Konceptframtagning av entréinstallation till upplevelsecenter

Abstract

In a collaboration between Volvo Cars and Volvo Group, the companies will build a joint experience center in central Gothenburg. Here, visitors should be able to take part in the brand and its products in a historical, current and future perspective. To attract visitors, Volvo's experience center will appeal to both local visitors, tourists and invited guests, and the companies emphasize that a visit should be a memorable experience. This project aims to investigate how to capture interest in an innovative way and to guide the experience center’s visitors already at the entrance. The solution must consider different types of visitors and what requirements they can place on elements in an entrance environment. In addition, the solution must include tools that can help visitors navigate the building. The work began with a feasibility study where stakeholders, the market for experience centers and the premises' conditions were studied to create a basic understanding of the problem. This was followed by a user study consisting of observations of public places and a survey. The feasibility study and the user study resulted in a hierarchy of impressions. The hierarchy of impressions aims to describe that when visitors arrive at the entrance to Volvo's experience center, it is most important that they feel interested, welcomed and are guided. The hierarchy of impressions is the basis for a function tree and a list of criteria. The second part of the work presents a concept development that aims to find a solution that lives up to the insights from the feasibility study and the user study. This was done through idea generation, analysis and elimination in several iterative phases, which resulted in a final concept. The final concept Face&Find is a two-part solution that is intended to be a centrally located installation in the entrance to the experience center and an interactive website that visitors can have on their mobile phones. The installation is shaped like a pillar, so it is accessible from all directions and the pillar has a number of screens. The screens have interactive faces, which communicate with the visitor through text and sound. These faces should encourage visitors to explore the center and additionally convey the digital tool where the visitor can get directions to their phone. Face&Find is intended to give visitors the opportunity to discover Volvo's experience center in an independent way by letting the guidance be part of the activities. In addition, the final concept intends to capture interest with sound, light and interaction between active visitors and the center early in the visit. In this way, the installation becomes both an interesting first impression and a helpful guidance tool