Week Four - To app or not to app?
Advised to reconsider the feasibility of our design, we reflected on which elements of the original idea could still be implemented. Thinking of the available modern technology we considered the amounts of data collected about us through our mobile devices on a daily basis. This data may serve as a proxy for brain activity, if we can make it more legible and accessible to people.
One early concept we considered was a matching tool to facilitate connection between individuals who display mutual interest in each other. However, we immediately noted this could be a breeding ground for unwanted attention and harassment, particularly towards women. Criado-Perez (2019) highlights how male-centred design often overlooks women’s safety. Acknowledging this, we pivoted away from an interpersonal mechanism to one that instead looks inwards and focuses on self-reflection.
We wanted to use the Tube as the backdrop of beautiful daily moments of all kinds, not just romantic love, and began developing a concept of reflective digital memory that ties into the physical world by integrating a transformation of the digital into a tangible keepsake.
Our prototype app captures a snapshot of the digital data during a meaningful moment. However, we felt like the result we created lacked the emotional resonance of the experience it draws inspiration from.
Additionally, the mechanism of the physical ticket exchange felt clunky and detached from the rest of the process.
↑ Brainstorming a matching device. It felt too similar to things that already exist and risky when it comes to possible unwanted attention from strangers (photo credit: ChatGPT).
↑ Our app idea’s main flow summarised.
↑ I suggsted using the Underground advertising space to inspire people to be more observant.
↑ Mid-Fidelity interactive Figma Prototype
Criado-Perez’s criticism on male-centred design would be echoed by Lorde’s (1984) argument. Tools shaped by Patriarchal, White, Cisnormative systems cannot meaningfully challenge those same systems. Designing using tools of the existing paradigm won’t bring about any meaningful change. Therefore, designing yet another app for people to sink into whilst sitting silently on the Tube felt mismatched to our goal for this project. This made us reconsider the role of technology in this design altogether. Decentering it, and shifting our focus towards the tactile, physical element, felt like the right path forward.
During our midpoint presentations, our external partner from Kinda Studios clarified that we aren’t expected to directly measure brain activity. Instead, we should focus on making those moments more sensory externally. They also mentioned that synchronised movement, such as riding the Tube together with other people, releases Oxytocin in the brain. Though we had no doubt of this, academic research backs this claim (Berceanu et al, 2020), reinforcing the idea that the Tube is a fertile ground for feel-good brain chemicals.
References:
Berceanu, A.I, Boldasu, R., Carcea, I., Froemke, R. C., Nedelcea, C., Papasteri, C.C., Pistol, C.A.D., Poalelungi, C., Podina, I.R, Sofonea, A., Tomescu, M.I., Vasilescu, R.I. (2020) ‘Social feedback during sensorimotor synchronization changes salivary oxytocin and behavioral states’, Frontiers in Psychology, 11 doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.531046.
Criado Perez, C. (2019) Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men. Vintage Books.
Lorde, A. (1984) ‘The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House’. Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches. Berkeley, CA: Crossing Press. pp. 110-114.