Info
2 weeks sprint, Sound Design course, UID, 2020, team: Regina Gensinger, Mihkel Güsson
Methods
Interviews, User Testing, Interaction Design, Sound Design, Storytelling, Filmmaking
Background
Mindfulness is a big business with even bigger audience hungry for meaningful experiences.
How might we empower novice users in building a meditation routine?
D E S I G N Q U E S T I O N
Concept video:
“If you can’t find 10 minutes in the day to meditate, you probably need 20 minutes”
Problems:
“I’m busy, I don’t have the time”
“My mind is sabotaging me”
“I don’t see the benefit.”
“I’m afraid of self-reflection”
“I’m never in a mood”
Critical of tech-centered approach
First discussion that we had as a group was about the paradox of the phone and how many of meditation app companies tries to magically transmute a phone from a source of stress, distraction and procrastination into a temple of mental focus, health and mindfulness. We grew to be critical of this tech-centered approach.
Practicing meditation can be difficult but it’s worth it and it has been for centuries.
Moving from the
screen into the world
S O L U T I O N
Goal:
“Awakening from the mindless, joyless engagement that results from a lack of attention to the senses”
Approach:
Slow technology - ubiquitous computing - an area of calm computing that can be like walking through a forest, beautiful, calm, not calling for attention unless we decide to attend it.
Solution:
Ovo is a tangible tool for meditation opening up a way for slow technology to build more thoughtful, meaningful experiences.
Non intrusive, gentle reminders for scheduled meditations
Freedom of self - reliant meditation
Guiding with carefully curated sounds
Provided life data influence the flow of meditation
No gamification - there is no right or wrong
Digital Detox
No- screen based meditation. Mobile phone muted during meditation.
Mental Hygiene
Awareness of the body and mind over time by tracking data.
Mental Armor
Building the habits and customizing meditation routine.
Tangible Artifact
Companion for the newcomers. Holding an artifact contribute to better focus.
Decide on realistic time to meditate.
Choose your pre-programmed mode.
Measure life data to adjust your meditation.
Interaction that feels human
E M B O D I E D I N T E R A C T I O N
Waking up the stone gesture
Setting the time - 45 min - around the clock
Choosing the mode - mode 3 - on the ellipse movement
Confirmation and start of the meditation
Technology for mindfulness.
R E S E A R C H
Timeline:
Research trip to Aurora
Interviews with participants
Co-creating, analyzing intuitive interactions
Insights from interviews:
Meditation teacher is using a phone or a clock for meditation
What’s your favorite time to meditate?
What do you think about receiving feedback after the meditation session?
Participants during shared group meditation
Do you have a meditation routine?
How breathing techniques are working for you?
Sound Design explorations:
Analyzing modalities: light, warmth, sound
Marimba, bells, gongs as a basis for sound
Recording in the wild: water, wind, birds
Emotional awareness through body awareness
Form giving
Prototyping and testing ergonomics
Experiencing different scenarios
Testing scenarios of usage
Competitive analysis:
In order to construct a solid foundation we checked what meditation app companies are doing and what user goals they are not meeting. We evaluated some features from users interviews to see how many of them already exist on a market.
Next step might be:
We’ve discovered that apps are not connected with any tangible object and there is still a lot of opportunities within building a connected community between practitioners.
Final reflections.
We have also faced some of the interaction design problems:
If we want to use life data - how can we deal with privacy issues?
If there is no screen, where is the limit of possible options?
If we want to set reminders - how to do it in non-intrusive way?
How can we customize the experience without forcing user to use a phone?