Church, which was very involved in the abolitionist movement. The church’s basement has elaborate tunnels that, at one time, housed slaves traveling north on the underground railroad.

DUMBO and Vinegar Hill
DUMBO has had many galleries move into the area and Barry suggested that I speak with the people in these galleries. Many of these galleries are in the building on Front Street and he suggested that I visit these galleries and ask them about the types of art being shown, the artists that are showing their work, what people come to see the work, etc. Barry also noted that these galleries and expensive businesses that DUMBO is known for now are in stark contrast to the people in NYCHA housing nearby. Barry said that I might want to talk to these people to get their take on the changing neighborhood as well. I definitely think that would be interesting, but am not sure how exactly I’d go about that sort of conversation.

Barry also recommended that I speak with the owners of Grimaldi’s Pizza and Juliana’s Pizza and ask them about their famous rivalry… I love this idea because I moved in right before Juliana’s first opened and was hearing about it all the time. I definitely sided with Juliana’s, mostly because I didn’t want to wait in the giant line at Grimaldi’s. However, now both lines are pretty long.

Barry also said I should also talk to St. Ann’s Warehouse, which just moved to a fancy, new location nearer to the water and Jane’s Carousel just next door.

Upper West Side
First, Barry told me to contact one of the neighborhood preservation groups like Landmark West! or the West End Preservation Society and tell them about my project, which I think is a great idea. I should also look into these types of organizations in other parts of the city as well.

Barry also told me to go to Zabar’s on 80th street on a weekday afternoon at about 2:00 pm and I would find a group of old ladies that meet up to gossip about the neighborhood. He said that they would definitely be willing to speak with me and tell me a story.

Barry then suggested that I check out (and eat at) an old, Jewish deli called Barney Greengrass on 86th and Amsterdam that specializes in smoked fish and has been around since 1908!

Barry volunteers at the NY Common Pantry and suggested that I come along with him one week and speak with some of the employees there about their experiences.

Upper East Side
Barry suggested that I contact the Friends of the Upper East Side organization about how that particular neighborhood has changed over time. He also suggested that I look into the many museums up there and attend the Museum Mile Festival in June.

Murray Hill
Barry said that it might be interesting to contact the National Arts Club, which is directly across the street from Gramercy Park, the famous, exclusive park that you need a key to get into. The Players Club is a “private social club” founded by none other than John Wilkes Booth’s brother, Edwin Booth, in 1888. Barry suggested that I ask both the National Arts Club and the Player’s Club about their and the park’s relationship to the surrounding neighborhood.

Harlem
Barry suggested that I go on the Harlem House Tour in June where homeowners in Harlem open their historic houses for people to see. Barry said that many of the homeowners are very enthusiastic about talking to visitors about the neighborhood and might have interesting stories about the neighborhood. He also said I should check out Marcus Garvey Park and see if anyone there would talk to me. He also said that perhaps a church or two would speak with me as well.

Meeting with Oral Histories Expert, Hanna Griff-Sleven

I recently met with Hanna Griff-Sleven, a professor who teaches a course called “Oral Histories of the Lower East Side” in Eugene Lang College at The New School. She works at the Museum at Eldridge Street, which is a beautiful synagogue that was brought back to life and made into a museum after decades of disrepair.

Hanna worked on a native iPhone application that is similar to Storyportal. The app is called “Storywalks” and was made to record the history of the Museum at Eldridge Street. As the user walks through the space, they can first choose a level of the building to start in, either the balcony, main sanctuary, or lower sanctuary. Then the users sees the blueprint of the floor they are on with a number of dots that they can click on. Each dot has a different story associated with it and the story has to do with that specific location in the sanctuary. When the dot is tapped, the user can hear the story associated with that specific location.

Storywalks Main Page - The user first chooses a level of the synagogue to start in
Storywalks Main Page – The user first chooses a level of the building to start in, either the balcony, main sanctuary, or lower sanctuary
Storywalks Synagogue Map Page - The user clicks on the dots to hear a story about that location
Storywalks Map Page – The user clicks on the dots to hear a story about that location
Storywalks Play Story Page - This page will appear and the story will play after the user has chosen a story to listen to.
Storywalks Story Page – This page will appear and the audio story will play after the user has chosen a story to listen to

I felt that the Storywalks app was incredibly successful. After spending about an hour listening to many touching, personal stories about the space, I really felt a great connection to the people that prayed there.

I went to Hanna for advice on how best to gather interesting oral histories from New Yorkers. Hanna had a number of great suggestions and tips for approaching the story collection portion of the project. My main take-aways from our conversation were to develop a clear, concise elevator pitch of my project, to personally interview people to get the best storytellers and to focus on the way I prompt storytellers.

Elevator Pitch
First off, Hanna said that I needed to come up with a simple way of explaining my project that everyone will quickly understand. She said that it should be one paragraph, like a 30-second elevator pitch. I’m definitely working on a clear and succinct way of explaining the project to other people and will continue to focus on this.

Get Personal
Hanna suggested that I speak with people personally to collect stories. She suggested that I center my project around a certain location or locations and actually interview in these locations. A good way to do this is by speaking with business owners of well-known New York City establishments like Roni-Sue’s Chocolate Shop on Forsyth Street or The Bitter End Coffeehouse near NYU.

It’s All About the Prompt
Hanna explained that the types of stories that I gather will be completely dependent on the way I prompt people. Hanna said that I should ask very specific questions about these specific locations. She suggested that I research the history of these different areas. This way, I will know specific facts about the locations I focus on – like events that took place there or the different populations living there – and can come up with more effective prompts because more specific prompts elicit better stories.

Hanna also thought that focusing on Sports, Music and Foodie Culture of New York City would probably inspire some fun and interesting stories. She explained that a lot of her family members are very interested in NYC sports history and have great memories of the Dodgers winning in 1968. She also suggested that people might have cool stories about the Beatles at Shea Stadium in 1965. She also pointed to Mimi Sheraton’s Food Stories and Melissa Clark from the NYTimes food page.

Hanna also suggested a number of specific venues, businesses, and people to speak with about the project. These include Roni-Sue’s Chocolate Shop on Forsyth Street, Essex Street Market, The Chelsea Hotel, CBGBs in the East Village, Café Carlyle on 76th St, The Bitter End Cafe in Greenwich Village, The Apollo Theatre, Lincoln Center.

Insights after the “Science Fair”

Last week’s “Science Fair” style user testing session went pretty well and gave me a number of insights into what is and isn’t working around my project.

Users know what to do..
The one thing I was sure about after the science fair was the fact that users seemed to know what to do when they got the app in their hands. Nobody was confused about how to navigate through the app.

Social Aspect
People seemed very interested in there being a social aspect to the app… Numerous people said they wanted to be able to “follow” certain people on the app so they can always hear that person’s new stories. Although I think this is an interesting idea, I don’t think that making the project a social media experience is the way I want to go.

People also suggested wanting to at least be able to respond to another story. I really like this idea of a social-media-like experience. Some thought that I could ask for perspectives on a specific event – like September 11th or Occupy Wall Street. This might be an interesting way to get many points of view of the city. This was a direction that I had initially thought about when I began the project last semester… Maybe something to consider now…

Users Want Choice
Users also wanted to have a choice as to what they can listen to. The way I have it currently set up is that the app scans for nearby stories and just plays whichever one is nearby. However, nearly everyone wanted to choose which nearby story they’d listen to on a map. I hadn’t built in a map because I wanted people to just hear the story they were closest to, but I can easily incorporate a map without it getting too much in the way while users should be listening to stories.

Users also suggested that I add a skip button in case the story they’re listening to isn’t interesting or worth hearing. I’m not sure what I think of a “skip” button – on one hand, it makes sense… but on the other, it sort of defeats the purpose of the app. It again allows people to pick and choose which points of view they even bother to listen to. But maybe that’s okay?

Framing the Story Collection
Almost everyone I spoke with asked me how I was planning to guide users to actually submit interesting and compelling stories. This has definitely been the most difficult part of the app so far… My plan after speaking with a number of people is to come up with questions that might elicit interesting stories about the city, like “What’s the weirdest thing that happened to you in NYC?” or “What drives you crazy about NYC?”

Tevin suggested that I could provide people with statements that sort of get the user going. He used something like “What really makes me happy is…” and “What I really want to see changing is…” He said that he found that he was simply starting them off to reflect in their own way.

Hsuan also suggested that I look at Jonathan Harris’ ted talk where he discusses why people are willing to tell stories. She also suggested that I look at cowbird.com.

Colleen cautioned me to think about the worst thing someone will do with an app and prepare for that. To get some help, she suggested that I speak with people who do improv or storytelling and see if they have any suggestions for prompting people to give better stories. She also suggested I look at Story Corps, Object Stories, and the “Journey” game.

Super Simple UI
My prototype for the Science Fair had a super simple UI with a black background and white text and buttons in the middle of the screen. One turquoise bar ran across the top of the screen. Umi suggested that I look at other very simple and successful apps, like Digit or Snapchat. Tevin suggested that I look at an app called “Music Memos” for super simple UI inspiration. He also liked the UI of the PHHHOTO app and the Tumblr app.

People want Feedback
People aren’t so sure if they like the anonymous aspect of the app. Tevin, for instance, wanted to have some sort of feedback from the app about whether someone actually listened to his story or not and I’m not surprised. I feel like this is a pretty common expectation that we have today. We use things like Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram to build and solidify our place in social structures. However, this is something that I really want to challenge! I really don’t want this project to be about how many listens or likes my story got. It’s not about that. It’s sort of like doing something to do it. And maybe someone listens, maybe they don’t.

Users Like the Mystery of Phoning in their Stories
Nearly everyone liked the fact that users need to call in their stories to submit them. Typically, you’d see an app having you record something right from your phone, but having people call stories in is a very different, almost analog type of interaction.

Users Don’t Like the Name
Multiple users didn’t like the name “Points of View” so much. I am definitely not set on it, but I don’t have a lot of other ideas. Tevin suggested playing up the fact that you are actually calling in a story. He liked something like “Call New York” or something to do with the anonymity. He felt that I need to come up with a striking name and pair it with “cool” branding in order to give the right vibe.

Anyway, there were a lot of interesting and helpful insights that, I’m sure, will result in a better, more clear direction!

Thesis Technical Spec

Thesis Exhibition Technical Spec
Thesis Exhibition Technical Spec
  1. How much space do you need: Provide exact dimensions, and a 3d digital model of your ideal exhibit.

I will need about 5 feet of width for my exhibit and about 3 feet of depth for my exhibit.

I plan to use one of the D12 telephone booths (if this is okay) and then a small 4 ft tall, 2 ft wide, 2 ft deep white pedestal with information (I will construct the pedestal and paint it white). If possible, I’d like to mount a small monitor to the wall to play my demo video (if I can’t wall mount, I plan to place the monitor on the pedestal)

  1. Furniture and Build Needs? Pedestals, tables (with dimensions-and material preferences) chairs, curtains, mannequins, pipes or a grid to hang your work, any kind supports. Note that you will need to provide special furniture and installation materials-make sure you check with in with the thesis installation committee to make sure that they are in accord with your specifications.

I would like to use one of the “telephone booths” here in D12… (not sure if this is allowed? )

Telephone booth dimensions:
– 85 inches tall (7 feet, 1 inch)
– 33 ½ inches wide (2 feet, 9 ½ inches)
– 33 ½ inches deep (2 feet, 9 ½ inches)

Next to the telephone booth, I will have a small pedestal-like table that I will construct and paint white. Dimensions: 4 ft tall, 2 ft wide, 2 ft deep

  1. Presentation technology? Audio (players, headsets, stereo domes to localize sound, speakers), LCD screens or projection surfaces. Does your project need to be screened in a theater as part of the time-based thesis projects?

I need the following technology for my project and will be providing everything myself:

– headphones (2 pairs)
– mic
– computer
– monitor
– dvd player

  1. Connectivity: Will your piece be web or mobile platform-based? What are your server or Internet needs?

My installation will be web-based and will require an internet connection.

  1. Electricity and lighting needs: special lighting instruments (you must provide), describe all power and cabling needs, number of outlets and possible additional power.

I believe I will need four outlets and plan to bring the necessary extension cord and power strip to use in the show. I will also need to provide an additional light source inside of the telephone booth and plan to use battery-operated lights that I can install on the ceiling of the telephone booth.

  1. Describe how people will interact or contribute to the installation or experience: one by one, or as a group of spectators;or by individually downloading an app; or by watching a screen in a booth or in a theater; or playing a game on a screen with one or more players; or a individual reading on an I-pad, etc.

Users will enter the phone booth individually (or, possibly, as a group of two?). Inside, there will be a phone receiver that users can hear some of the stories that users have left throughout the city. Users will also be able to use the receiver to record their own stories as well.

I see this installation as a way to get visitors to the exhibition excited about the project and hope that this installation would encourage users to record their story so they can hear it on the app.

Next to the phone booth, I plan to show an informational video about the project (with headphones for viewers). Since the web app is geo-location based and needs to be accessed outside of D12, I will also provide instructions on how to access and use the web app in the field.

  1. Participants: Do you need “plants” or actors to demonstrate or perform the piece and how it works?

I don’t anticipate needing anyone to demonstrate… I will provide very specific instructions for visitors.

  1. Timing: how long is your experience whether individually viewed, or a presentation of a fixed length?

I want users to spend the amount of time that they need with the project, but only one (or maybe two) person(s) can be inside of the telephone booth at a time. I’d imagine users wouldn’t take more than fifteen minutes at a time.

  1. Signage: Do you need any special signage or accommodations to hang signage?

No special signage.

Points of View Abstract

Project Abstract
Points of View is an archive of stories about New York told through their eyes. The project will consist of two parts. The first is an interactive mobile walking tour that allows participants to explore New York City in an intimate way.

Users will be able to access the tour through a mobile web application. With the application open, the user will walk through the city. As they walk, the app will play different audio stories that take place in the locations they are walking through. Users will also be able to record their own personal story about the city through the app as well.

The second part of the project will consist of a New York City Payphone that will be installed in various places around the city. Users will be able to use the payphone to record their own experiences in the city and add them to the map. Their stories will be immediately added to the database and incorporated into the application. I hope to encourage users to participate in the telling of history and it’s important that I use the exhibition to encourage more users to add their own unique perspective of the city.

The web is amazing and grants us access to vast amounts of data and information. One might expect that this would result in us being more open and willing to learn about other perspectives. However, we don’t often use the internet to learn about new points of view. Instead, we tend to use it to confirm our preconceived ideas about the world around us. I want users to see the city of New York through someone else’s eyes and feel a connection to the other people that share this environment.


Project Details

  • Goal: I want users to see the city of New York through someone else’s eyes and, through many user stories, feel a connection to the other people that share this environment.
  • Audience: New Yorkers (and, perhaps, tourists).

Design Questions

  1. What is the project, and specifically what is the form (performance, app, game, etc)
    1. I see this project as an archive taking the form of a mobile application and an installation:
  2. Mobile App
    1. The first is an interactive mobile walking tour that allows participants to explore New York City in an intimate way. Users will listen to stories that New Yorkers have left throughout the city’s landscape and will also be able to leave their own personal perspectives throughout the city’s landscape.
  3. Installation
    1. I also want NYC Stories to act as an archive of the many, varied perceptions of this great city.
    2. I plan to install a small New York City Payphone in various places around the city, as well as in the thesis exhibition. Users will be able to use the payphone to record their own experiences in the city and add them to the map. Their stories will be immediately added to the database and incorporated into the application.
    3. One of my main goals is to encourage users to participate in the telling of history and it’s important that I use the exhibition to encourage more users to add their own unique perspective of the city. I feel that this installation in the exhibition is integral to the success of my thesis project.
    4. FYI: I do not plan to display a smart phone with the actual NYC Stories web application running on it in the exhibition. I plan to simply advertise the URL of the application and will encourage users to view the application on their own
  4. Why are you doing it (the idea or question?)
    1. The web is amazing and grants us access to vast amounts of data and information.
    2. One might expect that this would result in us being more open and willing to learn about other perspectives.
    3. However, we don’t often use the internet to learn about new points of view.
    4. Instead, we tend to use it to confirm our preconceived ideas about the world around us.
    5. Obviously, this is about trust – because there is so much out there, it’s hard to know what information is trustworthy and what information isn’t.
    6. I’d like to challenge the way we learn about our history.
  5. What precedents are you drawing on?
    1. One important precedent is Humans of New York.
    2. This American Life is another precedent – The famous radio show tells the stories of average americans
  6. How (very specifically) will it work?
    1. Users will be able to access the tour through a mobile web application. With the application open, the user will walk through the city. As they walk, the app will play different audio stories that take place in the locations they are walking through. Users will also be able to record their own personal story about the city through the app as well.
  7. What specifically will you need in order to show or present it (practical needs, like screens, platforms, lighting, outlets, speakers, audience, tripods, live animals, source of water, etc)
    1. Mobile App
      1. The user needs a smartphone.
      2. I will need to put all of the following pieces together:
        1. Access the device’s geolocation through the web and refresh the reading every minute or so.
        2. Add the Google Map API (although, I might not use the map in the end on the mobile portion).
        3. Create a MongoDB Database that the user can submit audio files and the latitude and longitude for each location
      3. Installation
        1. Acquire an old payphone
        2. Build a wooden stand for it
        3. Power (Outlets or perhaps a large battery pack…?)
        4. Computer
        5. People to interact with it…

User Narrative

Below is a narrative of an ideal user scenario…

Mark was on his way to meet a friend for lunch between classes. They were meeting at a new ramen place in the West Village that his friend had found on Yelp. It was September and seemed to be one of the last sunny and warm days of the year and because he was early, he took his time walking south on Fifth Avenue and crossing Washington Square South to enter the park. As he passed under the archway, he thought he saw a payphone just to the west of the fountain.

“Has that payphone always been there? he thought to himself.

He stopped in his tracks and squinted to get a better look. Sure enough, it seemed that a payphone had been installed in the park.

“Huh… I wonder if it works,” he thought.

Mark continued towards the payphone and picked up the receiver when he got close enough.

As he put the receiver to his ear, he heard a woman’s voice say “Washington Square was always my favorite park. We lived a few blocks away at the corner of Bleeker Street and Jones Street…”

After listening to the story, Mark hung the receiver back up. “Who was that?” he wondered. He examined the payphone a bit closer and realized that the phone looked a bit different than the old payphones. The glass window above the receiver that always housed instructions on how to use the payphones, instead included a different set of instructions.

Mark began reading the instructions: “Use this payphone to record a story about an experience you once had here in Washington Square Park.” The instructions continued below, “1. Pick up the receiver. 2. Press and hold the two button…” Below the instructions, it said “To do this online, visit http://nycstories.io on your smart phone.”

Mark took out his iPhone and entered the URL into Safari. A map of his location appeared along with a notification asking him to grant the site access to his current location. Mark noticed the time. It was 11:54 AM. He only had six minutes until he had to meet Josh and Lily. He hurried across the park and down Macdougal Street to the Ramen place.

Halfway through his lunch, Mark was started thinking about the mysterious payphone again.

“Did you see that payphone in the park?” he asked.

“No…” Lily explained.

“Payphone?” Josh asked.

“Yeah, there’s a weird payphone. When I picked up the receiver, I heard some woman telling a story about the park.”

“Oh weird! Let’s go check it out,” Josh said, enthusiastically.

“Actually,” Mark began, “I think we can see it on my phone. There was some URL posted that I copied before I got here with a map.”

Mark took his phone out and showed the others. The map appeared, centered on the Ramen place they were at. The map had a number of markers on it, one near the fountain in Washington Square Park, one at the northern end of the park, and one just a block over, near the corner of Thompson Street and Bleeker Street.

As he tapped each marker, text appeared saying “Navigate to this location.”

“Should we check it out?” Lily exclaimed, excitedly.

“Well, when is your class, Mark?” asked Josh.

“Not until 1:30. I think I have time to check it out.”

The three paid their bill and left the restaurant, heading south on Macdougal Street. As they turned onto Bleeker and then onto Thompson Street, the phone buzzed and an alert appeared, asking that they put on a pair of headphones.

“Crap, I don’t have headphones. Do you guys have some?” Mark said.

“Yeah, they’re in my bag. Hold on,” Lily explained.

She dug through the outer pocket of her backpack and pulled out a pair of turquoise headphones. Once they were plugged in, she pressed “Continue.” A man’s voice began “One day in the winter of 2010, I was walking down Thompson Street. It had just snowed the day before and everything was blanketed in white…”

Lily continued listening to the story, imagining the bustling street and warm day, instead, as a snowy, quiet and peaceful scene. When the story ended, Lily removed the headphones.

“So, what happened? Was it another story?” Mark asked.

“Yeah. This guy was talking about hearing the news that his Dad had died. It was on a cold and snowy day right here,” said Lily.

“Huh,” Josh said. “What else happened?”

“That’s really it. But it kind of reminds me of the last time I spoke with my aunt” Lily explained.

Lily examined the screen again. This time, it asked if she had a story she’d like to share. She quickly clicked “No” and handed the phone back to Mark.

A few a months later, as Lily was walking down Thompson Street, she was reminded of the story that she had heard about a man’s experience on the same block on that NYC Stories website that Mark had shown her. She whipped out her phone and typed the URL into her phone. The map appeared with a number of different markers added to the map.

Lily wandered around the neighborhood, listening to a number of other stories. She then decided to record a story of her own.

This time, when the prompt cam up asking her if she had a story she’d like to share about an NYC location. This time, she tapped “Yes.”

She was then prompted to walk to that location and tapped “Use This Location” when she arrived at the dorm she lived in during her freshman year.

She was then asked to record her story. Lily looked around her. There were a few students smoking near the entrance of the dorm, but other than that, she was one of the only people around. She held down the “record” button and spoke about her experience speaking with her aunt for the last time.

She then pressed “Submit.”

 

Project Introduction

Points of View is an interactive mobile walking tour that allows participants to 
explore New York City in an intimate way. Users will listen to stories 
that New Yorkers have left around the city and will also be able to leave their own personal perspectives throughout the city’s landscape.

Can an exploration of multiple perspectives help us to develop a better understanding of our past, present and future? 

How It Works
I am starting out with a collection of stories of different people’s experiences in the city. Each story occurs in a specific place in the city and I am tagging each audio file to that specific location. The user will be prompted to visit a nearby location on the map. The audio from these different stories will be activated when the user steps into the specified location. The user can also choose to record their own story in a location of their choosing.

The user will be prompted to visit a nearby location on the map
The user will be prompted to visit a nearby location on the map [image from dunnnk.com]
The audio from these different stories will be activated 
when the user steps into the specified location.
The audio from these different stories will be activated 
when the user steps into the specified location [image from dunnnk.com]
The user can also choose to record their own story in a location of their choosing
The user can also choose to record their own story in a location of their choosing [image from dunnnk.com]
Project Inspiration
I was inspired by a podcast on NPR about the changes in Texas’s history textbooks that present history from a particularly whitewashed version of American History. In the podcast, a Texas history teacher explained that her approach to teaching with these new books was to encourage students to examine history from many angles instead of from one textbook. So, I’d like to create a people’s history of New York City that the average person could add their own perspective to.

Project Goals
The goal of this project is to encourage people to see their everyday environment in a more playful and explorative way and forge a sense of connection with the other people that share that space. I’d also like this to be an archive of personal histories of New Yorkers.

Design Values
Physical RelationshipsI want to use technology to encourage a relationship to our physical environment

Participating in History: I want users to participate in the writing of history, rather than being passive recipients of someone else’s story

Intimacy of Sound: I want to use sound and spoken word to evoke feelings of connection and intimacy

I’m also interested in exploring some of the following ideas:

Solastalgia: People feel distressed when they experience changes in their home’s physical environment. New York City is constantly changing and it’s hard to always feel a part of the city.

Experience of Space: We also live in digital spaces and I want to bring people back to relating to physical spaces

Historiography: Historiography is the approach to studying and understanding genres of history. I want people to participate in writing history, rather than being passive recipients of someone else’s story

Early Design Questions

Concept Statement
I am creating an interactive mobile application that allows observers to explore multiple perspectives of New York’s history and leave their own personal perspectives and experiences throughout the city’s landscape. As they go about their daily lives, users will receive a notification when they physically enter a zone that has been marked by the application, using geo-location. The notification will lead to a historical fact that occurred in that specific location. The user will then be invited to share their own perspective on that historic location in the form of text, image, video, or sound. The user can then experience other people’s personal connections to that place. I want users to learn something more about the city, feel a greater connection to it, and establish a broader definition of history.

Screen Shot 2016-02-09 at 1.39.55 PM
Listening Screens
Screen Shot 2016-02-09 at 1.41.43 PM
Recording Screens

Design Questions

  1. Who is it for?
    This project is for new Yorkers from all different backgrounds.
  2. Where does this audience encounter it?
    The audience would encounter it on the street as they move through the city.
  3. When does this audience experience it?
    I want the audience to experience this as they go through their daily life. The experience should be an interruption of their daily life, forcing them to stop what they are doing and reflect.
  4. What are they doing while experiencing it?
    Users will be moving through the city.
  5. What does the project ask of its audience?
    NYSecret asks its participants to be open to interruptions in their daily life. It also asks the audience to be open and respectful to multiple interpretations of history.
  6. What do you want the audience to take away from their experience?
    I want users to learn something more about the city, feel a greater connection to it, and establish a broader definition of history.
  7. What are some adjectives around how the project will make its audience feel?
    I want the user to feel connected, appreciated, respected
  8. Ultimately, what problem are you trying to solve/ideas are you trying to express?
    I want the audience to view history as many perspectives of one point of view. With this project, I hope to shed light on the subjective nature of history and the need for multiple perspectives in education.