Jake Strassberg

Our team set out to redesign how CicLAvia attendees explore the event route. We created a new interactive map solution featuring points of interest, shops, and restaurants along the route. Our solution empowers event goers to hop off their bike and engage with their city.

CicLAvia is a local non-profit whose mission is to tackle car-culture. The organization regularly closes down LA streets and provides access only to non-motorized vehicles and pedestrians. CicLAvia faces an issue of being seen as a bike-only event whose participants speed through the route without stopping to enjoy the neighborhood. Our team decided to solve this problem by focusing on CicLAvia’s digital map. The existing map has major usability issues and most event goers are unaware it even exists.

CicLAvia event goers are in need of a digital map. This immediately became clear when we spoke with people at the event. The route can be confusing and it is often difficult to find restrooms, event hubs, and to discover things to do along the route. We also learned that a map is not always the ideal format to find local businesses along the route. A list with filter options provides an easier browsing experience. Lastly, small businesses in less affluent areas often have little to no online presence and were often unintentionally excluded from CiaLAvia’s map. These small businesses are the ones that can benefit the most from our solution.

We recreated CiaLAvia’s map using Poxi which is a new, simplified map making platform. The map was embedded on a website we created along with a list of local businesses. Using the map, event goers can get an overview of the route. If they are looking for places to shop or eat at they can browse the business list and filter by price, type, location, etc. To promote our solution we generated a QR code and placed it on signs which we wore while attending a CiaLAvia event.

This project was done in collaboration with MaCher (a sustainable product company) and Meow Wolf (an immersive in-person art and entertainment company). For this project my team created smart light companion so users can bring the Meow Wolf experience home with them.

This project was done in collaboration with Meow Wolf, MaCher, and SMC IxD. Meow Wolf is an arts and entertainment company that creates large-scale interactive and immersive installations. They were looking to create an exciting new product for their store that combines a physical product with a digital experience. Meow Wolf partnered with MaCher which is a product manufacturer and MaCher in turn partnered with SMC IxD to generate ideas for the new product.

The Meow Wolf experience is ephemeral. Visitors go to the event, enjoy it, and generally don’t engage with the brand further. This was confirmed by our research. We needed to design a product that enabled visitors to take the Meow Wolf experience home with them.

The Meow Orb is a smart light that pairs with an app. From the app the user can select different "scenes" inspired by the Meow Wolf exhibit. The Meow Orb then lights up your room according to the selected scene. Users can immerse themselves further in the experience by casting Meow Wolf videos to their TV and listening to narrative stories of the Meow Wolf world. This creates an extension of the exhibit that get to take home with them to further engage with the brand.