New thoughts on the operation process of Emotional edition (Mood board)

Emotional version of this method in foreign applications has a certain history, it was born in the last century, the non-information age, usually participants were asked to select from the daily newspaper and magazine in line with the "mood or key words" of the picture, to reduce the picture, and then paste together. But the times are changing, now we are experiencing the information explosion of the network era--google, Baidu a variety of image search engine into our lives; Shutter stock, panorama and other professional picture materials at home and abroad the rise of the site-this has to let me think, "emotional version" This method can also feel the central party's call, "with The Times"?

In this October's Android client Design research project, we organized users to participate in this research methodology, and made some minor improvements to the implementation details and analysis process of the method. I hope to share with you the whole process of the method through this article.

1 in traditional sense, the definition and meaning of emotional edition

MOOD BOARD (Emotional edition) refers to the collection of colors, pictures, images, or other materials that are designed for the product and related subject directions, causing certain emotional reactions to be used as a design direction or as a form of reference. Help designers clear visual design needs, for the extraction of color scheme, visual style, texture material, to guide visual design, to provide inspiration for designers.

2 traditional emotional version of the operating methods

2.1 First, comprehensive user research results, brand/marketing strategy, internal discussion and other ways to clearly experience keywords, you can draw the Experience keyword (experience Keywords). Usually, this can also be a business decision.

2.2 Second, users, designers or decision-makers can be invited to participate in the collection of material for a period of time. It is usually picked up and pasted together from the daily contacts of newspapers and magazines.

2.3 Again, will be for everyone's emotional version of the collection, with a qualitative interview, understand the reasons for choosing pictures, digging more behind the story and details.

2.4 Finally, the material map according to keyword clustering, extraction color, color scheme, mechanism material characteristics, as the final visual style of output.

3 modified version of Mood BOARD

The approach process that is being tried in the Android client visual style study--

3.1 First step, native key words.

There is no difference from the traditional method of operation (2.1 described in the previous paragraph).

3.2 Second step, derivative keywords.

In this study, we made some changes to the traditional emotional version of the process, allowing participants to use image search engines and material sites to find pictures. However, if only through the simple search of the original keyword, it is easy to cause the image material of different participants to appear homogeneity problem. So, before you search for a picture, insert the "derived keyword" step. We asked the participants to first brainstorm a mental map of the key words (pictured below). On the one hand, reasonably guide the research object divergent ideas, on the other hand, also deep in the process of digging the original keywords in their hearts definition.

Derivative keyword Birth interview:

Free divergence question--what do you think of "simplicity"?

Guiding divergence-If "simplicity" is a color, what do you think it is? If simplicity is a food, what do you think it is? If "concise" is ...

3.3 The third step, the image search, extract images to generate emotional version.

At this stage, users are required to use "Native keywords" and "diffraction keywords", through the network channels, collected a large number of corresponding material map and with qualitative interviews.

3.4 The fourth step, the analysis of derivative keywords--fractal dimension annotation

In the generation of emotional version of the same time, with the development of all "derived keywords" in accordance with the three dimensions of sorting. The purpose of this process is to help project team members understand the "abstract keywords" from the user's point of view "representational interpretation". All keywords can be categorized according to the following three dimensions--

Visual mapping

Mood map

Materialized mappings

3.5 Fifth Step, the emotional version of "Color Analysis" and "Texture analysis"

Many traditional methods of emotional research may end when the emotional version is generated, which could lead to a disconnect between research and final design output. Because, designers often stay in their own subjective digestion and feelings, and then carry out the design, the lack of a more objective measurement methods. In this research, one of the outputs that we eventually produce is the corresponding color scheme.

The electronic emotional version of the later "color Analysis" is also more convenient.

On the one hand, we will the emotional version of the PS in the Gaussian blur, and then use the color dropper to extract the large color block. Of course, there are already a lot of user color scheme extracted sites and software, so that more effort.

On the other hand, combined with the analysis results of derivative keywords, the emotional version of the more high-frequency physical and chemical textures and materials extracted.