blog ten

[BECAUSE PHOTOS CANNOT BE UPLOADED SOMEHOW, MINDMAPS + FEEDBACK + RESEARCH + SKETCHES ARE FOUND HERE:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/iwy9myztbeku3wi/AACOQIU9LdT9zIop6VQHXoepa?dl=0%5D
In the past two weeks, I’ve deduced that my subject of focus wasn’t really appropriate for the criteria that we are answering. I literally feel like where I was a couple weeks ago trying to figure out my design solution. Or perhaps is it how I defined or structured my thesis. Thus it was evident that I needed a whole refinement. My concept I had established through a profound amount of research and understanding, possibly straying too far from the sidewalk with it all.

As well as that the language I was fixating didn’t really make sense and was not apt to the true intention of what I was interested in. The term “pseudoscience” was not clear to me because I did not know that it had negative connotations of “phony” and that isn’t the tone that I want to advocate because it confuses the reader my stance on it. I clearly wanted the reader to know I was all about pro-alternative treatments for anxiety in Australian adults and speaking to my group and tutor made me realise how incoherent my actual concept was.
The research blogs helped me identify systematic and unorthodox practises of how people resolve mental predicaments. And what interested me the most was not rather the treatments but the clients themselves. What is more important in these instances are not the profits of capitalisation but the life and wellbeing of clients. These approaches are set with guidelines which could easily undermine or overanalyse a person’s psyche that doesn’t explicitly apply for every single human being and thus, the service of mental health does not achieve to understand the client.

Initially, my idea of creating a service design of a flotation tank was rejected because it did not define itself as a service design, nor did it include any VC elements. The concept by now was solidified after doing a whole heap of research to recreate a service design of a free-flow water mattress that responded to meditation. But I’m guessing I’m approaching the whole practical side of it incorrectly and need to take a step back and understand what I’m trying to achieve. I cannot do a product design because it isn’t relevant to VC (I had thought designing for a space was included as a VC element but I’ve seriously been thinking about it incorrectly). As a result from the feedback, I was told to emulate these ideas into an interactive map that can begin as an inspiration or a guide for someone to being meditation or bring themselves to mindfulness.

My thesis: I want to challenge and respond to why alternative treatments aren’t commonly practiced amongst young adults in Australia for anxiety. I wanted to evoke a sense of mindfulness as a holistic approach for long-term mental improvements.

 

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Reflection and proposition

Post 10

– By Ngoc Tram Nguyen-

My last draft proposition last week focused on the lack of access to Mental Healthcare service in Australia remote area as a result of a rising suicide rate in Tasmania. I proposed to create a messaging application that sends out text messages to improve young people’s moods base on a rating system they use every time they feel down.

After the feedback from tutors and classmates, there were a few insights that helped me move forward and shifted away from my initial draft:

My Pivotal Moment

Blog Post 10 by Wiana Inthapanya

My research initially started off with a broad investigation into mental health but quickly transformed into a journey of personal realisation where I was able to resonate with the content I discovered each week.

My pivotal moment was through my interview with another student where I was able to discuss with her our personal experiences on mental health as university students and the underlying stress that affects us daily. We were both able to resonate with the daily struggles of committing to work, business and our social lives whilst still maintaining our full-time studies.

I therefore decided to focus on mental health in design Students. The issue arises where students are so involved with their work, personal life and relationships to meet social expectations that most people begin to experience anxiety. This affects their way of thinking and interferes with their creative process – this is also known as the Creative Block.

 

Proposition:
My proposition is to raise awareness of mental health in design students at UTS in an attempt to break the stigma and prevent the after math of creative block that could lead to anxiety and depression in students.

My aim is to create a game that focuses on creative productivity to simulate the mind and produce a positive upward mood. The app consist of mini creative games. For instance, one game involves moving around 4 geometric shapes of different sizes and colour to construct a given object. The idea of the game is to increase mental stimulation and creativity whilst also providing building blocks to establish a design foundation that could potentially enhance your way of thinking.

 

This is a rough prototype of the game app

Blog10- Design Proposition: Consume YOUR World

Through the discussion of the draft design proposition surrounding the design implementation of mental wellbeing, it became imperative that I should design an outcome that steers away from the generic motivational cards of mental wellbeing. Feedback received was the general consensus that the tangible action of writing down their thoughts was perceived to be extremely effective. The action is communicated to portray a sense of relief to the individual whom engages with the action. A thought suggested that individuals can engage with the thought provoking action whilst they were waiting for their coffee, to utilise their time effectively.

Although I contemplated this idea, individual thoughts are usually privatised and not to be displayed publically by strangers whilst in transit with their coffee. The act of physically throwing away the thought written on the coffee cup itself was captivating for the responders. However they challenged the users ability to possibly hold onto their thought, instead of disposing it as comparative reference at a later time.

Through the feedback received as well as further research embarked on for mindfulness and mental wellbeing to be optimised, it is imperative for an individual to not ignore or accept a situation but to acknowledge it in its entirety. The design proposition requires an powered reflective element within the action itself.

Design Proposition:

Consume YOUR world
Generative System Design

The issue
The emphasis of knowledge within the spectrum of mental wellbeing entrenched within individuals every day existence is not effectively communicated. Mental health is an individual’s ability to create a rich, full and meaningful life, while accepting the pain/ stress that life inevitably brings. Individuals are unaware that the human mind transitions between two worlds and processes between two filters. The first is a world of Direct Experience, a world lived through the five senses we can see, hear, touch, taste and smell. The other portal is the engagement within the World of Language – a construct of words and visualizations that transition through our mind, losing contact with the world of direct experience.

The change
To admit power to individuals perception by identifying their own position of mindfulness. Individuals have the opportunity to actively reflect and enrich their mentality in the immediacy of the present time.

The design action to support change
To create the opportunity of self-empowerment, the evocative package design of Chewing Gum will be the portal for individual’s instant reflection and possible thought altercation. Chewing gum an easy and cheap commodity, is accessible to all 18-25 year olds, usually consumed for social purposes, functional freshness and to cure hunger or boredom- usually resulting to the feeling of pleasure.

Individuals will be prompted by a statement on the chewing gum package that will instantly provoke individuals to reflect whether they are mindfully engaged at the specific point in time within the world of the language or within the direct world of experience.
– Visually represented through a colour-
coded key on the individual gum wrapper.
Individuals will be encouraged to keep the section of the colour wrapper that communicates their present mental engagement – hoping to become a collection of ephemeral and data for the individual to reflect on their mindful engagement through a course of time. The package design strives to be at the bare minim a platform for instant and a non-intrusive process of self-reflection and a possible stepping stone for further self analysis of their attitude and thoughts within the present time.

Blog9-Visual Documentation

Lack of Knowledge is imperative for the current construct of understanding the definition, elements and factors surrounding Mental Health. An insightful realisation gained is the ability to understand that the lack of knowledge upon the topic of discussion has almost become a construct of human choice. It is through controlled sequencing of branches including history, behaviours, environment and people pressures that a misconception of mental health has enthusiastically thrived within the twenty first century.

We further explored the possible controversies into the implication surrounding the lack of knowledge towards the issue of Mental Health. Again as we fleshed out contributing factors, the magnification of human control and the choice factor within it became extremely apparent. Each of the controversies presented two dimensions that constructs an element of lacking knowledge within mental health. It is shocking to be drawn out in such a manner.

The strengths to mapping out the needs verses wants in conjunction to Mental Health what initially is thought to be an issue that requires direct needs and desires for all stakeholders involved it is perplexed to map out. The success into a realisation that Mental Health Wants verses Needs are almost manufactured as a business enterprise that employs a sense of social hierarchy of power with those in relation to Mental Health issues. This collaborative map was a turning point towards the perception of perceiving mental wellbeing as something that needs to be possibly manipulated as a desirable want and not an economic need within individual lives.
The prosperity of establishing the reflective process of mental wellbeing into a commodity derived from this specific exploration of collaborative mapping.

Reflection and Proposition: The Mind Spectrum

Post 10

Over the past week, I have been brainstorming and honing in on my proposition in the practice area of Generative System / Participatory design. As stated in post 9, I wanted to visualise the ‘invisible’ nature of mental health issues and create a change in perspective or attitude in the people that are involved. My first discussion drew out a few problems, the main being:

• How will this event attract people in the first place to participate? Their incentive?
• What are you exactly achieving? Unclear – needs clarification and distilled down
• What are the design restrictions and generative system rules applied?

After some visual and theoretical research on generative systems and design from last week, I have come up with an improved design proposition.

Project title: The Mind Spectrum

The Issue: The stigma attached to mental health issues discourages ‘open conversation’ and the action of seeking support. This project aims to provide new insight, a changed perception and attitude towards the negative stigma.

Practice type: Generative System / Participatory Design

The possible change: A changed perspective and attitude towards Mental Health giving heightening a sense of importance to the issue as well as making it a more approachable topic (for 18-24yo).

The design action to support change: Creating a space that is a fresh and fun approach allowing creative expression on the topic of Mental Health. The space also allows a chance to meet and connect with new people who have similar interests encouraging a sense of community and support.

THE DETAILS

The participants are invited to draw/ illustrate however they like on a tablet screen on a given word that they choose. The words consist of 3 words for 3 sets. Each set being on a topic of stress, depression, and anxiety – the most common mental health issue for people between the age of 18-24. The 3 words is a spectrum of stress, anxiety and depression to its antonym with an inbetween word. For example:

STRESS – UNEASY – RELAXED

ANXIETY – INDIFFERENCE – CALMNESS

DEPRESSION – COMPLACENT – CHEERFUL  

This is then saved on the server and played as simple animation screenings on the wall for other people to watch. In addition, the participant will receive their drawing as a designed postcard immediately printed. Not only will they receive their illustration postcard, but also the other 2 words in the word set that other people have drawn. This is the incentive of the activity, allows the person to see the changes of the emotional spectrum. This aspect of the generative system gives a chance to see how similar or different others perceive each word which in result gives a new angle of understanding and possible a shift in perspective about mental health.

Users also have a choice to input their social media account information (instagram, twitter account etc) which will be printed on their postcard illustration highlighting the proposition’s ‘connection’ aspect by allowing Sydney’s young adults and creatives to build a network. As this event is aimed for people interested in art/design/culture/mental health, there is a high chance there may be local artists, designers or students involved who then can keep in touch after this event on the social media platform.

THE RULES

Simple drawing constraints will be given for each set to maintain and highlight how each word changes to its opposite within a boundary.

For example:
– Using only lines, express what STRESS/UNEASY/RELAXED is represents to you.

– Using only circles and dots, express what DEPRESSION/COMPLACENT/CHEERFUL represents to you.

– Using only zig zags, express what ANXIETY/INDIFFERENCE/CALMNESS represents to you.

VISUAL EXAMPLES OF OUTCOME

FEEDBACK AND REFINEMENT

The feedback received from peers and tutor was extremely helpful in refining my proposition. A few points I have taken into deeper consideration and will be changing is placing this activity within a proper context of a mental health workshop aimed at 18-24 year olds who are interested in art/design/mental health. ‘The Mind Spectrum’ will be a subpart, a small event within the workshop for the target audience.

In terms of giving a word to illustrate to the user, I was initially thinking of allowing the person to choose 1 word out of the 9. However this will result in uneven data results of the drawings which unbalances the live projection happening in the space. Therefore, the interactive tablet will already have a word chosen for the person to ensure even distribution and a better visualised animation of the word spectrum.

Written by Helen Chang

Image References

Daikoku Studio, 2012, Musashino Art University <http://daikoku.ndc.co.jp/filter/graphic/2012-Musashino-Art-University-2012&gt;, viewed 20 September.

Studio Moniker, 2013, Your Line or Mine, <https://yourlineormine.com/&gt;, viewed 20 September.

Experiencing another story

Post 10: Reflection and Proposition

By further re-thinking and narrowing down ideas for my proposition, I came up with the realisation that people in Japan think it is a taboo to talk about personal problems to the public. This is why many people avoid seeking support from their surroundings and from professionals and thus, increases their risk of having mental health issues.
I then decided to think of a design that visually illustrates people’s emotions. They need to realise that holding in their feelings increases stress and ultimately becomes a toxic phenomenon affecting their body and mind.

Talking to peers and my tutor, I was told to keep this design a positive experience for the users whilst also giving them self-awareness about their mental state. However, knowing that this is still too broad, I was finding it difficult to think of a solid design solution for task 3.
I then received an email from my tutor telling me that the Stephen Fry tweet I talked about in my data scraping blog was very powerful. I decided to look back into this blog and build up on a new proposition.

By re-reading this twitter post, I agreed that empathy building is the most essential element for people to understand how it feels to have mental health. This will also reduce the high level of stigma in Japan.

Therefore, my new proposition is “to decrease stigma by building empathy and giving an opportunity for individuals to understand how people feel who suffer from mental health issues”.

When researching about empathy building activities, I came across an article that stated in order to build empathy, people need to be placed in someone else’s shoes, discover commonalities with the person and develop ambitious imagination. Keeping these keys words in mind, I thought of my design solution.

The design solution will be an installation that allows individuals to experience a story of a person with depression and how she overcame this from the support of other people.
The installation will start off in a pitch black room. There will be a narration in first person speaking out real personal emotions such as “this is how I felt at first. I felt cold. lonely. empty.” As the story continues, the room will suddenly show a circle of light symbolic of hope. Zooming into this circle, the voice will change into angelic, positive voices who will play the roles of family, friends and professional who all supported the person with depression. The people in the room will feel a warm breeze and experience calmness when this happens, releasing them from the cold, isolated atmosphere that was experienced at the beginning.

By individuals personally experience this, they are able to put themselves into the shoes of someone with mental health and discover similar feelings of when they are emotional unstable too. By also experiencing and understanding the feeling of hope, love and relief through the support of other people, individuals will also realize that they too will need to support those who are suffering so they will experience the same positive relief and love they had experienced through this installation.

 

 

10_”Moment.um” is here!

The Issue:

The reality of what stress that our bodies/and mind receive without us realising in our everyday life and how we can combat it with mindfulness. 

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Introducing “Moment.um”

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So what’s the problem?

Stress plays a huge part in our mental health and wellbeing, but how do we keep in control with so much going on in our everyday lives? Stress can be manage and can be improved to the point where it becomes beneficial for you instead of working against you.

What’s the potential change?

The best way to enable and empower people to be proactive in their own mental well being is to make them mindful of it. This will lead to long lasting change inside a persons ability to manage stress in their daily life and not only will it change their psychology but it will also change their physiology so they will be physically healthier.

The design action.

My preposition is for a service design. This will be a app based service, that will track the environmental factor into the affects it has on the body. On top of this it will help support the user pychologically through mindfulness and meditation activities that a user can interact with.

The service.

The service is provided (but not limited to) young professionals (22-30yo) who may be struggling with stress and understanding how stress affects their daily life with a application with provide a service in which will inform them and encourage them to keep track and stay on track so they can keep up with their busy schedules without sacrificing their health. This will help create and spread awareness about mental health and what steps that can be taken to improve it, so that it can be treat as you would any other illness.

Above are some visual of how stress will be plotted against peoples energy levels for that day so they can see how prepared they are for the day and if they should take the day’s tasks with more caution.

The way I want to show my supporting research is with poster:

1. Showing my biggest insight, which for me was the interview I constructed to see the affects mindfulness had on the perception of stress.
2. Fact that I had found throughout the task to help elevated stress or eliminate it.
3. The final will be a visual showing in what ways stress can be affecting a individual without them realising, so it can make clearer to the importance of stress on the body.

Now time to execute because it is in my nature. 🙂

 

#Where’sMiles?

By Carla Moran

It took a lot of digging around, asking and writing to flesh out what exactly was the issue I wanted to focus on. Initially, I wanted to design a solution for the lack of education and outdated syllabus of mental illness in high schools. Instead I was asked, what was it that compelled me to choose this issue? And in response I said it was because growing up I felt that I didn’t have the adequate education and support to deal with my own mental illness.

And so the issue I want to focus on is the lack of support and educational systems for mental illness. Mental illness has become a lot more prevalent in younger generations, whereby at least 1 in 16 young Australians currently experience depression and one in six young Australians currently experience anxiety.¹ These mental illnesses are found in Australians as young as 15 years. Hence, I believe raising awareness should be spread across all ages. If we can equip the younger generations with knowledge and support of mental illness we can create a brighter future for those to come.

I have chosen to do a generative design, not to find a solution but rather to raise awareness and aim to open up more supportive and educational channels. My following thought was, how could I create something that would inform/engage people of all ages?
Meet Miles:

Moran C. 2016

Miles is a personification of anxiety and depression. He’s the one that can show up at anytime and any place, when you least expect it and he’s often very hard to shake. Even though you feel his weight on you, others may not.

#Where’sMiles? is a mini campaign that seeks to raise awareness surrounding mental illness, in particular, anxiety and depression. There will be different products with this slogan on it and a special Snapchat filter, featuring Miles. What we ask the audience to do is take pictures of themselves wearing the badge/bag or taking a snap using the particular filter whenever they feel they’ve encountered Miles that day or have been experiencing Miles for part of their lives. When they post it on social media they use the #Where’sMiles? to increase awareness. Mental illness is an invisible illness and affects more people than we realise.

Moran C. 2016

Going through life without the support and understanding, people’s anxiety and depression can ultimately infiltrate into their way of life. Although, a very dark and harrowing story, I wanted to visualise the issue in a way that is relatable and easy to understand for the audience. I hope that through these child like illustrations those that don’t suffer from mental illness can gain a better understanding of what it is like to deal with it on a daily basis.

Moran C. 2016

The campaign would run for a week or so and would have multiple stalls running throughout the city, selling these products and raising awareness of the campaign.
Through this simple campaign, I hope to bring to the attention of people the need for more support and educational systems surrounding mental illness.

1.) Beyond Blue 2016, Stats and Facts, viewed 21st September 2016,
<https://www.youthbeyondblue.com/footer/stats-and-facts&gt;

Call off the Engagement: Revising the Proposal.

POST 10: Reflection and Revised Proposal

 

REFLECTION:

My brain was in mapping mode, my creative process had become the cycle of map, discuss, blog, repeat and I was getting comfortable with the simplicity of these tasks. I was ignoring the fact that in the next week I was supposed to have developed a design proposal and started thinking about the final coming weeks. While I knew completely what was coming, I acted totally offended that this subject blindsided me. ‘How could they just expect us to draw up a design proposal out of no where?!’ But really I have always known I’m an incredibly indecisive and also self-critical person, and the countless painful mindmaps I constructed in the lead up to my first proposal were getting me nowhere. I had always been a huge fan of interactive, site specific art installations, and seemed to be pushing myself in this general direction, without caring whether it was relevant to the Emergent practices we were engaging with.

The proposal I ran by my peers in our small class discussion wasn’t particularly confident, wasn’t particularly refined and while I went to sleep the night before happy with my ideas, I woke up certain that they needed to be revised. My classmates were supportive of the idea, and encouraged me that it had elements that were relevant and that could be pursued. However, it was discussion with my peers about their own proposals that started to get me thinking about the different ways we can connect people and raise awareness without actually needing to have some sort of live feed of communication. I was stuck in the idea that whatever my proposal, because I was interested in rural mental health for young people, I needed to find some grand solution that connected these young people, with urban spaces, with friends, with family, with other young people. It wasn’t until one of my peers pointed it out that I realised that this subject wasn’t about picking a colossal issue like Mental Illness and attempting to solve it, but was about using unique and modern design practises to provoke discussion and raise awareness in relation to said issue. I needed to stop putting pressure on myself to come up with an idea that was the be all and end all.

While I had a proposal I had prepared for this week, I got cold feet and couldn’t bare to express it to my tutor, completely unravelling the idea in my mind from the moment I woke up to that very moment in class. I was very good at talking myself out of things. However, the class discussions really made me realise that while my idea might have a nice sentiment, it could be clearer, more interesting and far simpler if I just revised it.

I went back to the texts I was reading, reopened my 48 tabs that were slowing my ancient laptop immensely and tried to get to the crux of what I am most interested in and specifically how I want to approach this issue. Youth Mental Health in rural Australia is an extremely broad topic, and I noticed myself continually being drawn to various explanations from psychologists and politicians and scholars about what it is that causes such extreme risk of suicide and high rates of mental illness in these isolated areas. While the primary explanation is the lack of medical facilities, let alone those that provide mental health treatments, there are other factors that contribute including the burden of social isolation, the harshness and disaster of the land, and the lack of privacy in a ‘small town culture’. However, I was continually drawn to the culture of resilience and stoicism that exists in rural Australia and how such perceptions of humanity can be a huge detriment to those suffering from mental illness who might need to be reaching out to seek help. I was fascinated with the history of this culture, where it started and why it is perpetually woven into the socialisation of young people living in rural and regional Australia.

PROPOSAL:

Project: TBC

Type: Generative

Issue: The image of ‘The Rural Australian’ for as long as we know it has been hard-working, resilient, self-sufficient and stoic figure in our history. Developing, with the help of colonial creative histories such as art and poetry, the legend of those who work on the land has generated a expectation of stability and strength for rural Australians. A culture of self-reliance  has discouraged individuals from putting up their hand when they are suffering from mental distress. The expectation that one will ‘just get on with it’ or ‘do it on your own’ has been a contributing factor in the fact that young Australian’s living in rural and regional areas are at the highest risk of mental illness and suicide. The poetry of Banjo Patterson and Henry Lawson has long been an enormous part of white history and the development of the legend of the ‘Outback Drover’ and men and women of the bush. In Henry Lawson’s 1899 work, How the Land Was Won, he writes:

They toiled and they fought through the shame of it –
Through wilderness, flood, and drought…
…The miseries suffered, unvoiced, unknown –
And that’s how the land was won.

Here we can see Lawson’s construction of the Australian bushman archetype, an image of stoicism who’s courage is measured in his silence. This harmful perception of rural Australians has perpetuated a harmful culture amongst rural communities for centuries.

Young Australian’s living in rural and regional communities lack role models that exist on a spectrum of emotion and expression. Many of these young people may have been socialised to believe that this culture is the only way to deal with mental illness. There does not exist a real collection of role models that normalise the idea of seeking help and inform youth that it is essential and not stigmatised to reach out when times are tough.

Possible Change:

In this project I hope to help young people living in rural and regional Australia to rewrite a new image of what it means to be who they are. Create a wide and varied representation of young people in rural communities that speaks to their insecurities, their weaknesses, their worries and their demons. To tap into the creative brains of 18-24 year olds and ask them to show us what hurts them in order to reveal humanise the age old expectation of stoicism that contradicts the current state of mental health for this part of Australia. I hope to create a database that is a collection of words, poems, stories and drawings that respond to the query; ‘What worries you?’ in order to unravel the stigma that exists around voicing your inner turmoil and seeking help.

Design Action to Support Change:

A carefully curated collection of creative works that challenge the culture of stoicism and resilience that has been perpetuated in rural Australia through our colonial creative histories. Organised online with the ability for individuals to browse based on medium and location and read and view the real image of young rural Australia.

 

Lawson, H. 1899, How the Land Was Won, accessed at: <http://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poets/lawson-henry/how-the-land-was-won-0022013&gt;.

 

Post 10: reflection and proposition

Sunny Lai

Reflection

My discussion of my draft proposal with my colleague was quite useful. At this point in time, I had not yet settled on a final idea and was tossing up between two.

One idea was of a service design which helped reduce barriers to seeking mental health treatment. This design was to be an interactive web interface in which a user could answer questions that assessed their mental state and needs, and then present them with suitable treatment options. Alternatively, this service could also be used to help the user draft a message, helping them to reach out to friends or family for support.

Upon discussing this idea with my colleague, I decided not to pursue it after all, mainly because tools similar to this already existed, such as diagnotic quizzes on sites like BeyondBlue. I also believe I lack the requisite information and knowledge to create an effective version of this solution.

The second idea I had was a series of data visualisations showcasing people’s personal experiences and perspectives of mental illness, drawn from social media posts. My aim with this was to help those who do not suffer from mental illness to better understand and empathise with those who do, by humanising mental illness and showing it is not something that (as per stereotypes) inherently entails antisocial or criminal behaviour. My colleague seemed to have a positive view of this idea, and suggested I could take it further by including imagery of popular celebrities who suffer from mental illness. I agreed that this could further help dismantle negative prejudices against the mentally ill, and have decided to add and incorporate this idea to my original one.

Proposal

Project title: More than this (working title)

Practice type: data-driven visualisation

The issue: stigma against mental illness; specifically, lack of understanding and empathy for the mentally ill, and the belief that the mentally ill are likely to be antisocial/criminal parts of society

The possible change: increasing empathy and understanding of mental health issues by humanising the mentally ill

The design action to support change: Part 1 of the design action will use a poetic visualisation technique to showcase individuals’ own personal experiences and perspectives of mental illness by displaying their selected social media posts. These posts will be a curated collection chosen specifically to dismantle harmful prejudices against the mentally ill, and to humanise the issue of mental illness by showing posts which are likely to evoke greater empathy and understanding. Part 2 of the design action will also be a poetic visualisation. It will show a catalogue of famous people who are particularly loved, respected, and admired, along with their achievements and their mental illnesses. With this juxtaposition, I aim to break down the idea that a mentally ill person is necessarily an antisocial member of society, and also to emphasise the idea that one’s mental illness is not one’s definining characteristic.

 

Post 10: Reflection & Proposition

There is always one great positive that outweighs any other about having tutorial times. One thing I am glad to have is being surrounded by people who are familiar with the topic and who have been there as a weekly constant to be familiar with my own personal research. They have seen the ideas and the concepts scraped, developed and explored. It would be rather annoying to repeat myself every week about my idea, but having that space to verbally explain my idea is its own channel for developing.

As a pair we were able to discuss my previous problem statement, understand the tone needs work with improvement of vocabulary choices. From there we commenced a game to bounce ideas back and forth to clarify and simplify my ideas. In effect, that gave me an understanding to narrow down my problem, and directing a proper line of action,whilst learning what my draft proposition is effective at doing and whether it was appropriate.

During my time to open up my ideas, my tutor – Chris, was able to listen in on my draft proposition and became another mind to bounce ideas from. Though I felt as though I had been able to explore all my options, at the time being firm to make something generative. I was in my own fault, had ignored the possibilities that data visualisation had to offer to solve my problem statement.

Proposition: Mental Health: Blurred Lines

(Data Visualisation)

Since the digital age, the internet has been constantly evolving and adatping. As a result, on certain social platforms – for example Facebook – has developed an online culture amongst young adults that use terminology from mental health and use them in a joking and mocking context. As a result of this, has created a space where mental health is humorised and desensitises the severity of the issue.

From preliminary research, those who have done this can be loosely grouped into three categories:

1. Those who do so as a means to cope with their own battles with it
2. Those who want to talk about it but can’t do so unless in this light-hearted way
3. Those who are completely uninformed by the severity of it

The change we want through our design is directed at those who are unaware of how they are using their words online. We want them to become informed and mindful of their actions. Though it may be quick and easy to type a seemingly innocent joke online, their words can cause a detrimental effect on those who are battling something within themselves and can cause the reader to take offence. We have noticed that this online culture doesn’t get transformed in the mannerism between people when they interact in the real world.

The best result from our design is to give everyone an enlightenment and revolutionise the way we interact online and hope it can transcend into the real world too. This mindfulness can help as one of the small steps taken to battle with the many other issues that revolve around mental health.

‘Mental Health: Blurred Lines’ would be a motion graphic video that composes of data visualisations on the usage of terms like “depression”, “kill myself” “rather be dead” on Facebook. This short video will be a story telling that slowly guides the watcher to understand how a small joke can escalate and make them reflect when they thought the line was crossed. This will guide them to ask questions of whether this sort of dialogue would still be appropriate in the real world.

 

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Negley. K, 2013, New York Times OPED, Keith Negley, viewed 26 September 2016 <http://www.keithnegley.com/NYT-schizo&gt;

Post 10 Reflection and Proposition

reflection of draft proposal

For my draft proposal, i’ve decided to create a service design – workshop to educate people with a good online behaviour based on the cyber bullying issue. Also, I also want to create a real cases sharing section for the workshop, through the sharing section can increase people awareness on cyber bullying issue. However, my peers think that the case study section is quite hard to construct and research so I decided to give up this ideas and focus on the workshop. I have a concept of doing a online Behaviour etiquette to educate people with whats good to say and not to share online, but I haven’t thought of the way to interact in the workshop, so I would research more on online Behaviour etiquette and draw a draft map for the etiquette.

Project title: ‘online Behaviour etiquette’ , Online ‘ DO’S and DON’tS’ 

Practice type: service design application

the issue: cyber bullying 

I think cyber bullying is an issue that we should not treat it lightly and it is very dangerous. From many research and interview, I found that people are lack of knowledge and understanding with cyber bullying. like they know what is cyber bullying but they don’t know the impact of it. they don’t know that cyber bullying can kill a person, for example like the victims they commit to suicide because of it. sometimes people were abused with freedom of speech and they don’t feel that they have the responsibility with the words that they wrote online and sometimes the words are so mean and hurt others.

the possible change:

I always think that prevent is better than cure, I would like to educate people with a good online behaviour and educate them that they have the responsibility of the words that they wrote online.

the design action to support change:

I plan to create a service design application

The application designed like a online learning platform like a classroom.

• 2- 4 Players in one game.
• Players answer on their own devices, while games are displayed on a shared screen to unite the lesson – creating a ‘campfire moment’ – encouraging players to look up.
• After a game, we encourage players to create and share their result on social platform
• we also allow players to create their own question

The question will be like etiquette of online behaviour, Yes/ No question or MC question, educate people through a group learning games.

Example of question:

• Should we give out any personal information about my friends?
• can we post picture of others without permission?
• Which word we should not say online?
• Which comment can be define as mean comments?

After the game, I will also put an etiquette map to show some data and research that i collet with cyber bullying issues, the etiquette map shows clearly with what is a good online behaviour. Below are some etiquette maps example online:

 

MAPS REFERENCE:

'31mustknow', Pinterest, viewed 21 september 2016,<ee3e7942313b74ae0328dfa6fffdd064.jpg>

'8thingsthatcanhurtyourbrand', Pinterest, viewed 21 september 2016,<ac1d3c033c279ccac59f3b22fc792c8b.jpg>

POST TEN – THE DESIGN PROPOSAL

After thorough consideration of the issue at hand and feedback gained from the draft proposal workshop last week, I was able to make informed decisions to ultimately refine my design proposal. I had the advantageous point of being organised into a group of three, enabling me with useful feedback from not one but two peers. This allowed me to gather insights from a variety of perspectives and understand how I could start to refine my design proposal.

Within this class exercise, I came to realise just how important is is that my design proposal is successfully understood and received by the particular stakeholders and actors. Certain suggestions came from both peers that really resonated with me and have proved to inform changes within my design proposal. Such suggestions included consolidating the broadness of mental illnesses to depression which is most apparent in rural and remote areas of Australia. By focusing on this I was able to get some great references that support the desperate need for a reduction in societal stigma surrounding mental health within rural and remote areas and how this reduction may benefit the issue of mental health within these small communities.

Project Title: Spot the Difference

Practice Type: Service Design

The Issue: There is a glaring societal stigma surrounding mental health with an evident derogatory nature, particularly within rural and remote areas of Australia. The overall presence of mental illness is broadly similar in rural and urban Australia, however the suicide rate is considerably higher in rural and remote areas. This can be largely attributed to a combination of factors; accessibility and availability of services, economic factors, distance and isolation, and societal/cultural attitudes. The prevailing Australian cultural ‘She’ll be ‘right’ attitude towards mental health within rural Australia has lead to a subsequent lack of acknowledgement and care for such illnesses without ‘physical symptoms’. There is a dire need for an increase in mental illness recognition within such rural and remote areas in which these attitudes are most prominent. With such attitudes being inflicted upon the younger generation in these small communities, a vicious cycle of neglect is emerging, only adding to the incessant societal stigma surrounding mental health.

The Possible Change: It is without a doubt that Australia’s attitude towards mental health needs to be readjusted, especially the blasé attitudes so pertinent in rural and remote Australia. Ultimately, there needs to be a change in the societal stigma that surrounds mental health, that change being a significant reduction in said stigma. Though there are other important factors that contribute to the rising levels of suicide and depression within rural and remote areas (as listed above), by intervening and influencing a change in the youths predisposition there is hope to eradicate, or even reduce, societies stigma towards mental health. With young minds being at their most impressionable state between the ages of 8-12, this presents the opportunity to impart certain attitudinal characteristics and behaviours towards addressing the issue of mental health. By prompting conversation amongst this age group their is the potential to create safe environments in which help-seeking behaviours are encouraged and sufferers are integrated into a cohesive society.

The Design Action: Spot the Difference will aim to promote sensitive and appropriate conversations about the issue of mental health, ultimately changing societal attitudes and behaviours towards the issue through phrases and word association. The design action involves pairing two optional responses with a certain phrase in which someone suffering from depression may say. The two optional responses consist of one being the most appropriate and sensitive, the other being stereotypical of the ‘She’ll be ‘right’ Australian culture. By drawing on the popular children puzzles Spot the Difference, the design action revolves around the idea that the children partaking should be able to distinguish between the ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ responses. Two illustrations will be displayed aside one another that appear indifferent, yet the responses below will be the two opposing. The illustrations will be line drawings that invite the children partaking in the exercise to colour in the pictures according to the emotions and level of sensitivity of the responses below. By being both interactive and recognisable as a popular puzzle, the design hopes to be exciting and engaging while also encouraging these youths to dismiss the ‘She’ll be ‘right’ blasé attitude evident in their surrounding society, and assume a more sensitive approach to the topic of mental health.

References

Mental health in rural areas. 2015. The Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Psychiatrists. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.ranzcp.org/Publications/Rural-psychiatry/Mental-health-in-rural-areas.aspx. [Accessed 20 September 2016].

PATHWAYS OF RECOVERY: PREVENTING FURTHER EPISODES OF MENTAL ILLNESS – Rural and remote communities. 2016. Australian Government Department of Health. [ONLINE] Available at: http://health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/mental-pubs-p-mono-toc~mental-pubs-p-mono-pop~mental-pubs-p-mono-pop-rur. [Accessed 20 September 2016].

The Huffington Post. 2016. Blokes, If We Don’t Stop Saying ‘She’ll Be Right’, We Won’t Be. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/joel-feren/blokes-if-we-dont-stop-saying-shell-be-right-we-wont-be/. [Accessed 20 September 2016].

Commonwealth of Australia. 2016. KidsMatter. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.kidsmatter.edu.au/. [Accessed 20 September 2016].

 

blog 10- Reflection and Proposition

By Marcella K. Handoko Kwee

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Draft Proposal Feedback

Here are a couple of feedbacks given on service design ideas I have mentioned in the draft proposal. Based on feedbacks my peer has given me, all of my ideas does not really cover up the direction I want to achieve in this assignment, which is service design because my ideas do not involve a person with another person (two interactions or more) but a person with object. She suggested me to look up at examples of service design from lecture notes. Although I did so. I also looked up at the readings in UTS online. I take that service design based app and text message are common ones. However I wanted to make something different therefore, I came up with the idea of phone charger, meditation box and landscape app. I still believe that my ideas can be included as part of service design as well although they might require one-sided interaction only. According to Wikipedia, “service design is a form of conceptual design that involves the activity of planning and organizing people, infrastructure, communication and material components of a service in order to improve its quality and the interaction between the service provider and its customers.” My ideas could be really used to serve people and fulfill their needs by motivating them to change their bad habits, providing effectiveness, and promoting body and mind health.

To continue with the feedback, she also told me that perhaps the second idea could have been a good idea if the meditation box was made for public rather than individual. It means that the meditation box should be made more approachable from or accessible to public. Furthermore, the idea would have worked if it was made high-technologically: designed with earphone to listen to nature’s sounds, visual screen to see the nature images.

Apart from the ideas provided in the draft proposal, she suggested me a mute functionality touch button for mobile phone. She enthusiastically told me that she watched a Youtube video about an innovation of mute touch screen button. However in order to do that, the mobile phone users need to download an app that links to the device. The users are able to turn off the notification sounds even when the device is in sound mode whenever they touch the point button. Lastly, she mentioned about an app specialies in reducing the mental health issue. This app allows the users to share about what is bothering them to their social media friends, such as status. The aim is to put the sufferers at ease. Given that some people might be concerned about their names and mental health statuses spreading throughout the platform, users will be given 2 choices: named or anonymous. In this app, whoever suffers the most severe mental issue will appear at the highest position of timeline page, following by some colors to indicate their status of mental health. The top users should be getting the most helps.

The tutor on the other hand, considered all of my ideas was good. She wanted me to look at how excessive usage of gadgets and social media (factor of mental issue found throughout mindmaping session) in association with mental health stigma (main topic of reseach). At first, tutor thought the first idea was good however, she concerned it would cause more problems if phone users were restricted to use mobile phones at night, which means they cannot use their mobile phones even for emergency purposes because the device is made to be chargeable during night hours. Therefore, unrecommended. Last thing is she wanted me to spend some time researching on stress, mental health and social media for 3 poster designs.

Refined Proposition

Faith Brings Positive Change

My research is on mental health issue, particularly on stigma on mental health. However in this task, I would like to work more on particular issue, which is stress and anxiety caused by excessive used of social media. I want to encourage people to get familiar with apps, certain objects and colors that will give them sense of relaxation by being imaginative and putting them into a state of mindfulness.

I can relate the mental health stigma with stress and anxiety caused by excessive used of social media. Nowadays, social media users tend to share contents which mostly they are disagree about. In this modern world, social media users have developed habits of being judgemental in something they have lack of knoweldge about (e.g mental health). Considering that media is a powerful tool and if the media agencies are being irresponsible in their news contents (e.g news headlines: mentally-ill nurse should not be allowed to work in children hospital), the adults or parents social media users would get angry or disappointed then they would share the news to social media platforms full of student and young users who might read their posts and get influenced by. Stereotyping will keep passing down generation to generation. Stereotypes and negative perceptions cause fear in general population and people with mental issue. This fear results in stress and anxiety.

In the case of stigma, the missing point is the lack contents about positive personal experiences dealing with mental issue in media and social media platforms. Public needs to hear accurate information on mental health and it can only come from the experts in the field and people with mental issue themselves.

I have came up with an idea of service design, an entertainment app as well as social media associated stigma, and stress and anxiety. It suits the needs of modern society with a little bit of touch of nature aspects. The aim is to build community supports. This app allows you to build your own imagination of landscape using drag point to position certain elements of nature into the page to share about in where or what environments they wish to be (imaginations of a better world), to post current mental status and feelings, to give advices on others posts, and to share their honest personal experiences dealing with mental issue. They are free to link their account with their social media in order to gain public’s understanding and reduce stigma.

10 – Reflect + Propose

Reflection

As mentioned in my previous posts [08 and 09] I came into this week’s tutorial session with a fairly sound proposal in mind, one that I already felt quite strongly about pursuing. In essence, this design responds to the association of ‘choice’ with mental health and seeks to defy the limitations placed on the identity of those who are ill.

When proposing the functionality of the generative website it was suggested that a level of curation will still need to be involved. The purpose of which wouldn’t be to limit responses to those that I personally agree or identify with, but rather to determine whether they are indeed related to the issue and respectful to the actors involved.

Whilst explaining the intended digital and physical output of my generative design proposal it became evident that as a curated design, the postcard series does also fall within the sphere of poetic data visualisation.

The most interesting aspect of the postcards is the idea of combining statements to illustrate an intriguing, humorous or critical point. Furthermore, the continued engagement beyond the parameters of the original design would be interesting to explore. A hashtag could be attributed to the project to encourage sharing of stories and further increasing the reach of the work, which ultimately seeks to provoke open discussion and prompt genuine understanding. By including a hashtag on the postcards further statements can be sourced to feed back into the original generative website format.

Draft proposal sketches

POST 10: Reflection and Proposition // The Waiting Room

LAUREN FITZPATRICK // 12048880

Reflection

When I explained my concept to my partner and tutor, there were some great pieces of feedback that helped solve some issues in my proposal. I always find that my ideas develop a lot better when I try and explain it to someone out loud so this class exercise was invaluable in shaping and improving my design proposition.

I firstly identified my design proposition as a combination of a generative system and service design in the form of an app. The aim of the app is to make the experience of being in a doctors waiting room and appointment more humanising. One of the main pieces of feedback I received was how to create a common language between patient and doctor. From this feedback, I went back and read through my scholarly articles that first sparked this idea to gain more data and information to create this language.

Another aspect of my proposition that I hadn’t considered was how to make the app a post and pre experience for both patient and doctor. Will the doctor have access to what the patient is recording in real-time or will the doctor just have access to the accumulated data of various patients? I think the latter is more realistic but it would be great if the doctor could know what their next patient is feeling before they enter the room. This means the app needs to be site-specific and integrated in the space of a doctors waiting room and office.

Finally, the main problem with my design proposition is that I need to make it engaging so people using it become attached to it. My tutor used the app Pause as an example of an engaging design. The way the user follows the flowing shapes on the screen is meditative and draws the user in. This visual engagement and level of meditation is something I want to emulate through my design proposal so I conducted some more research into interactive mobile apps. Once example I found was Feel Me by Marco Triverio explores the disconnect present in communication through technological devices. As one person moves their finger on the screen, the other person can see the movement in real-tim. This is a concept I want to explore in my design response as it creates an emotive connection between both users.

Overall, my design proposition received a positive response with some small issues that I have addressed above. My tutor said it was something she hadn’t heard of or considered before so I think that the basis of my concept is solid. Now, I just need to refine my proposition and figure out how to visually represent it.

Proposition

The Waiting Room

Generative/ Service Design

The receptionist is typing vigorously while the printer whirs and spits out sheets of paper. A child is crying in his mothers arms while she rocks him hysterically to silence him. The man to your left is jiggling his right leg which is making the couch you’re sitting on move and the woman to your rights is tapping her pen on the clipboard piled with forms. You are sitting amongst all this noise about to see your doctor. How do you feel?

Put yourself in this situation. We have all been there before. There is no wonder then that the stigma of mental health patients not wanting to seek help is so prevalent. The way we feel in particular situations is often based on our environment. Through my design response, I want people in the space of a doctors waiting room to be able to feel comfortable to talk about their feelings, especially when it is time for them to interact with the doctor. The problem I am addressing is the stigma doctors often inflicted upon patients and the stigma of patients not wanting to seek help. It is a double-sided issue which makes it even more complex.

I propose a generative and service design app called The Waiting Room which is site specific to stressful and suspenseful situations such as waiting to see your doctor. The aim of the app is to make the user feel comfortable and positive in that environment and to be aware of their feelings. This enables patients to connect with their thoughts in order to communicate them better to a doctor.

The Waiting Room can be classified as a meditative app to prepare patient’s minds for their appointment. The user will be able to build their emotions using abstract shapes such as squares, circles and curves by they won’t know the exact meaning of each shape. While the patient is creating their abstract artwork, the doctor will have a real time connection and knows what each shape represents. This enable the patient to meditate and connect with their thoughts whilst the doctor knows how the patient may be feeling before the appointment. It is an abstract and gentle connection between patient and doctor that isn’t invasive and will hopefully improve both mind sets and reduce stigma.

Featured Image:

Unknown. 2015, Don’t Waste Your Wait, viewed 25 September 2016, <http://write15minutes.com/category/patience/>

Blog Post 10 // A Proposal – The MEN-tal Health Kit

Keegan Spring

An integral and invaluable aspect throughout this entire process of mapping, brainstorming, researching and reflecting has been the feedback and collaboration I have participated in with and received from my fellow group members. Without their unique and personal insights I would never have been able to push this idea to the depth at which it currently is now. An exemplar of such value is found in the feedback that I received when I presented my draft proposal to my group throughout the week. During this time I received two extremely helpful insights from them, and my tutor, that have furthered the depth and overall quality of my proposal.

1. How does it get there?

Firstly, the overwhelming feedback that I received was that I have overlooked exactly how my mental health kit will be funded and delivered to the persons doorstep. After brainstorming solutions involving the government, schools and parents collaborating to pay for, manufacture and distribute these kits, it became apparent that this notion of a nation wide campaign was becoming convoluted and unrealistic. Instead, I decided to scale back the scope of this project and propose a design that is a trial launched by headspace. With headspace as my client, the new target audience will consist of 18-25 year old males who are currently accessing headspace and have moved out of home for the first time. This solves the problem of knowing when address changes have been made and the current living situation of the target audience, as headspace ask their users to fill in surveys whenever they access their facilities. This solves how it will be delivered to the doorstep, but how is it funded? This is answered in the next piece of feedback I received:

2. Does it need to be a suitcase?

Can I achieve what I wish to achieve in a different medium? It was proposed that such a large item might become a nuisance to the user and will cause them to lose interest in, or even become irritated by the kit. Although I felt the poetic nature of a suitcase being delivered to someone who has just moved was quite beautiful, I recognise the wisdom and insight in this observation. Thus I have tweaked this to become a mental health first aid kit. The cost will be minimal as it will be made from recycled cardboard making it much more accessible and financially realistic. It will also become much more streamlined and compact, as it will become the size of a shoe box, making it easier to deliver and store. Thus, solving the problems of cost and accessibility, but also maintaining a poetic element to it, as every home is expected to have some form of physical medical kit, so why not also equip ourselves with a mental medical kit? However, I also received feedback to be careful about how I implement this metaphor, as first aid kits can be associated with very serious health conditions. Thus, I must steer the focus away from it being a first aid kit, and more like a common medicine box that is found in any home.

— Revised Proposal —

The MEN-tal Health Kit

Service Design

Stigma and stereotyping has placed societal pressure on men to be independent, suppress their emotions and lack vulnerability [Ellis et al. 2014] whilst mental health facilities are oriented around sitting down, expressing ones feelings, talking about issues and opening up to a mental health care professional who you have no prior history with. Such an approach, although effective for some, does not quite take into consideration the societal pressures placed on men throughout their entire lives to do exactly the opposite.

Hence, it is of utmost importance to provide young men with these tools and resources in a medium which they can engage with and understand. Thus, we must design an intervention specifically for young men which is action-based and focuses on shifting behaviour and stigma, rather than simply increasing mental health knowledge.

‘The MEN-tal Health Kit’ is a service design provided and funded by the youth mental health foundation ‘headspace’. It is tailored to an audience of men, aged 18-25, moving into independence (out of parental care) for the first time who currently have mental health issues that affect their lives and are currently accessing headspace’s services. When a male, within the appropriate age bracket, moves out of home for the first time ‘The MEN-tal Health Kit’ will be delivered to their new residence. Designed to look like a first-aid kit, this small kit, manufactured from recycled cardboard, is made to be visually engaging and easily stored to make it accessible and usable to a gamut of audiences.

With an intention to prepare the young male for his first year of independence, the intervention provides the recipient with challenges, tasks and helpful techniques which promote establishing and maintaining a healthy mental wellbeing for the present and for the future. The MEN-tal Health Kit is not only tailored to men to provide physical and tangible action-based tasks, but is also tailored to the specific person, as it will provide information on sporting clubs, parks, religious institutions, mental health care clinics and other helpful places of interest specific to the area which the user has just moved to. Each challenge and task is tailored with the intention of changing behaviour and establishing habits that are reflective of a healthy and balanced life, both mentally and physically. By conducting this intervention through headspace, regular accountability and interaction can be implemented through the user’s mental health care professional. Feedback and information can be attained by providing users with surveys to complete as they wait to be seen at headspace. By interacting directly with the audience through surveys and face-to-face interaction, further information can be provided on how to improve and adjust The MEN-tal Health Kit for the future. It is hoped that such an intervention will help provide these men with the tools and resources to establish and enact good habits and behaviours and contribute to a healthy approach to mental wellbeing, both now and in the future.

References

Ellis, L., Collin, P., Hurley, P., Davenport, T., Burns, J. & Hickie, I. 2013, ‘Young men’s attitudes and behaviour in relation to mental health and technology: implications for the development of online mental health services’, BMC Psychiatry, 13:119, < https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-244X-13-119 >

Blog8- Draft Design Proposal: Manipulation of activating Pleasure

The process of the mapping exercises has exposed the need for Mental Health to be transformed into a desired appetite for individuals. Dr Russ Harris amplifies the human condition of always wanting and working towards problem solving. He explains the essence of problem solving to be : “A problem means something unwanted. And a solution means avoid or get rid of it”. Problem solving although works extremely successfully in the material world, it does not work for the human mind when an individual is experiencing unpleasant emotions such as pain, sadness and anger. What individuals do in their lives to make it rich full and meaningful is not derived through avoiding or accepting a problem but to embrace it as a whole in the presence of time, focusing on the present and recognizing it head on- not let it entangle their existence.

It takes a specific individual to be self-motivated, proactive and efficient with constant action towards their present occurring types of emotions and situations. These individuals whom actively practice the behavioral construct are usually be more inclined to read the existing self help books, be inspired by motivational talks and aspire to see the lighter spectrum of the darker insitu.

An entity however that most individuals are inclined to move towards is the construct of evoking pleasure. The outcome to a well-rounded practice of mental wellbeing is an individual sense of pleasure from productivity when operating and living within the world of direct experience.
Biologically Dopamine is the chemical that makes up the feeling of pleasure when released in the brain. The pleasure feeling is connected directly to both liking and wanting – tided up to our brain catching the emotional relevance of the feeling needed for a sense of survival, successful procreation and evokes individuals to wake up and pay attention. Dopamine is also released through an expectation or prediction of pleasure, a hard wiring process that we catch the buzz of uncertainty.

The proposal will be structures around the construct of needing to ‘problem solve’ within the world as a direct experience by using the world of language as portal to create a sense of pleasure upon an individual. 41% of 18-25 year olds order a cup of coffee at least once a day either as a portal of survival, the distinct like of the taste or for the sheer social image it emulates. By utilizing the cup itself, an individual can actively engage with either the world as they are directly experiencing it in the present time or the world of language that is thrashing within their cognitive system. Individuals are able to tangibly write down these elements on the cup itself as a portal of actively recognizing to hopefully evoke a sense of pleasure not only from the taste of the coffee but from the active engagement itself. With the disposal of the cup at the end of the beverage, the aim for pleasure is enhanced to hopefully dispose of the negativity and to strive towards mental well-being. The aim for the proposal is to not advocate mental-wellbeing directly, but to eliminate a fraction of a challenge or discomfort through a subtle and indirect solution.

Harris.R, 2013, ACT Mindfully, Victoria Australia, viewed on 20th September 2016, <http://www.actmindfully.com.au&gt;

Voyer, P. 2007, Mind and Pleasure: A neurosemiotic approach to aesthetics, United States of America, viewed on 19th September 2016, <www.neurosemiotics.com/docs/mind_&_pleasure.pdf>

 

 

Post 10: Reflection & Revised Proposition

 

By Louis Johanson

Reflection

The initial draft proposal was as follows. Using a Twitter bot to find and juxtapose the very real symptoms of an OCD disorder with flippant “ tweets ”. Using the term “OCD” in it’s correct context would help others understand not only the diversity of the disorder but acknowledge its seriousness and complexity. This initiative targets two people, the victims and the perpetrator.

After pitching the draft proposal to a number of my peers I was given a broad range of constructive criticism. The session provided me with an array of valuable insights. The reach, effectiveness and longevity of the proposal were the key areas of critique.

Being limited to one social media channel, the proposal would fall short in reaching a wider audience. My peers noted the effectiveness of using juxtaposition. They stated the use of juxtaposition was a great way of putting a problem in perspective. My peers questioned whether the idea may fall short without the aid of visuals.

The session allowed areas of uncertainty surrounding the project to be examined and critiqued providing a more holistic route to explore for a successful design solution.

Design Proposition

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Project

Title: “Semantic mutation”

Type

Generative design 

Issue

How do we prevent the severity of OCD being diluted by semantic satiation. I wish to address the semantics surrounding mental health more specifically OCD. OCD has become synonymous with words such as neat, tidy and organised. Words that are usually have a positive association. Confusion arises with thinking OCD is a quirky personality trait or a preference. Due to this, the perception of its severity has been diluted. As the disconnect between language and its symptoms widen, stigma increases. This is coupled with the stigma associated with mental illness in general . Without visibly apparent symptoms mental illness is often seen as secondary to a physical illness.

The misrepresentation of OCD is largely due to a concept called “semantic satiation”.This is a phenomenon whereby the uninterrupted repetition of a word eventually leads to a sense that the word has lost it’s meaning. This is what has happened in the way we talk about OCD as we see evidence of this across a wide array of social channels. Tweets include “I’m so OCD”, “the weather is so bipolar” and “I’m so depressed right now”. The context that surrounds this is always a mundane issue or situation. These undermine the term’s meaning; normalising the illness. Use of hyperbole 

Design Proposition

Show how we have become desensitised. Expose how language has mutated. Show how semantic satiation has changed our perception. Close the disconnect between language and the perception of the severity of OCD’s symptom. Take the form of a generative installation.

Taking a similar therapeutic approach in the way you change OCD behaviour to help alleviate semantic satiation. Borrow from cognitive behavioural therapy and exposure therapy. Print collateral will support. The outcome is a digital response in a physical space.