Immersive Documentary

“Very Frustrating Mexican Removal” is an immersive, verbatim 360° documentary about Canadian immigration detention system. The artwork employs the practice of Verbatim Theatre and techniques and technologies of 360° Cinema

Year

2016-2018

Agency

Independent Project

Project Type

Immersive Experience

Role

Producer - Director

Credits

Credits: 
3D Artist:
Shawn Mitford
VFX Artist - Compositor: Ergin Sanal, Ian Amaya, Emmanuel Sanchez
Sound Design/Mixing: Andor Sperling;
Lucia: Isorine Marc
Voice-Over Artists:
Counsel:
Alexander Masters
Lawyer:
James Hanemayer Rosa: Sofia Silva
Deputy Sheriff: Gerry Corway Unit Rep: Laura Vandiver CBSA Officer: Leah Mertz

“Very Frustrating Mexican Removal” is generously supported by Trinity Square Video, a not-for-profit artist run center in Toronto, Canada.

Selected for
RIDM International Documentary Festival (Montreal); i-docs (Bristol); VRHAM, Virtual Reality and Arts Festival (Hamburg);
Regent Park Film Festival (Toronto), and
Split Film Festival (Split, Croatia)

Structure

Mapping the xxxx pages of report

Initial research focused on mapping key themes in the report within the consultation of Amnesty International Canada and Human Rights Watch Canada. The report is structured through three distinct voices: testimonies of immigrants, feedback of experts mostly lawyers and the voices of report researchers who gives the larger context of the system

The initial process was paper prototyping, a kind of a card sorting practice. Printing the report, cutting all the quotes and placing on
my floor

Focus Areas
01

What are the key themes that needs to be covered

02

What could be the supporting elements for users to understand the complexity of the context

03

What is the core UX/UI piece that will help the users the explore the content

04

How we can make sure that the experience doesn't feel too fractured but works a whole story

Mapping User Interviews

A series of in-depth interviews were then conducted on 5 participants to further identify pain points, frustrations, needs, and desires with existing products to determine how YUM could improve this experience.

Key Takeaways
01

All participants used a combination of multiple apps to find, save and share restaurants

02

Users value the ability to customize their settings to curate things that fit their preferences

03

Major products in the market lack desirable features and feel impersonal, outdated and untrustworthy

04

A map feature with tags is paramount when searching for restaurants

05

Too much information on screen makes users feel overwhelmed, they'd like a more curated experience

06

Irrelevant suggestions feel impersonal and clutter the UI, filters are highly used tools when searching

Define

Carving out a niche in a saturated market

After conducting user interviews, all the participants responses were synthesized to identity themes, opportunities, and features that YUM could focus and improve upon.

Affinity Map

An affinity map was created to identify high level themes and group similar insights gained from the user interviews.

Interview Synthesis

Using the four hues of the SimpleStage identity as a starting point, I expanded the color palette to accommodate the needs of the platform’s complex dashboard system.

Persona

A persona was built based on the data collected to help drive decision making and keep the product focused on solving users pain points, frustrations, and goals.

Ideate

Generative Design

To kick-off the design process, quick sketches helped me get ideas on paper to establish which elements were necessary for each screen. A low fidelity prototype was then created for initial user testing.

User Flow

The primary user flow is the process of searching, saving and sharing with friends.

Site Map

YUM's simple information structure makes it easy to navigate and move through tasks.

Sketches

Rough sketches were done to get my initial thoughts on paper and brainstorm new ideas for specific UI elements.

Low-Fidelity Prototypes

Using the feedback and insights gained from research, analysis and sketching, a how-fidelity prototype was created to begin user testing.

Usability Study

A usability study was conducted to determine where improvements could be made and identify new ideas to satisfy user expectations, needs, and desires.

Pain Points
01

Source of restaurant review was unclear

02

Quick save option not available, had to specify which list to save to

03

Emphasis on photos made it difficult to find type of food and restaurant ratings

New Ideas
01

Use color to differentiate YUM's suggestions from a users saved restaurants

02

Remove multi-step process to find social icons and make immediately visible

03

Add a moment of delight to let the user know a restaurant was saved

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