Reemo: A Writer CUI Web Extension
Final Product
Reemo's expressions
Reemo greeting
Reemo prompting user
Reemo listening to user
Reemo failing to capture information
Reemo processing
Reemo processing continued
Reemo success
Reemo playlist integration
Project
This was an independent study where I researched conversational user interfaces and designed my own.
Duration: 2 Weeks
Methods: Precedent Research, Research through Design, Sketching
Tools: Adobe Illustrator, Google Suite, Google DiagFlow
Context
The goal of this study was to investigate methods by which a conversational user interface (CUI) could reside and benefit a user. I wanted to look at a writing companion, for all types of writers, where a conversational user interface could be used to interact and aid writing. The idea to promote healthy writing habits dependent on the user is another characteristic I wished to explore.
Research
Key Insights:
How a CUI interacts with a user can be seen through four major categories:
Growth - The CUI develops itself with the user over time, going through different stages of “life” or other aspects.
Archival - Visual representation of the conversations had between a CUI and the user.
Form Building - While form building could be tied with other categories, this one is unique in its ability to use established elements and grow.
Simple to Complex - Established through language usage and other visual cues.
CUI’s assume a form of anthropomorphism via three main categories:
Character based
Atmospheric
Thing based
Methods:
Precedent Research: Analyzing what exists, how it works, how it interacts, and what it looks like was an important part of this study, not just to learn, but to also develop ideas.
Research Through Design: Aside from looking at precedents, a lot of discoveries happened in the design process. It was important to explore many different ideas to really get a feel for how they work. It is one thing to analyze a system, and another to develop a system.
Sketching: CUI interventions can take many forms through both embodiment and expression. Sketching and jotting these ideas out were important to the ideation stage.
Define
The parameters of the project were to look at UI feedback between existing systems and use that research to make informed design decisions in creating our own conversational agents in a problem space of our choosing.
Looking at problem spaces, I was inspired to think about peers and friends who write creatively within a google document and who could use a companion to boost their morale, be hard on them, and also constructively prompt users. From there, looking at aspects that are important to creative writers inspired how a conversational user may interact with a person.
Ideate
Written brainstorming ideas for study
Sketches of ideas
Fleshing out how it may interact with a screen via sketches
Brainstorming how to change a conversational unit over time
Looking at how a conversational unit can evolve over time
Notes and sketches featuring concepts of where to take conversational unit
Iterate
This study was mostly about figuring out, through design, how a conversational user interface can express different stages of interaction with a user. Many different iterations took place, from more abstract to defined interfaces.
I ended up going with a little worm, Reemo, who follows along in your writing, much like Grammarly does, but with more personalization and interaction. Ideally, Reemo could be used with different programs like Spotify to support writers musically as they work.
Conversational expressions via graphic roughs
Exploring gesture based conversational bot
Screenshot featuring multiple paths and how a conversational bot may interact with a webpage