Ted Pollari
Designer. Researcher.Strategist.MBA.Coder.Photographer.Philosopher.Psychologist.Trouble Maker.Problem Solver.Planner.Listener.Conversation Starter.Data Visualizer.Wholistic Thinker.Minnesotan.Hockey Fan.Dog Owner.Contradiction.
photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandi666/2197303006/
Ted Pollari
photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandi666/2197303006/
The following pages contain brief, one-page summaries of some of the projects on which I have worked. These are projects that reflect my work while at the Institute of Design and Stuart School of Business as well as in my prior career.
With a focus on user-centered design & technology strategy, I have attempted to connect the broad view required of strategic thinking with a close-up view of technology and the ultimate goal of producing genuinely meaningful products, services and experiences.
Underlying all of my work is a simple premise:
For a project, product, or service to be successful, it must provide something that is meaningful and desirable while being technologically feasible and economically viable. It’s a simple idea, but that’s exactly what makes it so powerful.
Gov. Paul Ryan
Silicon Valley
entrepreneurs
Intel
bears
veterans
demonstration
stricken
Falklands war
cargo ship
Land Day
powerful
Israeli border
Bosnian war
massacre
Conwy coast
siege
Passover
Philip Coulter
tornado
Texas
theaterRick Bayless
improvChicagocomedy
food
‘golden ticket’
Mitt Romney
Australianewspapers
Wisconsin
Budget
Beastie BoysinductionRock and Roll hall of fame
unemployment
backyards
“Burying the Dead”
Siberiadocumentary
Jewish deli
clashes
Suu KyiBurma
plane crashpassengers
hungry
Brad Ausmuscatchers
rumorsChinamicroblogs
collisions
waranniversary
Sarajevo
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broadcast browser
week day hour 15 min 1 min + searchNOW PLAYING: Fresh Air [friday, april 6]dayWBEZ Broadcast BrowserProblem statement/summary:WBEZ, a public radio station in Chicago, originally came to the Institute of Design looking for help with data visualization concepts to make their website be more informative and useful for their members and listeners.
Key insights: » Website users overwhelmingly sought out streaming audio content
and largely did not rely on the WBEZ website beyond that.
» The online listening experience is not currently treated as a high-value activity nor does streamed content connect to the other online content.
» Listeners look to WBEZ to be an information curator and constant companion to their day and this sets WBEZ apart from other media and news sources for many listeners.
Solution:Broadcast Browser is an online application that combines the experience of radio, the power of visualization and the capabilities of the web. This concept puts the listening experience front and center, while making wbez.org more than just an analogue to the radio.
At the heart of Broadcast Browser is a zoomable streaming interface, allowing users to view one multiple time scales while seamlessly exploring live audio or recorded content from past broadcasts. Using live audio transcription, it collects and visualizes the stream, displaying keywords, images and tweets for each story as it unfolds, on air.
This creates a continuous, dynamic multi-media summary of WBEZ’s content that users can engage with at multiple levels, choosing to experience, explore or examine content as they see fit.
Role:Researcher, designer and digital prototype developer.
Collaborators:Lauren Braun and Helen Wills
Additional information:Concept video: https://vimeo.com/43589121
Process overview: http://pollari.org/portfolio/pollari_bb_process.pdf
Final presentation slides: http://pollari.org/portfolio/pollari_bb_final_pres.pdf
Interaction & Planning2012
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The Story Machine: Reconnecting dispersed familiesProblem statement/summary:How might we enhance a dispersed family’s ability to connect and experience emotional intimacy? As people become more mobile, extended families are forced to span greater distances, reducing opportunities to bond through shared experiences.
Key insights: » Shared memories and stories are cornerstones of the family bonds.
» Increased separation decreases opportunities to share experiences.
» Objects and photos can have rich memories and stories associated with them and can be used for recollection of stories that might otherwise go untold.
Project time frame:Inter-session: four days
Solution:We prototyped the Story Machine, an app designed to be a catalyst for conversations. The app acts as a synchronized photo display, showing geographically distant family members the same content simultaneously and encouraging video chats. Chats are automatically recorded and cataloged, tied to the photos that prompted the chat. The Story Machine actively captures sharing of memories, connecting them to specific people and to digital memory artifacts such as photos or videos, preserving them and allowing them to be shared.
Role:Interaction designer
Collaborators:Raph D’Amico, Russell Flench, Kwame Green
Additional information:Project white paper: http://pollari.org/portfolio/pollari_story_whitepaper.pdfInteraction
2011
Nineteen: seeing qualitative dataProblem statement/summary:Many of the same advances that have brought about the “big data” revolution in quantitative data have also caused dramatic growth in the availability of qualitative data.
Qualitative data does not easily lend itself to the same sorts of automated summary and abstraction tools that work with quantitative data. This means that many researchers are drowning in qualitative data without advanced analytic tools.
Key insights: » Data can be understood in a rapid, precognitive manner when
presented visually.
» The ability to explore data in context and in a unified environment is critical to the sense-making process.
» Treating data analysis as a prototyping process guides the development of a new class of tools.
Solution:Nineteen is a freely available tool that allows rapid visualization and exploration of data at multiple levels of abstraction, simultaneously. Designed for use early in analysis, nineteen fosters hypothesis testing, aiming to prompt as many questions as it answers.
Role:Designer and developer
Collaborator & Advisor:Kim Erwin
Additional information:Usable prototype: http://data.pollari.org/
Demo video: https://vimeo.com/44337905
Original project brief: http://pollari.org/portfolio/pollari_nineteen_brief.pdf
Kim Erwin’s IASDR2011 paper on this and related work: http://www.id.iit.edu/media/cms_page_media/38/9-VisualCodingOfQualitativeData-Erwin.pdf Data visualization
2011 – present
Food processors: portfolio analysisSummary:A student project for a hypothetical client project, using extensive market and secondary research, this analysis examined the food processor market and Black & Decker’s portfolio of offerings, presenting strategy options and recommendations for driving future growth.
Key insights: » The lack of actual brand ownership by Spectrum Brands, which licesnses
the Black & Decker brand presents a potential long-term challenge.
» Offerings focus primarily on value and less on features or premium lines, driving efficiency from operational excellence rather than product leadership.
» That lack of differentiation makes the brand more susceptible to the market fluctuations and buyer impulses and in-store decision making process.
» While the portfolio of products sells well, customer satisfaction is low – falling short of their competition.
Proposed solutions: » Build a high-end brand: Capture the growing high-end market while
building a brand that is owned, not licensed.
» International Expansion: An exploding middle class in India, Brazil and China makes for an extreme potential for growth in the food processor market internationally.
» Private label manufacturing: Turn the lack of brand ownership into an asset. Private label products have been growing in popularity as retailers attempt to capture additional value and build brands for themselves and consumers seek greater value for constrained budgets.
Additional information:Full overview: http://pollari.org/portfolio/pollari_BDPortfolio.pdf
Strategy2012
Chicago food trucks: a rapid research experienceResearch focus:What was driving the new and growing popularity of food trucks in Chicago?
Key insights: » Food trucks provide either a lowered barrier to entry into food service
or a brand extension for an existing establishment.
» The internet allows for new methods of not only publicity but also adaptive responses to demand and changing urban environments, allowing food trucks to fill an upscale niche not previously possible.
» Customers often had a social goal in mind as well, wanting to support local/small businesses.
Project time frame:Inter-session: four days
Role:Interviewer, photographer
Collaborators:Diana Cheng, Joe Fleischhacker, Angelica Espinosa
Advisor:Stokes Jones
Additional information:Final research report: http://pollari.org/portfolio/pollari_foodtrucks_final.pdf
Ethnographic Interviewing2011
Tweetscape: conversations in a broadcast mediumProblem statement/summary:Twitter was developed as a broadcast medium but it has long served as a tool for conversational interaction between users. Existing visualizations fail to capture the richness of these interactions on a personal level.
Key insights: » The ability to explore conversations in context is critical for
understanding the interpersonal nature of the service.
» Patterns of activity often emerge allowing user classification based on visually discernible patterns.
Solution:A prototype allowing interactive visualizations of multi-user twitter conversations in an adaptive timeline format was produced to explore this concept.
A simultaneous, color and shape-coded time-line display was developed that allows interactive discovery of conversational content. Users’ incoming tweets are displayed on the left side of their timeline and outgoing messages are displayed on the right.
Role:Sole designer and developer
Advisor:Stan Ruecker
Additional information:White paper: http://pollari.org/portfolio/pollari_tweetscape.pdf
Data visualization2011
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Planning & strategy2011
Nixieride: Rethinking urban transportationProblem statement/summary:Existing urban transit options are all some combination of inefficient, unpleasant, or expensive. We wondered if a modern re-examination of the topic might yield a new business opportunity.
Key insights: » Sharing services are more mainstream and socially-acceptable options
when they save money or are environmentally responsible, particularly without requiring significant sacrifice from users.
» Modern taxi and bus services must have significant extra system-wide capacity in order to provide service when and where needed. Thus, high levels of utilization and efficiency are difficult to achieve.
» Payment, particularly by credit card, can take a significant amount of time, further decreasing operational efficiencies while also frustrating users and drivers alike.
Solution:We developed and refined a business model for a cashless, shared-ride car service where all rides and payments are arranged via the internet or mobile devices. This allows for higher profits through greater efficiencies while providing a safer, cleaner, and faster service to customers
Role:Strategist/design planner
Collaborators:Max Talbot-Minkin, Sangkyun Park, Chi-Tsung Lin
Additional information:Final presentation: http://pollari.org/portfolio/pollari_nixieride_final.pdf
Business plan: http://pollari.org/portfolio/pollari_nixieride_bizplan.pdf
source: http://wednesdaysinmhd.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/The-Boiler-Room-Glover-School-Marblehead-21.jpg
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Interaction strategy2010
MRO Connect: Transforming the point of need into the point of sale.Problem statement/summary:A Fortune 500 company in the maintenance, repair and operation supply business came to the Institute of Design asking “how might we better deliver technical knowledge to the point of need?”
Key insights: » Getting help with a problem requires capturing the problem details,
communicating them effectively, and then retaining the knowledge for future sharing or re-use. Each of those points contains a design opportunity.
» Shortening the distance between problem and solution drives sales and increases value of solutions to customers.
Solution:We prototyped solutions and outlined a development plan for a mobile-device based tool for customers, sales reps and account managers. The tool was designed to help diagnose problems and more accurately identify required replacement parts while also allowing immediate, on-site ordering, in the moment of need.
As a measure of our success, in the spring of 2012, the client has reengaged the Institute of Design, funding directed research to continue development related to concepts produced.
Role:Researcher, interaction designer, and strategist.
Collaborators:Owen Schoppe, Chris Royer, John Vollmer, Amir Arabkheradmand
Additional information:Example scenario: http://pollari.org/portfolio/pollari_mro_scenario_example.pdf
Sample research summary: http://pollari.org/portfolio/pollari_mro_research.pdf
Final presentation: http://pollari.org/portfolio/pollari_mro_tool_final.pdf
Institute of Design :: Fall 2011
Hans MickelsonTed PollariChris Royer
Adobe Creative SuiteBootcamp
BC
Creative Suite bootcampProblem statement/summary:Students entering the Institute of Design arrive with widely varying skill sets, particularly with the most frequently used tools. While this is a problem for individuals, it also seriously hinders group experiences. Effective group collaboration requires exchange of documents and without a common, minimum familiarity with a set of tools, that exchange cannot easily occur.
Key insights: » Students were often reluctant to ask one another for help with basic
tools.
» Tool mastery wasn’t essential, but a core set of task-relevant skills could suffice for group work and could encourage individual practice and self-driven skill-building.
Solution:Having independently recognized these issues, we petitioned ID faculty and administrators for formal support for a basic-skills program. With their backing, we created a week-long intensive bootcamp course to provide incoming students at the Institute of Design with a solid grounding in InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop. Success was measured by significant positive feedback from faculty and students.
Role:Curriculum coauthor and instructor
Collaborators:Hans Mickelson, Chris Royer
Teaching 2010 – present
image courtesy of Ted Leung
Strategy & planning2006 – 2009
PyCon: Managing growth in a community-run conferenceProblem statement/summary:PyCon, the North American conference for the Python programming language, an all volunteer conference was facing strong growth and was on the verge of outgrowing its existing site selection and planning system.
Key insights: » For conferences, scale means increasing marginal
costs, not decreasing.
» Feelings of community ownership extend beyond software in the open-source world.
» Volunteers are important for the community character, but continuity of management and specialized skills are required for events above a certain size to succeed.
Solution:As a part of the Chicago bid to host PyCon, we developed a process to redefine and centralize the planning and site selection process. This enabled PyCon to grow from 450 attendees in 2006 to more than 1700 in 2012 without burning out volunteers in host cities long before the event started.
One essential component was engaging a professional meeting planning company to provide the required logistical and negotiating expertise from year to year – and we sold this to the volunteer-driven Python community continue volunteer control while outsourcing tasks volunteers were least suited to do.
Role:Chicago bid chairperson and PyCon local coordinator
Collaborators:Members of the Python Software Foundation
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Social neuroscience2001 – 2002
The physiological detection of deceptionProblem statement/summary:As many as one in six innocent people would fail a polygraph test, with false negative rates being even higher. Therefore, we asked how might we increase accuracy and bring scientifically valid methodologies to lie detection?
Key insights: » The polygraph is actually better at intimidating people than it
is at detecting actual lies.
» By relying on naturally occurring, multiply determined biological measures to detect deception, the polygraph fails to accurately identify deception without significant errors.
Solution:By asking how we might identify a unique physical response to deception, we realized that we could use classical conditioning methods to instill unique changes in peripheral blood flow in response to true and false statements. We developed an alternative to the polygraph that worked in controlled environments, but was not reliable enough for diagnostic use in the field.
Role:Project manager & data analyst
Collaborators & Advisors:Dr. John Cacioppo, University of Chicago
Dr. Tyler Lorig, Washington and Lee University
Additional information:Extended overview: http://pollari.org/portfolio/pollari_pdd_brief.pdf
Honors thesis (2002): http://pollari.org/portfolio/pollari_pdd_paper.pdf
image adapted from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thaimychu/2525471073
AFORD: Good science requires good dataProblem statement/summary:While working with the Research Computing Group, we began to focus on how we might increase data accuracy/validity while decreasing staffing requirements for social science research, and staying within the budgets of the most modestly funded research grants.
Key insights: » Electronic data collection systems reduced points of failure but were
expensive if purchased from traditional vendors.
» New advances in open-source “web frameworks” allowed rapid development and deployment of inexpensive data collection systems.
» Reframing dynamic administration made complex surveys more understandable and usable for research staff.
» Maximum cross-platform compatibility demanded intentionally simple/low-tech browser-based user-interfaces.
Solution:We developed the Adaptive FORm Data (AFORD) System: an easy to use, low-cost, highly reliable web-based data collection system that went on to be used on multiple federally funded research studies over thousands of interviews, saving thousands of person-hours while operating without unexpected downtime or data loss.
Role:Primary developer
Collaborator:Phil Schumm, University of Chicago
Additional information:Extended overview: http://pollari.org/portfolio/pollari_data_collection.pdf
Research computing2003 – 2007
