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Phase 01 Interviews
Meet the participants
Phase 01 interviews aimed at understanding young consumers' sentiments towards this scary technology best known as Synthetic Media; understanding their views on the fashion industry and the debates/issues involving it; acknowledging their concerns and feelings in terms of Out-of-Home Advertising. For this purpose, I selected 7 women within my friend circle that represented young fashion consumers.
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By knowing their mindsets, habits, backgrounds, and interests, I managed to define a well-balanced and diverse group. I also intended to have a culturally mixed group of participants, considering how culture shapes our behaviours and our way of thinking.
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Say hello to them:
Alice
Chiara C.
Chiara G.
24, from Italy, studies in Boston.
26, from Italy, moved to Berlin.
24, from Italy, lives in London.
Connie
Giulia
Gemma
25, from England, lives in London.
25, from Spain, lives in London.
24, from Italy, lives in London.
Maria
26, born in Greece, lives in London.
Structure workshops
I arranged each interview individually. The initial plan was to organise the workshops in real life to have a more enjoyable experience, and I successfully managed to arrange IRL interviews with 6 of the 7 participants.
I structured the interview in 3 stages, with each one focusing on a different theme: 1) Fashion, 2) Synthetic Media, 3) Outdoor Advertising. The entire interview was a combination between direct questions, commentary of videos and images, and dynamic activities.
To create a relaxed atmosphere and make the interviewees feel at ease throughout the process, I engaged in the discussion too.
As an ice-breaker, the interview started as a commentary of Balenciaga's SS22 video, the one you watched in Theme 02 of the Yesterday section. At that stage, they were not aware that they were encountering fake content.
In the second stage, the conversation switched towards Synthetic Media. It began by observing participants' reactions while I informed them that Balenciaga's runway was fake. By this point, I had to make sure that they had a basic knowledge of the technology, and for this reason, I carefully explained what it consisted of.
During this stage, I was particularly interested in understanding which aspects they valued the most to perceive Synthetic Media ethically.
I began the last phase by showing a scene from the sci-fi movie They Live directed by John Carpenter. In the video, the main character wanders around a busy street while wearing a special pair of sunglasses. These sunglasses allowed him to see the hidden messages behind each advert he stared at. After that, the conversation continued by discussing interviewees' perspectives about OOH Advertising, what they liked and disliked the most, and what would make them like & dislike even further.
Insights
On Fashion
Through the workshops, it became possible to define the most plausible directions to take during the Prototyping stage. The majority of the interviewees showed concern about the fact that fashion advertising still portrays idealised skinny bodies and an unrealistic conception of beauty.
Most of the participants do not feel represented by fashion brands today, which directly affects their confidence and the perception of their physical appearance. I also underlined this aspect in Theme 02 of the Yesterday section.
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Many also showed their appreciation towards fashion advertising when there is a story or a feeling behind the item promoted, especially when adverts convey an idea of how it feels to wear those garments, rather than simply displaying them. At the end of the day, fashion advertising is about desires and fantasies.
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Moreover, some participants mentioned that they often make the effort of picturing themselves in the situations shown in fashion adverts. In this way, they might feel more interested in proceeding ahead with the purchase.
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On Synthetic Media
Concerning Synthetic Media, the majority of the participants were not aware of the existence of such technology. By hearing about its positive and negative uses, all the interviewees felt quite scared of realising that Synthetic Media might become ubiquitous one day. Despite this, they were also open to see how it could be used creatively.
Furthermore, they all referred to consent as a necessary requirement when brands intend to use customers' personal images in advertising. Some also argued that in the future it would be essential to build major awareness amongst the population regarding this topic.
On Out-of-Home Advertising
As the conversation continued, the insights I gathered from the discussion on OOH Advertising were somewhat predictable.
Creating interactive, experience-based & visually pleasing ads is the key to making interviewees feel more positively inclined to OOH.
Regarding the main weaknesses of this medium, participants mentioned that OOH ads are often out of place and irrelevant.