DEGREE PROJECT BRIEF 2012
ADOLESCENCE, INTIMACY AND SEXUALITY INE MARIE VASSØY, UMEÅ INSTITUTE OF DESIGN, MA INTERACTION DESIGN
INTRODUCTION There is a story behind every action, and by nature I am interested in that particular story. Why do adults avoid talking about intimacy and sexuality to their children? Sexuality is still a topic that is considered as a social taboo, which means that people find it uncomfortable to talk about. Norway is considered as one of the most liberal countries in the world when it comes to talking about intimacy and sexuality. Norwegians talk about it in the media, there are sexual education in school that is compulsory, and there is organizations that work to educate people about sexuality. People are more open than before about intimacy and sexuality, which has lead to better personal health. But still, many norwegians in their adolescence express frustration towards the sexual education in schools. Adolescents want more education and with higher quality. In this degree project I am going to explore how adolescents share information and experiences about intimacy and sexuality. I am going to explore different ways for adolescents to share information about intimacy and sexuality by using technology. The aim is to develop a service that educate and encourage adolescents to share experiences within the topic of intimacy and sexuality. I will to do the research in Norway and Scandinavia because it is considered as one of the most liberal regions in the world when it comes to sexuality and intimacy. Since a big part of this project is ethnographic research I think talking and interviewing people in their native language will be an advantage, especially since the topic can be a bit uncomfortable to talk about.
ADOLESCENCE In the adolescence the body and mind grow fast. New thoughts, attitudes and relations develop and changes. This is a vulnerable period of life. This is the time adolescents are defining who they are, and how they want to appear to others. They are influenced by their family. They are influenced by their surroundings. They are influenced at school. But most importantly they are influenced by friends and other peers. Youth peer pressure is considered as one of the most frequently referred to forms of peer pressure. It is particularly common because most youth spend large amounts of time in fixed groups regardless of their opinion of those groups. INTIMACY & SEXUALITY Oxfords dictionary define the word sexuality as the capacity for sexual feelings, or sexual activity. Intimacy is the atmosphere between people, but can also refers to an intimate act. What is “normal” sexual behavior? Intimacy and sexuality is still considered as a social taboo because people don´t talk about it. Gender, religion and ethnicity are a few of many factors that influence peoples opinion of what is the“normality”. Because of diverse opinions about sexuality based on personal life experience, people become insecure and choose not to talk about it. As mentioned Scandinavia is considered as one of the most liberal regions when it comes to talking about intimacy and sexuality, and the effect of sharing is proven to be positive. Sharing has led to less sexual transmitted deceases, less abortions and better sexual health. Still most Scandinavians find talking about sexuality uncomfortable, especially when it comes to talking to children.
ADOLESCENCE, SEXUALITY & INTIMACY “Unwritten” rules about intimacy and sexuality increase adolescents insecurity and shape their opinions. By nature we are explorative and curious about sexuality. It´s a part of life. But it´s uncomfortable to talk about. Then, how do you learn if you don’t know who to talk to? Many teenagers learn about sexuality from peers, and they follow the boom in technology through mobile phones and the internet. “[...]Most topics in the sexual education class was not even mentioned. For example; we had to google the topic “venereal disease” to get any information. And “masturbation” were thought by showing us a movie with animated model figures. We need better sexual education in the norwegian school!” (Anonymous, ung.no) With this insight we know that there is a need to improve the existing sexual education, and we should use technology as a channel to reach out to adolescence and engage them.
JAN
DESIGN PROCESS RESEARCH
MAY
APR
MAR
FEB
DESK RESEARCH, INTERVIEWS, PARTICIPATORY OSERVATIONS, CULTURAL PROBES, FOCUS GROUPS, ANALYSIS, PERSONAS, EXPERIENCE JOURNEY.
IDEATON CO-CREATION WORKSHOPS WITH ADOLESCENTS AND PROFESIONALS WHERE I PRESENT RESEARCH ANALYSIS, INDIVIDUAL IDEATION, ANALYSING AND EVALUATING IDEAS, STORYTELLING, RESEARCH MOVIE.
CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT INDIVIDUAL CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT, ANALYSING AND EVALUATING CONCEPT, STORYBOARDS, SERVICE BLUEPRINT, TESTING CONCEPT WITH ADOLESCENTS AND PROFESIONALS.
PRODUCTION CHOOSING TOUCH-POINTS TO EMPHESIZE, ILLSUTRATIONS, STORYBOARDS, FILMING, SERVICE BLUEPRINT, PROTOTYPING (PHYSICAL OR INTERACTIVE FOR SCREEN)
DOCUMENTATION BLOG WILL DOCUMANT THE PEOCESS THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE DESIGN PROCESS, WRITING REPORT, EDITING MOVIE,
JUN
FINAL DESIGN PRINT REPORT, MAKE PRESENTATION, PUBLISH LAST WORK.
MY DESIGN PROCESS This is a service design project improving sexuality education for adolescents. Service design is the design of intangible experiences that reach people through many different touch-points, and that happen over time. I am going to approach the research with design ethnography, a method that is crucial to design services from real user needs. There are several tools within the field of ethnography to get insights in user behavior. Some I attend to use is cultural probes, participatory observation, interviews and focus groups. The research analysis will be delivered and communicated in visual formats such as personas, research video, experience journeys and storyboards.
BUDGET
20 000 NOK
With the research materials I will to go back to the users and present the findings and possibilities, and involve them in the ideation by facilitating co-creation workshops together with adolescents and representatives from different relevant organizations. After the co-creation workshops the materials and insights will be analyzed and developed into a service concept for for adolescents to learn about intimacy and sexuality. The concept will go through several iterations by testing on adolescents and representatives from sexual organizations, and tweaking and adjust the service design concept. The expected results for this degree project is a service delivered on a conceptual level, focusing on the user experience and the social dynamics that this service might change. To communicate the experience of the service movie will be used as the media. The holistic view of the service will be visualized with a service blueprint, and some of the touch-points will be emphasized. There can be both tangible and intangible touch-points, either way I will prototype the essential touch-points of the service.
TRAVEL 9500NOK CULTURAL PROBES 4000NOK WORKSHOP MATERIALS 3000NOK MATERIALS FOR DESIGN 3500NOK
INE MARIE VASSØY I graduated my bachelor in Product Design at Akershus University College (HiAk) in 2009. During the the bachelor years at HiAK I figured out that I was not that interested in products, but more in people and experiences. Therefore I changed direction a little bit, and continued with a master in Industrial design at The Oslo School of Architecture and Design (AHO). As a part of the Industrial Design program at AHO you can choose the focus area of your studies, and my focus was in Service and Interaction Design. After one year of the master program at AHO I decided to transfer to Umeå Institute of Design (UID) to get some more experience in Interaction Design. I will graduate the master of Interaction Design at UID. Between the transfer of universities I had a year working at Designit as a Service Design intern. Designit Oslo is a company with its own service design team, which is quite unique. And last summer I worked at Creuna as an Interaction Designer. Creuna is a full service digital agency that have long experience with technology and services. Both Creuna and Designit will be involved in the project. designit.com creuna.com
UMEÅ INSTITUTE OF DESIGN Umeå Institute of Design is located within the Faculty of Science and Technology at Umeå University. The Institute opened its doors in 1989 and was structured and equipped exclusively for the teaching of Industrial Design, Transportation Design and Interaction Design. Umeå Institute of Design is recognized worldwide for its high standard of teaching and excellent academic reputation. It is the only Swedish school in the ‘Business Week’s top 60’ list of design schools in the years 2006, 2007 and 2009. Each year the school gets more prestige by the many talented international students who work in various projects and awards in school. Since 2010, Anna Valtonen, former Head of Design Research & Foresight at Nokia, Helsinki, Finland, is the new rector of the Umeå Institute of Design at Umeå University. The Master’s program in Interaction Design deals with the relation between people and information technology, with particular focus on the interaction between product and user. The school sees the discipline of Interaction Design as the ability to design both the cognitive part of the interface as a physical product, and integrate them in a successful manner. The aim of the course is to enable designers to create products, services and environments that are based on sustainability, easy understanding and pleasure of the experience. dh.umu.se CONTACT Ine Marie Vassøy +47 995 98 658 inevassoey@gmail.com inevassoy.com inevassoy.tumblr.com