Rationale

Rationale
After assignment one, we felt that we wanted to focus more on New Zealand and Nepal because the size of the countries are much more similar opposed to India. Our narrative shows that although New Zealand is roughly 2 times bigger than Nepal, deaths caused by road accidents are 5 times the amount of New Zealand. This is due to different road layouts and other underlying factors such as weather, landslides and natural disasters. Our target audiences are New Zealanders who’re interested in travelling to Nepal and are possibly interested in Nepal’s roads and vehicles. We created a labyrinth game, mimicking the roads of New Zealand and Nepal. To show comparisons, we kept the same layout for both countries but included different obstacles to ensure it links back to our original data, showing how Nepal has more road fatalities. Each hole represents different factors contributing to road fatalities in each country. The audience will have to ‘drive’ back to their home from the market. There’s a pathway to indicate the recommended pathway the driver should take but it’s up to them what route they want to take in the end. At the end of the game, we want the audience to know that road fatalities in Nepal is much more higher than New Zealand because it’s more dangerous.

Cardboard Prototype

Wooden Labyrinth

Ideas and Inspiration for the style and layout of the labyrinth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjlgIczpJu0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gjfy1f3u68M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TYD2CGl_f4

Labyrinth Ideation

We have finalised a touchpoint for our user experience. We will be creating a physical labyrinth with two different levels. One that shows Nepal's roads and one that shows New Zealand's.

Through this we want our user to experience how Nepal's road layouts suck and how hard it is to get around. To compare both countries we could create different challenges and courses. Could possibly remove the obstacles and change them over according to the country. Have the same difficulty but different challenges?

We would need to know what percentage people would make it through the game?

We need to look into getting trained to use the laser cutter. We also need to suss out an actual course and maze along with where the obstacles go. Need to suss out the overall experience for the user. A cool thing about a labyrinth is that it can be single player or even multiplayer. If you want to play with other people then you can manage the different corners. 

Prototype

-How to show comparisons?
-Tools to compare
-Tick boxes to see the laws & weather? (Checklist layout?)
-Build on invision (Can use flat images, just get the idea across)

 

While the concept of the game is the same, the fun lies in the features introduced by the player’s smartphone. This Android Experiment lets players accurately navigate a variety of mazes by utilizing the motion sensors of their Android devices. With multiplayer gameplay supported by a Bluetooth connection, players can make use of an automatic scoring system, leaderboards, and a precise timer for those split second time differences.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mediamonks.tilt

Week 9

Experience Prototyping

We have to explore our own data to make our own conclusion. It can be in any experience design format. We need to contextualise the data. There should be a set of rules/expectations. It is about how you frame the whole experience and what the user gets out of it. Is it knowledge about a specific area of the topic? Basically an experience that they can take.

Tangi

The outcomes of this experience?
How visible/noticeable are the rules?
Does the fun go if the user already knows the rules?
How long would it take for the user to understand them?
Who is the audience/participants?


For our topic: What is the part of the story we would like to tell?
- That Nepal has more deaths than india?

Could it be an interactive game?
A board game or a maze? But then how would that link back to our topic of road deaths?

Colour palette

Here are some colour palettes we have looked at.

Week 6 (Presentation & Feedback)

We have a 3 column grid system going so we have to keep that going throughout the poster for as long as we can. It is easier to follow then. 

The laws segment could also be simplified because no one wants to read too much text. Even make it more relatable in terms of alcohol levels how do we interpret that? For example if the limit is 0.08% how many cans of beer is that? Instead of writing about the age, just show the number. 

If the quotes are moments of pause in the story maybe create a more banner style Could change through colour/strips. 

At the beginning we show how many deaths are cause per 100,000 accidents but no one actually knows how many accidents are done in total. The data given is vague. We need to show a clear relationship between the crashes and the deaths. 

The timeline could be more simplified and more of a cycle because the alternating alignments become too distracting. So try to avoid the tree layout and keep the 3 column grid consistent. 

From here we are going to look into a scrolling interactive website for our second project. We will see how we can translate the 3 column idea too from a poster format to a website format.

Comparisons

Comparisons between Nepal and India. How they are culturally connected, land sizes etc.
http://www.indexmundi.com/factbook/compare/india.nepal

Updated bar & line graphs as a resource to back up our story and see how New Zealand fits on the graph. Although New Zealand and Nepal are relatively almost the same size, New Zealand road deaths is much less. This could be due to stricter road rules, better roads and cars that are better quality.

Nepal
Population: approximately 27 million. 
Area (Land & Water):147,181 square kilometres

India
Population: over 1.2 billion people
Area (Land & Water): 3,287,263 square kilometres. 

New Zealand
Population: Approximately 4.5 million
Area (Land & Water):  area of 268,021 square kilometres

Insufficient funds in Nepal

Nepal is among the poorest and least developed countries in the world, with about one-quarter of its population living below the poverty line. Nepal is heavily dependent on remittances, and agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, providing a livelihood for more than 70% of the population. Additional challenges to Nepal’s growth include its landlocked geographic location, persistent power shortages, underdeveloped transportation infrastructure, civil strife and labor unrest, and its susceptibility to natural disaster. The lack of political consensus in the past several years has delayed national budgets and prevented much-needed economic reform, although the government passed a full budget in 2013.

Infographic visual styles

We have also been looking at how the data can be visually represented but still being in context. There are a number of illustrative ways to present our data but we have to make sure it flows well compositionally and the story/narrative can be understood by the viewer.

We don't want to just go for flat colours but we want it to have more of a depth. Our issue is a bit serious in regards to road deaths so a style more appropriate would do without the use of too much colour.

We could split our poster banner to create a series or have it run down and merge so it flows accordingly.

Critique Week 5

After our class presentation/critique we need to:

- could possibly introduce NZ at the beginning of the narrative
- how do we actually compare all three countries and make them relatable?
- any underlying data we don't have?
- Explain in the introduction why we are comparing these countries so we can help the viewer have a   clear understanding and embed the information.
- Decide on format and orientation.
- What style are we looking at for the narrative?


(Don't illustrate the data but put it into context)

Here is the rough outline and planning of how the narrative will go.

It will introduce our three countries (India, Nepal & NZ) and further look into how many road deaths occur on an average vs yearly. We will also look at the causes of these accidents/deaths. 

Moodboard

Poster format ideas:
https://nz.pinterest.com/kulfis/info-design/

We are interested in creating a informative posters series so our audience can gain a better understanding about road accidents and how the size of the country does not matter, instead
other factors can contribute to the death rate.

Monsoon season in Nepal, which usually starts in June, causes deadly flooding and landslides across the country every year. With many slopes now especially vulnerable to landslides and more rain on the way the situation in Nepal can only get worse.

http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2015/06/11/deadly-floods-and-landslides-hit-eastern-nepal-as-monsoon-season-starts/


Even before the latest earthquakes, those were on the rise as shifting weather patterns increased the chances of flooding from melting glaciers, more intense monsoon rains and the bursting of glacial lakes when their banks collapsed.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-13/threat-of-more-landslides-floods-in-nepal-after-quakes/6465848


In Nepal, eighty-four people were killed by the floods and resulting landslides and 9,700 families were displaced. Twenty-eight of the country's seventy-five districts were affected,^[5] in eleven of Nepal's fourteen zones and all five of Nepal's regions. Nepali officials were concerned about the spread of waterborne diseases.^[7] By 7 August an estimated 333,500 people in Nepal were affected by flooding.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_South_Asian_floods

Narrative

Beginning

- How these countries are culturally connected.
 These countries are very closely linked; they have the same sort of vibe and lifestyle. Both are      developing countries
 Religion is the biggest factor of how these countries are culturally linked.
 Cinema and music
 The languages are quite similar
 http://www.nepalembassy.in/socioculrel.htm

Nepal
-Roads are more narrow and windy. Mountain based

India
-More highway based. Straighter and wider roads

- Introduce the population for each country, show the deaths for each year and then dissect the deaths to show how many are due to road accidents.

Somehow show the scale of each country. Whether through population scale or country map scale. Could possibly show the road maps for each country.



Future Research

Possible formats
Existing road accident infographics
Look into the types of cars they drive

Could possibly look into the materials used for the roads. Percentage of how much materials used for the roads. (could possibly be a story in its own) - What makes a good sustainable road?



Poster series x 3/4

1st Poster:
-Introducing Nepal & India
-How they are culturally connected
-Scale of each country (map)

2nd Poster:
-Population
-Death rate of each country
-Traffic fatalities
-Different factors that contribute to the death numbers.
-What are the similarities and differences.

3rd Poster:
-Road map
-What happened in 2007
-Why the trend continue to rise

4th Poster:
-Comparing to New Zealand
-Wrap up

Possible Narratives

We saw that there was a sudden incline of deaths in 2007 in Nepal. We have looked into possible reasons as to why this would happen in Nepal and how that could help us tell a clear narrative.

These two links show what driving is like in these two countries.

http://www.driverabroad.com/countries/driving-in-asia/nepal/

http://www.driverabroad.com/countries/driving-in-asia/india/

Other factors that may have had an impact on the death toll in Nepal. From this we can begin to see that the weather may play a big part in terms of road sustainability. The monsoon season and landslides are a leading wether cause to these road deaths along with the simple negligence of driving.

2007 Jul 13, In Nepal landslides in two mountainous districts killed at least 26 people and injured 17 more. (AP, 7/13/07)

2007 Aug 4, In Nepal the toll from monsoon-triggered flooding and landslides stood at 91, with most of the deaths in the Terai plains region on Nepal's southern border with India. (AP, 8/4/07)

http://www.timelines.ws/countries/NEPAL.HTML

Other Possible Factors:

Economy
Production of Cars
Road Worthiness of vehicles
Sewage system
Maintenance of roads



Nepal Economy
Nepal is the poorest country in South Asia and the 17th poorest in the world. Approximately 25 percent of Nepalis live below the poverty line. 
https://www.usaid.gov/nepal/economic-growth-and-trade

One issue that has affected a good deal of Nepal’s existing road infrastructure comes from the weather. Water flow rates can be enormous due to run-off from mountain glaciers, becoming worse still during the monsoon season due to intense bursts of heavy rainfall. Of the existing roads (surfaced and unsurfaced), up to 60% become unusable during the monsoon season and that includes most of the rural road connections.

Management said that the country has so far built 25,115km of roads, of which 11,565km is dirt road, 6,077km is gravel road and 7,474km is asphalt paved road. 
http://www.worldhighways.com/sections/key-projects/features/nepal-plans-road-infrastructure-expansion/

Formats

Book - Pop-up book, Constantine/ Accordion fold
Poster Series (x3)
Origami fold out poster (could be a series)
Animation
Infographics Car/packaging 


http://www.coolinfographics.com/blog/2015/6/15/infographics-are-evolving-into-many-formats.html

Feedback / Critique

Tim:
- Could consider comparing India to a different country e.g. New Zealand. There would be more reliable sources for New Zealand. How does our set of rules differ from theirs?
- If we continue to do Nepal and India, we can talk about how they are culturally connected but why one country has more deaths than the other. (Find reliable information to back this up)

Klaus:
-Could look at New Zealand for another country. Possibly bring New Zealand in at some point as it is more relatable for the audience. (Who is our audience?)
-Have a look in the year 2007. Why was there a sudden incline and why does the numbers keep rising afterwards? What could be the reason? e.g. economy getting better so people can afford more cars? Or there was a natural disaster that destroyed the roads, however they don't have enough funds to fix it.

Brian:
-Showing comparison relationship with another 2 countries.
-Fundamental shift, landscape, cultural
-Different factors that contribute to the death numbers. What are the similarities and differences?
-What does the audience want to know at the end? How can we create a story that can inform the audience this?

India Stats & Facts

The speed limit in India varies depending on the state. Nationally it is 100km/h on expressways. 

From personal experience it is very dangerous to drive in India because no one really pays attention to the road rules and the lanes. Not many people obey the traffic signals or take the safety precautions to prevent a road accident. Not to mention you have to also avoid the stray cows and other animals on the road. 

Driving in India can be more dangerous than you and I can ever imagine. According to the statistical reports published in 2013, an accident occurs in every minute in India. When all the developed nations are focusing on reducing the rates of accidental deaths, Indian roads have become worse than ever. According to a report published by the World Health Organization (2013), India has the highest number of road accidental deaths (105,725 people died on the road) in the world. Among the Indian states, Maharashtra (where Mumbai has the highest number of death cases i.e. 25,471 road accidents) tops the list followed by Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The report also clarifies that inefficient law enforcement, drunken driving, low user adoption of helmets and seat belts and lack of child restraints in the vehicles are the main causes behind such a high rate of road accidents in India.

http://www.mapsofindia.com/my-india/government/traffic-signs-and-road-safety

http://www.mapsofindia.com/my-india/india/worst-road-accidents-in-india-a-year-wise-breakdown

One serious road accident in the country occurs every minute and 16 die on Indian roads every hour.

1214 road crashes occur every day in India.

Two wheelers account for 25% of total road crash deaths.

20 children under the age of 14 die every day due to road crashes in in the country.

377 people die every day, equivalent to a jumbo jet crashing every day.

Two people die every hour in Uttar Pradesh – State with maximum number of road crash deaths.

Tamil Nadu is the state with the maximum number of road crash injuries

Top 10 Cities with the highest number of Road Crash Deaths (Rank –Wise):

Delhi (City)
Chennai
Jaipur
Bengaluru
Mumbai
Kanpur
Lucknow
Agra
Hyderabad
Pune

Source of Information: National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Road Transport & Highway, Law commission of India, Global status report on road safety 2013

http://sites.ndtv.com/roadsafety/important-feature-to-you-in-your-car/

Most common causes of road accidents in India

1. Over Speeding
2. Drunken Driving
3. Distractions to Driver
4. Red Light Jumping
5. Avoiding Safety Gears like Seat belts and Helmets
6. Non-adherence to lane driving and overtaking in a wrong manner

http://www.jhpolice.gov.in/road-safety/common-causes-of-road-accidents

There definitely is a huge incline in the amount of people injured per 100,000. The amount of people killed also has inclined steadily. 

http://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/2.12.India_.pdf

India has a road network of over 4,689,842 kilometres (2,914,133 mi) in 2013, the second largest road network in the world. At 0.66 km of roads per square kilometre of land, the quantitative density of India's road network is similar to that of the United States (0.65) and far higher than that of China (0.16) or Brazil (0.20). However, qualitatively India's roads are a mix of modern highways and narrow, unpaved roads, and are being improved. As of 2011, 54 percent – about 2.53 million kilometres – of Indian roads were paved. 

India has a vast amount of different roads that serve different purposes. 

Expressways - Expressways make up approximately 1,208 km (751 mi) of India's road network, as of 2013. These high-speed roads are four-lane or six-lane, predominantly access controlled. 

National Highways - The main highways running through the length and breadth of the country connecting major ports, state capitals, large industrial and tourist centres, etc. National Highways in India are designated as NH followed by the highway number. Indian national highways are further classified based on the width of carriageway of the highway.

State Highways - The State Highways provide linkages with the National Highways, district headquarters, important towns, tourist centres and minor ports and carry the traffic along major centres within the state. Their total length is about 137,712 km.

Major District Roads - These are important roads within a district connecting areas of production with markets and connecting these with each other or with the State Highways & National Highways.

Rural Roads - The rural roads in India forms a substantial portion of the Indian road network. These roads are in poor shape, affecting the rural population's quality of life and Indian farmer's ability to transfer produce to market post-harvest. Over 30 percent of Indian farmer's harvest spoils post-harvest because of the poor infrastructure. Many rural roads are of poor quality, potholed, and unable to withstand the loads of heavy farm equipment. These roads are also far from all season, good quality 2-lane or 4-lane highways, making economic resource flow slow, and logistical costs between different parts of India one of the highest in the world.

http://www.jotr.in/article.asp?issn=0975-7341;year=2013;volume=6;issue=1;spage=1;epage=6;aulast=Ruikar

In conclusion if we compare the data from India with Nepal, there are more deaths (per 100,000) in Nepal than India due to road accidents. But looking at the data there are more accidents in India than there are in Nepal. 

Things will probably get worse before they get better. Traffic fatalities increased by about 5 percent per year from 1980 to 2000, and since then have increased by about 8 percent per year.

Domestic vehicle sales increased from 97 lakh in 2008 to almost 2 crore in 2014. There is a strong correlation between the increase in vehicles and increase in road fatalities. Some estimates suggest traffic fatalities will grow five-fold in India by 2050 if we do not take adequate action.

Nepal Stats & Facts

"—Over 90% of the world's fatalities on the roads occur in low-income and middle-income countries, even though these countries have less than half of the world's vehicles"

The legal age for consumption of alcohol in Nepal is 18. However, there is a part of the Nepal society that flouts the law based on their religion and allows their children to drink alcohol at a much younger  age. 

The main road traffic rules:

• -Seat-belt wearing is obligatory when driving.
• -The minimum driving age is 18 years.
• -Use of protective helmets to riders of motor cycles is mandatory.
• -Drinking and driving is prohibited; the permitted blood alcohol level is 0.0%. Breathalyzer tests are applied to check drinking and driving.
• -People who cannot hear sounds on the street are prohibited to drive.
• -It is not permitted to use cell phone while driving.
• -There are no speed limit zones. An average driving speed inside Kathmandu valley is 40-50 Km/h
• -Nepal does not have any official motorway or any motorway speed limit.
• -Nepal does have a national seat-belt law, and the rule is applied only to the driver and not to the front and rear occupants.

Some additional information:

• -Driving in Nepal is extremely difficult as most roads do not have lane markings. 

• -Honking is used commonly on the roads.

• -In Nepal, there is one highway which connects its capital, Kathmandu, to India. 

• -During the monsoon season from June to September, many of the mountain and hill roads are impassable.

• -Traffic jams are common on major city roads between 9:00 (9 a.m.) and 19:00 ( 7 p.m.).
• 
  

http://www.adcidl.com/Driving-in-Nepal.html
http://nepalitimes.com/article/nation/traffic-accidents-continue-to-increase-worryingly-in-Nepal,2799
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7778842.stm

Safety roads issues in Nepal

There are numerous safety issues on the Nepalese hill roads (which form a substantial portion of the road network) such as poor visibility at blind corners; poor shoulders; unforgiving side-drains, inadequate safety barriers at steep vertical drops; unscientific location of passing bays in single lane roads; lack of climbing lanes; very steep gradients at numerous sections, narrow sections at built-up areas, etc.. 

http://dor.gov.np/documents/6.%20Strategic%20Road%20Network%202013_14%20Map.pdf

Nepal is broadly classified into(South to North): 
-Flat terrain: Terai
-Mid Hills and valleys
-Steep Mountains 

Construction of Roads is challenging and difficult in the hills and steep mountains 

http://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/2.17.Nepal_.pdf


Since Nepal embarked on its road construction programme, the Ministry of Physical Planning works and Transport Management said that the country has so far built 25,115km of roads, of which 11,565km is dirt road, 6,077km is gravel road and 7,474km is asphalt paved road. Statistics from the Ministry of Physical Planning, Works and Transport Management showed that 1,180km of new roads were constructed in Nepal in the 2011-2012 fiscal year alone. The statistics revealed that of the 1,180km of roads (short of the 1,280km target), 290km were surfaced with asphalt and 407km were gravel roads, while there were also 47 new bridges built in the period. 

http://www.worldhighways.com/sections/key-projects/features/nepal-plans-road-infrastructure-expansion/

http://smjournals.com/public-health-epidemiology/fulltext/smjphe-v1-1014.pdf