Week 2
HI. For identifying more possibilities towards this topic, I will be branching out my thoughts and ideas for a clearer direction.
With a topic in mind, I will need to scope down to a more specific direction that I would want to approach. The idea of "Nature" is too broad, the first step that I would be doing is branching out all the possible directions.
I prepared a simple deck for convenience sake. As I will be running through my thoughts and ideas with my advisors to gather opinions/inputs. The discussions are based on the contents presented to them and at the end I will further analyze the inputs.
First sharing
These are the initial ideas that were presented to the advisors.
The problem that I want to address is People losing touch with our own local nature.
I want to overcome this problem by:
(1)Allowing people to experience local nature
(2)Gain their appreciation towards local nature
(3)Make them embrace the beauty of local nature
The people that I am targeting are:
(1)mainly Malaysians that feel like they need a break from their hectic lifestyle
(2)People who are interested in knowing more about this area
My own thoughts
Why do I want to just focus on talking about local nature?
Mainly because I want to pin point on how Malaysians are losing touch with nature and I personally feel like local nature carries a certain value that makes me feel closer to it.
Why do I want people to experience it?
I feel like by experience something, naturally people would be able to appreciate it more through the experience and eventually leading to seeing the beauty of it.
Why am I focusing on the word "appreciation"?
I personally feel like our local nature is not getting the attention that they deserve from our local people. I feel like there are much more to learn and notice from our local nature. And I feel like it should be appreciated/embraced more by our local people.
I further branched out the direction of the key points; local nature, experience, appreciation.
Local nature could be further scope down into just focusing on local species or the local environments or local herbs/spices. I've thought about the different experience that could be carry out, which is physically or virtually/remotely. Through physical experience, I feel like people will have to be at a physical environment with tangible things or even physical installations/setup. As for virtually/remotely, I feel like this could be carried out through screen, such as mobile, web or video games. I personally have no intention in creating games as this is not in my interest, so I will have to find a way that would be able to bring out my topic and is still be in-within my interest.
I have also thought about what kind of content would gain appreciation from others. And I feel like contents that carry educational value would make people appreciate the additional knowledge. As for contents that carry cultural value, people would be able to learn about the cultural aspects and relates to it. And I feel like if this topic is to gain appreciation, I think maintaining the sustainability of it would be very much effective as people will find it useful.
Possible executions
I came up with 5 possible executions that I feel like it would be able to deliver my topic. The proposed executions are all presented through different mediums because I wanted keep my options open.
1. Physical Installation/Setup
This execution is mainly focusing on a physical experience. Going through some references, it inspired me to build a physical installation that would allow people to physically experience nature. I have also thought about making things interactable to enhance the experience. In my mind, I would like this to be educational like what we experience in museums.
2. AR experience through app
For this execution, I am mainly focusing on a virtual/remote experience. I have an idea of creating an app that has a built-in AR feature that allows users to have an AR experience with the different species. This app could also be a mini library of different species that is educational.
3. Interactive website
As for this execution, it is also focusing on a virtual/remote experience. The idea that I have is to create a website that have a journey-like experience that allows people to explore the different nature locations/species in Malaysia. They will also learn and gain knowledge from the information provided.
4. Product + app
This execution sort of came into my mind. I feel like this would be in a more personal level where people could own their very own product. My idea is to create a product that would bring people closer to nature. Maybe something that is about gardening and it could be connected to our mobile to track our plants. Mainly focusing on encouraging people to be-in-touch with nature with just a product.
5. Projection experience
As for this execution, in my mind it would be more of an immersive experience for people to feel local nature. However, I feel like this execution will not be able to deliver what I have in mind. As projection are usually filled with vivid colors and have a more digitize feeling to it. I want to encourage people to be more connected to local nature by their own exploration.
I have thought about the possible collaborations to sustain my topic. As my topic is leaning towards nature, I feel like it will be more relatable to nature organizations/societies.
Thoughts after first discussion
- I need to have a more solid problem to address and direction to approach. Things are a bit scattered right now as I have too many ideas in my head. I need to just focus on one direction that I really care about.
- I need to identify a call-to-action, something that I would like people to take back after experiencing this project.
- Identifying on a specific direction then look for the relevant contents to deliver. If I want to reach a wider range of audience, an online experience would be much better
After the first sharing, I revised my ideas and execution further and did a second sharing with a different advisor.
Second sharing
My ideas/thoughts
1. Mini-encyclopedia
Key concept:
Educational, Cultural, Different species
Purpose:-
- Promoting and encouraging the love of nature
- Would be able to educate the general public
Possible contents:-
- Categorized of different sections according to interest
- Knowledgeable and informative contents
- Showcase specific nature location (eg. forest, ocean, hills, mountains, etc.)
- General view of our local biodiversity/ecosystem
- Built-in quizzes/tests
Possible collaborations:-
- PETROSAINS
- National Science Center, Malaysia
- Perdana Botanical Garden, Malaysia
2. Sharing app
Key concept:
"Being closer to nature together", Educational/Localized, Inspire and support
Purpose:-
- Get inspirations and encouragement on this area of interest
- A platform for this community to express themselves
Possible contents:-
- Sharing platform for plant/nature lovers
- Categorized shared contents
- Possible contents: Remedies/Equipment/Passion/Opinions
- Possible platform for trading/second-hand selling/giveaway
- Additional feature of a plant library, different plant profiles, keeping track of them
3. Product + app
Key concept:
“One step closer to nature”, Educational/Localized, Kickstart towards this area of interest
Purpose:-
- Encourage people to start gardening
- A fun way to treat plants
Possible contents:-
- Inclusive of the main factors (temperature, light, moisture, pH)
- Keeping track of different plants
- Product could be package together with seeds of local plants
- Localize the product design (local animal/plant species)
- Additional feature of a plant library, different plant profiles according to the seed packet
Thoughts after second discussion
- I feel like I am straying further away from my initial belief and idea. I am focusing to much on the word "NATURE" which is leading me towards "gardening" which is not my initial idea towards this topic. I need to solidify my key belief towards this topic and have a better understanding on what I really want to address
- My target audience is too scattered, I need to really think about who I am targeting and really connect the dots
- I need to further investigate my target audience and have a different perception towards this topic
MAIN KEY: CONNECT THE DOTS; make everything relevant to each other
My mistakes
- I am too focused on how I want to deliver the topic, especially the type of media or contents. I should be focusing on connecting the dots of my main idea before thinking how I would want to deliver it
- Current research is not sufficient for me to fully understand my target audience's needs and POV. I cannot decide on a specific direction because I am still not confident with what contents I should be delivering to engage with my target audience
- Instead of focusing on the abundance of contents I can deliver, I should be focusing on "What I believe in towards this topic?" and "What is so great about this?"
My final decision on my belief towards this topic; LOCAL NATURE.
I believe that our local nature should be appreciated more, getting the attention that they deserve from our local people. My call-to-action is for them to show their appreciation by learning about it and eventually exploring/be-in-touch with local nature personally.
This is sort of the conclusion after going through the discussions and my own thoughts.
That's all for now, I will be continuing my research towards my topic and target audience. In the next blog, I will be identifying deeper on what I want to showcase through the topic; "LOCAL NATURE".
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