Interaction · Installation · UX Design 2
Sustain-O-Ball
An experiential installation that explains stormwater runoff through physical interaction instead of a poster or a pamphlet.
- August 2024UX Design 2 begins
- Fall 2024Concept, prototype and placement tests in high-traffic zones
- December 2024Course ends with the finished installation
01 · Concept
Make an invisible system something you can touch.
Stormwater runoff is hard to explain in words: rain hits pavement, picks up whatever is on it and carries it downstream. Sustain-O-Ball translates that abstract idea into a tangible metaphor, using recognition and recall so a visitor understands the idea by playing with it.
The installation is a long ramp built from cardboard, black packaging foam, plastic bottles and blue painter's tape on a plywood base. Foam blocks, a net cup, cardboard tubes and strips along the surface act as the interaction points.
02 · Placement
Test it where people actually walk.
I prototyped the interaction points and tested placement in high-traffic zones, so the piece catches people on their way through instead of asking them to seek it out. The ramp sat on a public stairway at the Center for Media and Design, where visitors of all ages stopped to watch.
