Communication Report

The research report has finally been completed.
Overall I’m pleased with the way this research project has gone, I believe I have reached a good outcome although I do feel I would have like to go into more depth and to make this product a lot more useful. I would have like to of conducted more primary research with observations and questionnaires as they are the most useful to giving answers and opening new questions to think about. But I do feel this has been a good project and that the task of changing the handset of a product that hasn’t changed much in the last 20 years was difficult as there was a clear reason companies didn’t want to do it. This was because the handset is something everyone understands and breaking away from that can cause isolation within groups of people. However I still believe development is need as companies like Siemens may find themselves pulling out of the telephone market if they don’t act soon enough to revitalise it.     
Final Essay Layout Blog

The Results are in!

It was very interesting and helpful doing this questionnaire as it was useful to see how people really felt about talking to other people on the phone. Now i can use this research for my essay. Thanks for your helpful if you filled the survey in below. 


Results

Skype Video

I decided to film myself talking to my family so that i can study how people interact with the service Skype. When i called my parents i found that they were using the TV computer to talk to me, this is unusual as they usually use the laptop. This gave a good point of view of what I'm trying to accomplish for Siemens with a video calling unit so that you don't have to leave the computer on for anyone to call you. It was good to see the interaction with the possibility of being engrossed into the family despite being miles away, also video calling allows for me to see what's going on in the family with work they have done. Also the ability of seeing body language gives a great benefit over traditional methods of communication. 

The video is at a really low quality for upload speeds and i have a longer video on my computer with sound.

Survey

I made a quick survey, please feel free to fill it in. Thanks

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Siemens

I've been meaning to put this up a while ago. It's my Siemens Rationale board.

Telephone Advert Boards

I looked into old advert boards for the telephone as it's interesting to see how the shape of the phone has still stayed the same and nothing has really changed. However I know i'm looking into this to see what changes can be made but from the adverts i quite like the idea of keeping the same elements of the phone. For example you have a dock, where the phone sits and you dial the number in or charge your phone if you have a wireless phone. Then you have the handset that you talk into and listen.

I think these 2 components work well together because when the phone rings you pick up the phone to answer it. This is quite a nice physical action and i don't want to loose this to pressing a button if necessary. However does it have to be a handset? Could it be a headset? Does there only have to be 2 components could you have 3 or just 1? These are things i need to explore further into.


 


http://www.myinsulators.com/commokid/telephones/telephone_ads.htm

BT Ads

I've been looking into British Telecom adverts to see how BT portrays people using the telephone. This was quite interesting because it shows the freedom and flexibility of being able to pick up the phone and dial the number. However in comparison to modern forms of communication that are now becoming more computer based this seems like an advantage for the average handset. Also the ability to walk around the house is a very appealing idea when calling someone as you can do your work whilst talking or just relax whilst talking. This may not be available for people video who are video calling as this demands you to keep visual contact.