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Meg McLaughlin

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Blog

Thoughts on design process, works in progress, and  some doodles.

Double diamond

January 25, 2018

A visualization to help set expectations + vocab with non-designers.

I created this diagram [below] while working at Jackrabbit Mobile, to help explain the design process to coworkers and clients alike. I used the Double Diamond by Dan Nester as a jumping off point. When I shared that diagram with non-designers, I found that it was good at orienting people to the work I was doing, but it took a lot of explanation. 

BASIC DIAGRAM TO OPEN CONVERSATION ABOUT DESIGN

I broke out the things non-designers wanted to know and created my own version of the Double Diamond:

  • What are the phases of design?

  • What happens in each of those phases?

  • When can we expect X deliverable?

Read More
In Design Process, Storytelling Tags Diagrams, Visualizations
Screen Shot 2018-06-12 at 2.59.11 AM.png

Bubblr

June 17, 2016

A thought exercise about distributing voices on social media.

Bubblr was a product I imagined during my Q4 Theory class at AC4D. We had 5 readings (listed at the bottom of this post) that talked about power dynamics relating to work, culture, and our roles within each.  Our assignment was to create an artifact to illustrate our thinking on the topic.

I started by abstracting ideas from the readings based on different roles: those holding on to power, those empowering others, those giving up their power. For each of the readings, I wrote my take-away for each role.

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In Ideas, Diagrams Tags Ideas, Behavior, Visualizations
No results found
  • 2018
    • Sep 19, 2018 Research chair
    • Aug 15, 2018 App design based on a podcast
    • Jan 25, 2018 Double diamond
  • 2017
    • May 18, 2017 Sex Ed Research & Hackathon
    • Feb 8, 2017 Wiked
  • 2016
    • Nov 8, 2016 FoTO
    • Jun 17, 2016 Bubblr
    • May 10, 2016 Openly Quizzes
  • 2015
    • Dec 19, 2015 ColdTowne Theater
    • Oct 16, 2015 Songs in the Sitting Room
More Posts
Research chair tweet image
Research chair
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Screen Shot 2020-11-12 at 12.16.15 AM.png
App design based on a podcast

After I left Jackrabbit Mobile, I kept my skills sharp by giving myself assignments to sketch out whatever app idea came into my head. Around the same time, the podcast Bubble was released.

Synopsis:

Welcome to Fairhaven, a literal Bubble of corporate utopia set amid the wild, goblin-infested Brush. The first scripted comedy series from Maximum Fun, Bubble was created by Jordan Morris, and tells the tale of a small band of monster killers struggling to make ends meet and find love in a nightmarish version of the gig economy.

I took notes anytime they mentioned the app…

Read more →
Diagrams, Visualizations
Double diamond
Diagrams, Visualizations

A visualization to help set expectations + vocab with non-designers.

I created this diagram [below] while working at Jackrabbit Mobile, to help explain the design process to coworkers and clients alike. I used the Double Diamond by Dan Nester as a jumping off point. When I shared that diagram with non-designers, I found that it was good at orienting people to the work I was doing, but it took a lot of explanation. 

BASIC DIAGRAM TO OPEN CONVERSATION ABOUT DESIGN

I broke out the things non-designers wanted to know and created my own version of the Double Diamond:

  • What are the phases of design?

  • What happens in each of those phases?

  • When can we expect X deliverable?

Read more →
Diagrams, Visualizations
Sex Ed Research & Hackathon
Research, Ideation, Presentation
Sex Ed Research & Hackathon
Research, Ideation, Presentation

Findings from research on sexual health that informed a project at ATX Hack for Change 2017.

Note: Not entirely safe for work.

TALKING TO WOMEN ABOUT SEXUAL HEALTH

In the fall of 2015, Celine Thibault, David Bill and I worked on an ethnographic research project focused on the sexual health of low income women. We spoke to 16 different women from all walks of life: nurses, sex educators, waitresses, strippers, artists, christians, teenagers, and mothers. Everyone's experience with sex and sexuality is deeply personal. I'm grateful to all of the folks who shared their stories with us.

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Research, Ideation, Presentation
Wiked
video, Presentation, design thinking, theory
Wiked
video, Presentation, design thinking, theory

A video about wicked problems made in answer to an assignment at AC4D.

Follow an intrepid young designer on a quest to solve all the world's problems. Can he do it!? 

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video, Presentation, design thinking, theory
Foto unicorn
Ideas, Storytelling
FoTO
Ideas, Storytelling

An idea for a crowd-sourced photo app that I can’t decide to love or hate.

I had a few photography incidents recently that made me think about how photography fits into people's lives:

  1. A friend was driving me home, and had her phone in her lap. At a stoplight, she showed the instagram photo she'd been looking at. (That phone was confiscated for the rest of the trip.) 

  2.  I needed a photo of myself, and the only good ones I could find were self portraits. (In a past life I was a photographer).

  3. I went to dinner at another friend's house and she was lamenting the amazing lives of far-away friends she was seeing on social media. I told her my photography mantra: No one takes photos when they're really engaged with the people around them. Some people can remind themselves to take photos when they want to capture a great time, but it generally takes everyone out of the moment.

I used these observations to play around with an idea for a photo service that I find simultaneously terrifying and... kind of cool.

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Ideas, Storytelling
Bubblr
Ideas, Behavior, Visualizations
Bubblr
Ideas, Behavior, Visualizations

A thought exercise about distributing voices on social media.

Bubblr was a product I imagined during my Q4 Theory class at AC4D. We had 5 readings (listed at the bottom of this post) that talked about power dynamics relating to work, culture, and our roles within each.  Our assignment was to create an artifact to illustrate our thinking on the topic.

I started by abstracting ideas from the readings based on different roles: those holding on to power, those empowering others, those giving up their power. For each of the readings, I wrote my take-away for each role.

Read more →
Ideas, Behavior, Visualizations
Openly Quizzes
design process
Openly Quizzes
design process

A dive into the thinking behind Openly’s personality quizzes.

Openly is a service that helps couples show they care. The idea was developed by Sophie Kwok and I as a 9 month project at AC4D. Read the full story.

The first thing users do when they start Openly is take a quiz based on the Five Love Languages. We used an existing framework for this section because a lot of couples already understand Love Languages, or how they best feel loved. The five Languages are: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Physical Touch, Receiving Gifts, and Acts of Service. The idea is that way you feel loved may not match your partner, and you may sometimes have to translate your actions to your partner's "language" to understand that you both care. 

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design process
Coldtowne Lobby
service design, interaction design, ixd, comedy, journey map
ColdTowne Theater
service design, interaction design, ixd, comedy, journey map

Overview

  • Worked with a local improv theater to improve retention rates for new students.

  • Identified perceived problems in joining the community.

  • Prototyped changes to the physical space and developed strategies to reduce social pressure.

  • ColdTowne Theater tested our changes, and will be making them permanent.

Background

At AC4D, Philip Koske and I took on a two month service design project at ColdTowne Theater in Austin, TX. ColdTowne is an comedy theater with shows 7 nights a week. They boast a vibrant community of improv-comics, teach classes, and become a second home to many of the people who perform there. ColdTowne students develop the skills to be more creative, open, and confident with others by learning and playing with professional comedy techniques.

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service design, interaction design, ixd, comedy, journey map
Songs in the Sitting Room
ideation, illustration, community
Songs in the Sitting Room
ideation, illustration, community

Forward-looking ideas for a local music collective called Songs in the Sitting Room, featuring some illustrations I’m really proud of.

Songs in the Sitting Room is a group in Austin, TX dedicated to finding and promoting local musicians. Miranda Hoffman, Sophie Kwok and I had the honor of working on ideas to help the group grow and move out of their living room and into a venue. I illustrated some of our top ideas.

For 6 months, Songs in the Sitting Room was a concert series held in increasingly crowded rooms around town. SITSR talked to us about their dream venue, and vision of helping connect local artists to their community. SITSR wants to create an environment where all kinds of creative people are able to meet, be inspired, and hear great music. 

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ideation, illustration, community