Postmortem

Spill your Tea focuses on personal struggles that we as people have to overcome and what we create out of them. As a team, we decided to focus on the struggles that occur between what we believe as our true self, and our desires, versus what others perceive as who we are, and what they may desire of us.

To illustrate this interaction, our team is creating a hybrid physical/digital project where the audience explores the process of making a cuppa in two ways. The first way focuses on the physical aspect of making tea, with the audience uncovering and reading the story via scrolls hidden in the tea set, with the tea making instructions listed on a digital screen. The second focuses on the digital landscape of our personal narratives while drinking, tasting, and contemplating a complimentary cup of tea. For both interactions, the tea is meant to represent the struggle of our true self/desires in our personal narrative. Therefore, as the audience reads the story, the way that the story is read, either through the scrolls and making of tea or via the digital landscape with a finished cup, they are experiencing the story in completely different ways that alter their understanding of it, creating unique emotional experiences.

In terms of how to it works, or how one would recreate this process: we don't feel it's necessarily difficult, just time-consuming. The most important part would be having the right equipment to create the tea; proper Chinese tea set, a good electric kettle, and high-quality tea. From there, if one didn't know how to make tea, we would suggest reaching out to Chinese International Students and asking for assistance. The internet can also get you there, but not with the same fluency as our project has. From there, a brief lesson in twine, time writing out your story, and researching specific teas and their effects/legend, and most of our project would be at your fingertips. It's difficult to completely recreate our project since it is so personalized to us; the teas were chosen based on our specific stories. We would simply suggest picking a tea from the heart. More details on how to complete these tasks can be found in our updates.

In terms describing the interactions within our project, it is both simple and complex: one interaction is meant to make a cup of tea while discovering the scrolls of a story of empowerment folded with the tools, while the other has one focusing on a finished cup of tea, contemplating the taste, smell, and feeling of it, while reading the story through twine with information about the tea. Both interactions contain questions to assist you in your reading. The climaxes of the story are completed with the most important parts of the tea; for the tea creation process, the climax occurs with the first sip. With the finished up of tea and the twine story, the climax comes with important information about the tea and how it makes the audience feel. Both interactions focus on emotional labor, and the experience of the story, and yet feel very different when played through.

We hoped that through the use of digital/physical interactions, we created an experience that had the audience contemplate the relationship between their true selves/true desires and their perceived selves/perceived desires, as well as introspection on how this struggle shaped who they are.

At the very beginning of the quarter, we first came up with the idea of the language of flowers, and kerbside violets because of the hardships the flower themselves go through to grow. We were planning on using the struggles the flowers and roots endure to grow as a symbol of the struggles and hardships we go through as people. This lead us to talk briefly about putting dried flower petals in bags with a story along with it, and that directed us to tea. After fleshing out our tea idea, our goal was to focus on our individual struggles and write stories that occurred in our lives and have the reader explore a digital landscape, Twine, while making a cup of tea. We were to have the reader use Twine to navigate through our personal narratives and read our stories, through scrolls within the tea box and tea bags, while having directions to make tea that was personalized to each story. The tea process and reading the stories created a reflection and meditative process of those oppressions we went through as people and how they have ultimately empowered us. This project created an experience that was something out of the realm and left more emotions and experiences to take away, and made the project more than what was just on a piece of paper.

We succeeded with our physical and digital forms of interaction. The physical interaction was difficult, and we succeeded more on the shorter version because the players were focusing on the tea the entire time they were reading the story, and physically holding the cup the entire time. It made the player feel more connected to the stories and was a success we didn’t know we were going to get as a team. When presenting the project, the players that went through the game, both the shorter version and the longer version, they were able to distinguish between the physical and digital and make the connection between the tea and the stories, which was one thing we really wanted to get across.

The first major change we made to our project was making the physical interaction more prevalent because we felt that making the tea wasn’t enough. We decided to print out the stories instead of having them in the Twine, the tea instructions and the stories were too clunky together, and roll them up with a piece of string to mimic scrolls. We then put them with certain tea pieces that the reader was to open when making the tea. For example, we put the first part of the story by the kettle handle, the next one in the tea bag and another by the tea cup. Another major thing that changed within our project was within the last few weeks after we received all of our feedback for our prototype. A lot of the class was worried about having to make the tea themselves or that they simply didn’t want to. So, we decided to add a “shorter” version to the Twine. We had already decided on the scrolls in the tea set at this point so we thought it could be a decent idea to add a different section in the Twine to ask if the reader is “self-gratifying” or “patient” which leads them to either the shorter or longer version. The shorter version includes the story on Twine, while the reader drinks an already made cup of tea, more focused on the taste and feeling of the tea while reading the stories.

In terms of things that we struggled with, we felt Twine wasn’t the greatest medium for this project and in the end, we feel like the Twine had too much emphasis on it and it took from the importance of the tea. We wish that we had different options for a digital interaction that would solely focus on the tea. Also Wix was very fussing, especially when trying to add Twine and we spent a lot of time messing around with that versus taking the time to work with the tea ceremonies and the flow of that.

One thing that we would’ve done differently was not changing half of our physical interaction at the very end and having more playtesting time to fully flesh out in a reasonable amount of time. If we had made the same decision a a week or two beforehand, we wouldn’t have been so rushed to make sure the longer and shorter interaction flowed similarly. Furthermore, we feel like there need to be more playtesting around the instructions when making tea; it felt like the current ones could have been confusing.

Our team as a whole worked very well together and were all on the same page on what we wanted to accomplish with our project, so that really aided in our ability to complete and create our project to the best of our ability. The flow of the Twine went beautifully, though we had our hardships making it that way, when it was completed, the way we placed and worded the questions, stories and tea instructions blended together very nicely in a way that it can be appreciated by the player/reader. The tea itself, in relation to the stories and the tea ceremonies, went much more smoothly than we thought they would at the beginning of this project. We were very careful on what teas we choose for each story, as they all had different meanings, and I am very proud of the connections. And the tea ceremonies, were set up beautifully.

ASHLEY

My role in the creation of our project was to document the creative process, design the website, create weekly updates that went up on the website and help with the flow of the Twine game. I took notes on nearly everything we tried, whether it was a success or a failure, spoke about or ideas some of us had, whether or not they were integrated into the final creation. Posting weekly updates on the website was something that I was very excited to do because it documents the entire process we went through as a team to create our final project. I also had a role in designing the website and making the aesthetic and colors invite the audience to feel a sense of warmth and comfort when directed to the site.

I am more than satisfied on how the project went and how it was completed. I was very lucky to be placed on a team of people that were so motivated and excited about our project and what we wanted to accomplish with the final product. We were all so open with different ideas and supportive with each others stories, especially since we were sharing our own personal stories which some could have required a bond of trust to share. The timeline that my team followed to complete the project was a very timely-mannered one, which everyone was on point about completing their individual parts and more than willing to work together on parts that we needed to collaborate on. The only thing that we really struggled on as a team was the playtesting and the logistics of the Twine and the tea ceremonies. The flow for the Twine was difficult to complete and making sure that those players who were making tea could understand the instructions.

I’ve learned many things creating this project, ranging from creating a Twine game to how to make tea. I’ve never used Twine before so it was something very new to me and I was very happy to be taught how to use it by my teammates. Also I was never tea drinker before and this project taught me how to appreciate a cup of tea and the process in which you make one. Without Wei and Kevin being in our team, our project would not have been nearly as cool as it ended up being. They were very informative and willing to teach us to make sure we were doing everything correctly. I’ve also learned a lot about project management, delegating a project and the importance of having a good team dynamic. I don’t think I will be apart of a team as great as this one has been, but I’ve picked up some skills that would be helpful in future team projects.

KEVIN

I did the researches for tea ritual, story matching and tea background with WEI. All of us wrote a personal story for each tea. Moreover, I purchased a traditional tea box for the project, and I worked citation with Wei. We also meet in library each week for create new ideas and planning and Rachel leads us and write schedules for us on google drive.

I think the most difficult part is website creation and twine story. Before this class I have never create any website and this is my first time know the word “Twine Story”. This is difficult for me. However, Rachel, Ashley and Kelly helped us to finish them.

In this project, I learned a lot of information about Chinese tea. Even, I am from China, I think I do not know our culture very well. I will turn to a tea person because I learned many good things for people who drinking tea. Also, I learned how to work as a team. My group is the best. We always meet, and no one complain about meet outside of class. Compare to my previous group meeting, this group should be champion.

I want to thank all my teammates. Ashley did a very good job on website, Rachel is our leader check everything and did very good job with Kelly, Kelly also write a lot for this project, and Wei is a tea master. We can not finish our project without anybody.

KELLY

In this project, I played a role in coming up with the concept for the project, working a bit on twine and editing the personal stories.

The project went really well: all of our deadlines were met, we were always prepared for class meetings, we met up a lot outside of class and we did manage to play test the project a few times, though for such a complex and detailed project like ours, we couldn’t playtest it enough.

For my parts, I struggled a little bit with time management, my other classes were really time consuming and at times, I couldn’t participate as fully as I wanted. Aside from that, figuring out how to make the twine work nicely was a little difficult, I originally tried to make variables in the twine but I couldn’t figure how to do it so Rachel had to take over.

What I learned:

Emotionally intimate stories are draining, but so worth it.
Chinese tea rituals - how detailed and complex they can be.
Meeting frequently helps so much, in addition to practicing a ton.
More complex forms of interaction (such as making tea) are absolutely worth it for the over all experience, but can be extremely time-consuming.
Getting Twine to work is pretty difficult - but for our stories, Twine was a really good choice.

Rachel managed the entire project, it would not have been so cool without her. Rachel did so much work for this project, she really put her heart and soul into the project.

Ashley is incredibly dedicated, she never gave up on trying to figure out how to make Wix behave, pretty much everything on the website was left up to her and she figured out how to make it all work.

Kevin and Wei did such an amazing job on the tea, they provided all of the instructions, tea sets and the tea itself (some of which was incredibly expensive, Wei was super generous to let us use such expensive tea). Pretty much everything tea was handled by them, which was super kind and generous of them.

WEI

I worked on the gathering physical tea set, tea leaves, and researching of teas. Overall the project went mostly smooth. The only struggle is that we don’t have enough time to exhibit to enough audience on the exhibition day. And My struggle of this project is gathering tea set is hard because I have to get different tea set for different tea. And it does cost some money. I learned a lot such as teamwork skill, time management, and the project also reinforce my knowledge about tea rituals. And because of this project, I start to drink more types of tea at home. Also the project ensured me a desire to create more this type of game about interactions and cultural preserving. I just want to say thanks to every team member in your group. I think we did something big and valuable. And it is a project that I could remember all the time in my life.

Rachel

Within this project, I was the Project Manager and controlled the twine. I felt like it was my role to help facilitate a compassionate learning environment within our group, try to keep things on a schedule and execute the twine as effectively as possible. In the end, I felt like I accomplished this, as working on this has been an enriching experience. In many ways, it feels like it is the perfect project that portrays the ideals of a UWB learning environment; I was able to use my empathy and communication skills to form friendships with a group of people I would never have thought shared so much in common with me. In the end, I feel like I learned more from them than anything else.

In terms of how the project was executed, I feel that more playtesting and feedback would be beneficial. As a group, we spoke of a lot of things in theory but had issues being able to playtest them, due to the nature of our project. Furthermore, the feedback we received was light and inconsistent. I wish we could have had more feedback on our storylines, and heard more from everyone on our final presentations.

I feel like I’ve learned to listen and not assume. This project required a certain type of emotional communication that I have not used in quite some time. I also learned so much about the International Students that we have here at the UWB; their cultures and stories are so rich, and yet I feel like there isn’t a lot of space for them to show us this. Communicating with Kevin and Wei has been a touching experience, that has often left me knocked over with their empathy and emotional depth. Furthermore, Kelly and Ashley have been equally compassionate and unique, showing me how important listening with kindness is. It is not to say that this class and project have not taught me a great deal about interactive fiction and media, but that I had expected that. The emotional education that I have received from all of them has been quite humbling.

To end, I have enjoyed the work this quarter immensely; it has fulfilled me in a way that I did not expect, but welcome. Furthermore, it has shown me how important it is to find strength and grace in others; in this day and age I often feel we forget how connected we can become to others is we allow ourselves. I’d like to thank my team members for gently showing me how important this was, and for teaching me that patience and understanding for others is not a lowering of one’s standards, but a proclamation there of.