The Challenge
"Do you know where Batman is?" A not so uncommon question at tech startups using obscure and creative naming conventions for their conference rooms. The problem is that Batman does not reference a location or a floor number, which is especially difficult for new employees. People like these names because they are playful and promote creativity, but they dislike them greatly when they are running late to a meeting and can’t figure out where to go. Our challenge was to create an experience that was playful while also guiding you to the conference room of your choice. Meet “DASH" - a wall that gives you directions, says hello when you walk by and lets you play games on your break.
Initial Sketches
DASH's Personality
We named our interactive wall, "DASH." It sounded fun and personable but was also very different from a human name. We wanted to make it clear that we were not trying to impersonate a real human. Similar to Siri, there was no face to the name. We interjected personality into the visual design, the language within the interface and the body motions that were required to interact with DASH. With artificial intelligence you need to tread a fine line of making something feel to realistic or humanistic. No one felt like DASH was too ominous/intimidating, which was big a success.
Final Designs
