More Prototypes- More Testing- More Fun

Today was an overall success.
We first tried the webcam again, and decided that it wasn't working, so we moved over to the line and placed some new prototypes on the ground. People were reluctant and only used their feet. With the introduction of some of the more graphic letters cut out of red foam core, people seemed to want to approach the letters, but still held back and at most touched them with their feet.

When we moved over to the other side of the park, we tried 4 locations:

1. On the side of the fountain near benches and some protesters.
2. Near a sculpture.
3. In the empty fountain.
4. On the walkway exiting the park. (in this location we actually put the letters up on a clothesline).

Locations 1 and 3 were very successful, particularly amongst younger children. The sculpture (number 2) was too ambiguous of an area. It was not a walkway, it was not a rest spot.
The clothesline (number 4) also was an ambiguous area, and I think that the set up did not lend itself to interaction.

Follow up:

The letters: we cute out the whole alphabet in mostly black letters and tried some alternate RED prototypes. I think that since a large constituency is children, we should play to that and choose bright colors to attract them even more. They need more than one letter to spell out messages. This, in retrospect, should have been an obvious thing, but well it wasn't. For the next iteration I think that we should try more letters, more colors, some numbers and glyphs. Additionally, because people moved the letters a lot with their feet, I think that creating a magnet board as a base- to localize the interaction would help.