Objective
The objective of this phase was to design a collection system that could accompany the thermal printer installation and help organise the stories people contribute. Since the printer outputs prompts that ask visitors to reflect on their family relationships, I needed a way for those printed responses to return to the installation in a meaningful structure rather than just becoming a pile of random receipts. So I started thinking about how to frame both the current emotional state of the participant and the future relational state that they hope for.
Process Breakdown
Early Version: Random Cards
At first, the cards were simply random, and visitors could pick whichever card they wanted. While this gave a sense of openness, it turned out to be too vague. Players were not always sure what the cards meant in relation to their own family experiences, so the choice became arbitrary rather than reflective. Instead of helping people map their feelings, it just introduced confusion.Second Version: Numbered Scale
In the next iteration, I numbered the cards in order to create a scale of how close or distant a person feels with their family. This added a bit more structure and made the system easier to understand at a glance. However, the numbered format was still not doing enough interpretive work for the user. Even though the scale suggested progression, many people still ended up choosing somewhat randomly because the categories were not emotionally specific enough.Final Version: Specific Feelings and Desired Outcomes
The final iteration worked much better because each card was given a specific current feeling that helped visitors more clearly map their relationship to their family. Rather than choosing from an abstract or numbered system, players could recognise themselves in an emotional description. I then extended this logic to the collection boxes as well, so the boxes represented what visitors want from their familial relationships going forward. This created a clearer bridge between present feeling and desired future state, which made the whole collection system much easier to understand and much more meaningful to participate in.Why This Matters
This collection system is important because it turns the installation from a one-way prompt machine into a more legible social archive. Instead of simply printing a question and ending there, the installation can now position each response within a broader emotional landscape of family relationships. This makes the collected material more interpretable for both me as the researcher and for future visitors who may encounter the archive of responses.Key Takeaways
- The most effective version of the collection system was the one that used specific emotional labels rather than random or purely numbered categories, because it helped visitors map themselves into the installation more clearly.