Mid-Century Modern Furniture Identification App: Using the Naturalist Field Guide Model for Mobile Identification and Learning

Abstract

Currently one of the most popular styles of home décor, Mid Century Modern (MCM) identifies a period of design between approximately 1933 and 1965 and is typified by minimalist clean lines and classic design. Outlets for collector acquisition of this style of furniture include garage sales, flea markets, thrift stores, vintage and antiques shops, along with a variety of online shopping sources. Studying the Mid-Century design era, the popular designers and their specific creations in order to become fluent enough to confidently identify a piece in the field requires both time and diligence. In the absence of either, a shopper routinely turns to the internet for answers. Unfortunately, the internet offers up as many wrong answers as it has right ones and searches made from the shopping field are time consuming and often fail to provide the required information. The need for an alternative to Google searching is obvious and may be found in a mobile app designed specifically to identify Mid Century Modern furniture while out in the field. An app designed for field identification while shopping could provide an attribution and valuation to a piece, while also supporting a longer-term education in how to identify and recall specific iconic Mid-Century Modern furniture pieces. This paper explores the creation of a well-designed mobile field guide-style app for on the fly identifications by identifying similar style apps. It also explores how the purposeful design and inclusion of specific app features supports ease of use and further learning of the subject matter contained within the app.