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ZONE IND 447/DES 647 Fall 2015
Ken Chen, Krupali Patel, Donna Greene, Crystal Wei
“In 2013, an estimated 43.8 million adults... in the United States had any mental illness...” “10.0
million...had serious mental illness... in the past year.”
Results from the 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Mental Health Findings - SAMHSA
SAFE TABLE OF CONTENTS
CARD SORTING JOURNEY MAP SIMULATION TESTING
ZONE DESIGN PRINCIPLES
FRAMEWORK ACTORS MAP POV STATEMENT SURVEY
FRAMEWORK INTERACTION
How might we improve the lives of the mentally ill?
We want to help young adults with mental illness have meaningful lives.
EDUCATION
FACILITIES
EMPATHY
FRAMEWORK OUTLETS NUTRITION
EMOTIONS COMMUNICATION
SOCIAL
THERAPY
TREATMENT
Providing young adults with mental illness such as; anxiety, depression, and other such afflictions, a 足足足 safe, judgment-free, easily accessible outlet for their emotion and physical energy.
ACTORS MAP How do the subjects utilize professional assistance, and how helpful are the treatments?
With the initial focus, we moved on to the process to understand the ecological relationship of the subject within the context by creating an actors map that draws connections to various actors in the subject’s life that can possibly help us understand what we want Isolation to find out through our survey in the next step. Depression
Cooperation
n
tio
ra pe
o
Therapists
So
lve
Violence
d
Safe zone
Music
w Ho
Solutions
Mental health equipment
Social media
Mentor
Und e Com rstandi ng mun icat ing
Mental illness patients
Friends
Su Hel pp pin or g tin g
ping Hel rting po Sup
Physical activities
n he W Where
Self-harm
Supporting
Time Place
Social life Gym
College
24 hours
Coffee shop
Library
What are the sources of stress for them? And how do they deal with negative emotional energy?
Pay Fin ing anc ial
Reason
Insurance Company
g g rin Sha tandin s r g de Payin l Un ia c n a Fin
tion
Why
Group therapy
pera
?
Tre lin Sup atme g po nt rtin g
Fe e
Misund Und erstandin ersta ndin g g
Social
flu
In
e ov pr
Addiction
Emotion Psychologists Im
Food
Alcohol
e
c en
t en atm ing Tre port Sup
Culture
Doctors Tre a He tment lpin g
Work
Coo
Co
Anxiety
Parents Community
C
Other family members
n
tio
ra
pe
oo
From whom do they seek emotional and personal help? And how do their friends and family view such interactions?
POV STRESSED Cynthia, a highly motivated 21 year old undergraduate student who is Secretary of her sorority and an active member of the Schools Design Club, diagnosed with a severe anxiety disorder, academic stress and social life challenges her mental-health daily.
SHE NEEDS TO find ways to successfully juggle all of her responsibilities and stay healthy and manage her anxiety.
BECAUSE she’s been using alcohol to distress so that she can study for finals and she is falling further and further behind, making her feel more and more anxious
ADDRESS CYNTHIA’S NEED Find another distraction, other than alcohol, to handle her heightened level of stress Provide support that is not judgmental and feels safe.
SURVEY We found out we want to know more about the subject’s support system from medical professionals, activities such as technology, music and exercise and their friends and family as well as the perspective from the other sides, viewing the subjects from the eyes of their family and friends But we understood we could not send out surveys to only mental illness patients due to several constraints of confidentiality and possible small sample size, so we tailored the questions to general public with logic branching sections that would only show up if they answer yes if they have been medically diagnosed with mental illness to understand more specifically about mental illness patient
What do we want to know
What’s the publics’ mental health status like? What ways people often use to relax and release their emotional energy? Who do they go to for personal and emotional difficulties? Are therapists and psychiatrists helpful for them?
RESULTS We received only a small sample size of 32 participants, and among them only 4 admit they have been diagnosed with mental illness. We also receive feedbacks saying the survey is too long and too personal. We realized we fell short to ease the participants into the survey by putting simpler questions in the beginning and we were also too ambitious to attempt to understand the huge context around the subject through survey. But we still gathered numerous powerful insights for the next stage.
INSIGHTS Distraction is used as a coping mechanism, steering themselves from the real problems/ issues. People feel obligated to assist their friends/ family and they often feel emotionally drained doing that.
People are generally closer to their friends than other actors in their lives
PIVOT We found out most young adults feel overwhelmed at least once a week, and realized we should not only limit our target users to young adults with mental illness with anxiety disorder, or depression. This service should be for any young adults who are in need.
CARD SORTING AEIOU We asked the participants to imagine their perfect relaxation space, and the activities, environments, interactions, objects, and users in the space.
TESTING We selected repeating keywords and created cards with descriptions or images corresponding to them. And asked the participants to rank them. We asked them to think out loud and noted any contradiction.
REFINE We choose cards that are highly ranked and created cards with related descriptions or different variety of images on them, then repeated the process
Rank descriptions and images to the images that matches their perfect relaxation space the most, to the least
RESULTS
INSIGHTS Participants prefer a certain level of stimulation of sound, visual, and feel. Feeling of pressure like wrapping in a blanket offers them high level or relaxation Different kinds of stress lead to different levels of desired interaction with others.
JOURNEY MAP We asked the participants to think about what they did yesterday and take us on a journey of their day by arranging cards of images and descriptions on the map. We strive to understand more about participants’ daily routines and emotional journey, as well as where and when they might need this service the most.
RESULTS Users often go to a coffee shop to relax Some users go to the gym when they are stressed out A user recommend that the space should be full of puppies Cooking is a way to relax Some users play video games when they overwhelmed Prefer to be in own apartment to relax
Asking the users to create a journey map of their typical daily routine with images of location to where and when they would need said space the most
INSIGHTS Personal hobbies are relaxing because one is familiar with it and it comes with minimal responsibilities. People imagine the space to be located near heavilytrafficked area because they frequent there. Familiar space is comforting because there’s no surprises and changes.
CO-DESIGN PLAN We showed the user our prototype without explanation then ask them what do they think it is? What kind of environmental elements would be in this space? Where would this space be? And if they have been in a similar space before? We then explained to them about the purpose of this space and ask them to sketch on the tracing paper to make this space more suitable for its purpose.
RESULTS Some preferred to interact with technology to relax Some preferred activities like board games, or cooking to distress. Some preferred natural and subtle smell. One put a receptionist at the front to offer guidance. One designed windows throughout the space that are as tall as walls. Some put water and living plants in the center. One designed rounded wall without any corners.
Asking the user about the simple layout we provide and invite them to sketch out what layout and other environmental elements and objects they would want.
CO-DESIGN INSIGHTS People prefer different levels of interaction because of different backgrounds People prefer natural influence because natural environment is comforting. People prefer non-threatening forms and objects.
SIMULATION TESTING To further confirm the result of co-design, we conducted a series of simulation testing about the sound, smell and lighting of the space We provided participants a lamp in a dark room along with some craft supply and asked them to create a lighting that they feel is the msot relaxing. We provided them 6 different samples of scented candles and ask them to smell them and tell us what they think about them We introduce them to calm.com, a website with 25 kinds of audio that aims to be relaxing. Then asked them to listen to couples of them, and tell us what they think.
RESULTS No artificial lighting, just huge windows with natural sunlight Natural sound, or single-instrument music with simple melody. Dislike vanilla, prefer natural scent like grass, and plants. Prefer rainy sound. Imagine white noise, water and natural sound would be soothing Soft yellow light that mimics sunlights No smell, or smell of lotion and natural smell Create a soft and non-direct lighting Prefers upbeat audio Relax, water - music Prefers Smooth Jazz, since it reminds him of nature Well-finished Murals of huge windows. Light makes people relaxed or colors like green/ sky blue/ natural color. Water sound makes him feel sad, and depressed Cricket sound ruins the mood Prefers more of the sound of small breeze grazing over grass Bird sound is annoying Prefer very subtle senses - subtle smell, subtle sound, and subtle lighting
INSIGHTS Participants prefer natural lighting from windows or that mimics sunlight Participants prefer natural soft sounds like water or rain or other subtle sounds found in nature. Participants prefer natural smells found in nature like grass or rain
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
DESIGN PRINCIPLES After analyzing various results, from the survey, culture probe, journey map, co-design, and simulation testing, we have collected numerous amount of insights. We then analyzed then further more to find the patterns within insights to determine some main core design principles for the space.
1. There should be an opportunity for different levels of interaction within the space
3. The space should provide a mental health professional who would be present when needed and invisible when not needed.
2. The space should be accessible 24/7 and located near a university, coffee shop, gym or library where people can easily drop in during their daily routines
4. The aesthetics of the design should contain natural lighting, sounds and scents. It should be comfortable, a homeaway-from-home feeling
Appendix I: Survey
Appendix II: Survey Results
Appendix III: Evidence, Insights and Principles
Appendix IV: Evidence, Insights and Principles
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