Pac Man Take over Bus Stop
This is an interaction design of a physical space, Bus stop. This site-installation aims to bring order and fun to a public space that people never really think about or notice. I want to get people out of their phones and start conversing or play with the others at the same space.
Research & Ideation:
I observed how people interact with the bus stops for 5 hours. I found out that there is always at least 4-5 feet of distance between each person, and everyone looks down on their phone, intentionally avoiding eye contacts or any sort of interaction.
I also noticed how when the bus is arriving and preparing to stop, everyone just crammed to the door way and try to get in first.
Design:
In my design I aimed to prompt interaction between people, make the experience of a daily routine more fun, encourage people to notice more of their surroundings instead of their phones and bring order to this stressful task.
First iteration: using physical obstacles that filled out the entire floor area like a maze to guide people to the right path or prevent people from going to the wrong direction. However, there is too much hazard, abstract, and not relatable to everyone.
Second iteration: Using hanging lights to high light the path so no physical obstacle that might harm people especially with disability. At the same time, people tend to follow the light and light has a positive connotation which give cues to people to follow the light but the directions are still too abstract.
Third iteration: I realized the most important element to make this installation work is to allow the people to all draw direct connection of what suppose to happen and at the same time with some humor. Therefore, I thought of an enlarged archive game plus the maze came back to my mind then I thought of Pacman who is attracted to the white dots "(food) while have constant monsters blocking pacman from getting to the food which is a perfect game that fulfills all the function I need.
First of all Pacman creates this fun game platform, familiar to almost everyone, there is a clear mission, obstacles to block people from going the wrong direction and it is fun. At both ends there are pacman to prompt people to understand that this is the entrace to the game and you, a visitor, is a pacman. The dots from the entrance for each bus door shows people where they should line up.
The monsters are obstacles that prevent people to go to the wrong directions.
Result & Feedback:
It was a successful project that it grabbed people's attention, created conversations among strangers and friends, and prompted people to notice more about their surroundings and other people around them.
Not everyone played the game but all of them had a smile on their face and taking pictures of it.
Bus drivers stopped at the exact spot that I planned while students lined up to get on the bus following my planned track.
Two bus drivers stopped in front of me and told me how they really appreciate this project because it just made their day!
University of Michigan's instagram also featured my project on the day of the installation.