Failures Supporting the Evolutionary Design in the Wild of Interactive Systems for Public Spaces

In this paper, we describe the lessons learned from an experience of deploying an interactive public installation adopting a methodology that intertwines aspects of in-the-wild study and evolutionary design. This methodology shrinks the cycle of design of a prototype and allows researchers and practitioners continuously design improvements while they learn from evaluating the prototype in the wild. Thereby, multiple settings can be explored, minimizing the need to conduct new experiments that demand time and resources. Considering the metaphor of a wishing well, we designed a public interactive installation, allowing people to make wishes using their personal or a shared device to throw a virtual coin into a real water fountain augmented with a wall-sized screen displaying a “pool of wishes.” We deployed this interactive installation in a passageway of building for eight days, collecting data from observations, questionnaires, interviews, photos and video recordings. Based on the failures in our first cycle of design with the prototype, we present our findings and directions to apply our methodology. We claim the need of a pilot study in situ and having a team committed in collecting and analyzing data, discussing the insights and changes. In addition, the system design must support predictable, orderly and managed evolution. Finally, we contribute to the ubicomp field, demonstrating the implications for evaluating evolutionary prototype in the wild.