Problem
For the final project, our team will be working on promoting social connectedness of young adults.
Due to the recent COVID-19 outbreak, the social environment has changed by a great deal. With the quarantine and social-distancing policies, messaging through social media and setting up video calls have become almost the only ways of socializing among the young generation. Without face-to-face interaction, students are now facing greater challenges to stay connected with their peers. According to the survey, our team has performed, 90.7% of the volunteers admit that they feel socially disconnected, especially to their friends. The solution to this problem is, therefore, worth investigation.
To solve this problem, we aim to visualise how much time the user has spent messaging or calling their friends on a daily basis. We hope that the project could draw attention to the importance of staying socially connected, active, and mentally healthy during the period of a global pandemic.
Discover
In the first week of our designing process, each member of our team used their own approach and technique to investigate the cause of the problem.
Survey
The purpose of the survey was to investigate the extent to which the students’ social connectedness has been affected by the recent COVID-19 outbreak. It is also designed to find out the group or community to which students have the biggest difficulties to connect.
A total of 43 individuals have completed the survey and the majority are within the year range of 18~25, making the information relevant to the age group that we are designing for. As shown in the result, more than 90% of the volunteers are feeling socially disconnected. In addition, 64% of them feel that the lack of social connectedness has affected other parts of their lives such as working, studying and so on, confirming the significance of the problem.
Regarding identity, 94% of the students feel most disconnected to their friends compared to their families and coworkers. This lies the base stone of our research and sets a clear goal that we will be designed to enhance the connection between students and their peers.
Interview A Representative
Team goal: I used an interview approach to research Promoting social connectedness.
Interviewee: Lawrence
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Occupation: A college student
Hobbies: Sports, watch movies
Results:
According to file results, he thinks that social activities in college are very abundant. He met sane friends through some entertainment. However, compared with face-to-face social activities, he is more relaxed on the Internet. Use social software, like We Chat or Facebook.
The most direct example is that in this coronavirus pneumonia, people can't run away from home, so he uses such social software for daily communication., and even uses some video software for social communication, just like Tiktok.
He found that by watching and publishing the videos, he could also socialize with others. Social interaction has become diverse.
User Diary
User:
I recorded the diaries from one of my friends who is currently studying at a university in China.
Process:
I used a unique way to observe her life. After getting her permission, I checked the 'SCREEN TIME' for one week on her mobile phone. She has always been very addicted to her phone, so the record of screen time clearly showed how she distributes her time each day.
WeChat accounted for the largest proportion, taking three hours a day on average. Weibo also accounted for a high proportion. They are both social media apps in China.
Conclusion:
Nowadays, most Chinese college students live in dorms. If they are not local students, they rarely go home during the semester. However, some parents may visit the city where their children live to meet up with them.
The distance easily makes people less connected so that the common method of communication between students and parents is chatting on the Internet or making phone calls.
Communication technologies are advanced today. People are able to use smartphones and 5G networks to achieve real-time communication. Social media is among the most frequently used mobile phone apps. For example, people used Wechat in China to connect with friends, families, classmates or colleagues. Video calls are helpful and could be used for group chat. Friends who do not communicate frequently can also contact through liking the posted photos. On the other hand, Weibo is another mainstream chinese social media that’s different from Wechat. People can post different information on their homepage that will be shown to unknown people.
Secondary research
Visually Visualization:
Percentage of people in New York City feeling not socially connected due to COVID-19 social distancing measures as of March 29, 2020. [1]
Note. This bar chart shows the percentage of New Yorkers feeling socially disconnected because of COVID-19 in March 2020. From Statista, by CUNY (Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy); Emerson College Polling, March 2020 (https://www.statista.com/statistics/1109747/new-york-city-social-disconnectedness-due-to-covid-us/). Copyright 2020 by Statista. Reprinted with permission.
Share of social media users in the United States who believe they will use select social media more if confined at home due to the coronavirus as of March 2020. [2]
Note. This figure shows the percentage of U.S. social media usage rise or fall because of the COVID-19 in March 2020. From Statista, by Lzea, March 2020 (https://www.statista.com/statistics/1106343/social-usage-increase-due-to-coronavirus-home-usa/). Copyright 2020 by Lzea. Reprinted with permission.
According to Figure 3, we find that as the coronavirus becomes more and more serious, there are more and more people feeling disconnected from society. Since the government stipulates that people cannot go out, people cannot communicate face-to-face. People need to use social media to communicate. This makes people feel they are not socially connected. Meanwhile, people believe that the use of social media will rise. For example, in Figure 5, most people believe that social software usage will increase. For example, 63.7% of people believe that the use of YouTube will increase. There are also 9.8% of people on twitch who believe its usage will rise. Only a few people feel that the use of social software will decline. People can't go out to play casually because of the COVID-19. Therefore, the utilization rate of social media will improve. Based on the information obtained in Figure 3 and Figure 4, we are more convinced that the coronavirus has an enormous impact on people's social interaction.
Physically Visualization:
Garden of Eden, 2007.[3]
Note. Source: (List of Physical Visualizations and Related Artifacts, 2017).
This is a Garden of Eden. Each lettuce is put in its own box, representing a city. Each city's pollution situation is reflected by its own changes. And the products we want to design also reflect the communication between people through the growth of flowers placed in the flowerpot.
Date Cuisine, 2012.[4]
Note . Source: (List of Physical Visualizations and Related Artifacts, 2014).
This is an interesting method of physical visualization. It uses date cuisine to represent a map. And the product we are going to design is similar to the approach it takes.
Wable: Web Behavior Shown with a Dynamic Bar Chart, 2007.[5]
Note . Source: (List of Physical Visualizations and Related Artifacts, 2012).
This is a dynamic bar chart that shows a person's online activities. And our products are inspired by it. We kept its original features and replaced its shape with flowers.
Define
In week two, our team focused on analyzing the data we have gathered and defining the solution that we would like to go further with.
Empathy Map
Scenarios
After discussing with the team members, I decided to draw a scenario with the coronavirus as the background. Mei Mei is the protagonist of this story. Due to the COVID-19, Mei Mei could not hang out with friends. After staying at home for a long time, Mei Mei's mental state became very poor. Andy is Mei Mei's best friend. She was very worried about Mei Mei's condition. So Andy introduced an app that can plant flowers online with friends. In this app, the more people chat, the more nutrients they gain. Thus, Meimei began to plant her flowers. In the process of chatting with friends, Mei Mei became more and more cheerful. Finally, Meimei's flowers grew up.
Design Argument (or challenge)
Personas
Journey Mapping
Develop
Brainstorming
Based on the research our team has done above, we proceeded to the brainstorming process. We created a shared document and each shared our thoughts. Most of our thoughts are centred around the idea of using plants to represent connectedness.
Evaluation of beat ideas
My aim:
To evaluate the prototype and feedback as much as possible.
Direction:
How the user feels about it
How the use of experience is
Interviewees: mainly college students
Result:
The first feeling is very attractive
Easy to use
More practical
Rapid Prototyping
The justification
The theme of our project is to promote social connection, and our idea is to design a product to enhance communication between people. Compared with traditional SMS and some social software, what we want to design is a new app. Before we design the product, we have some ideas about the model. We have considered flowers, water balloons, bar charts, hourglasses or robots and so on. In the end, we chose the combination of flower and bar chart. The first reason is that flowers have growth, which can well reflect the relationship between people. Through its growth and withering to reflect the situation. The second reason is that the original vivid flowers are matched with pixel style columns, so the products are very creative and easy to attract more users. When we design the model, we consider that different people have different choices. So we designed three types and three colors for people to choose from. If the users have needs in the future, we will keep updating.
Deliver
Visual Prototype
Look and feel
Sketch
Prototype
Lifting device
Prototype 1
Before using Fusion 360 for prototyping, I built flower prototypes in Block Craft 3D (Figure 16). Then, we can use flower models to better build prototypes.
Multiple Views
Prototype 1
Prototype 2
Context of use
Interaction
Low-fi Prototype: Storyboard
Flowery App
The Flowery app is a multi-functional social software. Users can chat, write a post and thumb up your friend’s comment in the app, etc. Meanwhile, the app can be connected to Bluetooth with the flower. The intimacy between users and friends can be recorded in the app. This also determines the height of the flower. In the design of the app, I mainly used light blue and green as the main colours, and embellished them with light pink. The app will give people a fresh feeling.
Making Prototype
Specification details
Major design decisions
After discussion among our team members, we unanimously decided to make new social software and combine it with Flowers.
The name of the software is Flowery. Unlike traditional social software, in addition to basic functions such as chat and publishing, this software can count the amount of information between users and then calculate the degree of intimacy between users. In addition, the user can connect to the flower device through a simple Bluetooth function. At the same time, the function of the software is easy to understand, which ensures that most users can easily use it. The software mainly uses light blue and green as the main tone, uses light pink and yellow to embellish the whole software, and the style is fresh. The use of blue and green can also reduce its damage to the eyes. We believe that users will have a good experience in the process of using the software.
The flowerpot of the flower is designed to use a lifting device, which can be controlled manually or by mobile phone. The lifting device has a Bluetooth function, it can be connected to the software, and then adjust the height of the flowers through the data calculated by the software. The height of the flowers can directly reflect the relationship between users, thus reminding users to strengthen their connection with friends. Nowadays, pixel-style games are very popular with young people. We use pixel elements in the design of the flower, which can attract more customers to use it. At the same time, even if the flowers are not connected to the software, the flowers can decorate the room very well.
In the use of flower materials, we decided to use SLA photosensitive resin as a material for 3D printing. Because SLA photosensitive resin has strong plasticity and low cost, it is a general 3D printing material in the market.
Dimensions
3D print-ready model
Materials
Functionality
Device Introduction
There is a lifting device in the device, which is driven by the motor. When the mobile phone or the remote receives the command, the motor moves, rises or falls. The feedback signal is sent to the control device through the limit switch. Then, the motor output is stopped, and the lifting action is completed
Installation Process
Video
Conclusion
This is a new social application. It abandons the traditional concept and has a unique design style. No longer like the traditional SMS can only send information, but in the appearance and function of its unique insights.
In the design mode, the combination of flowers and bar charts is adopted, and the overall mosaic style is adopted to decorate the appearance. So that it has a new concept in appearance, which can attract people's attention. Considering the style of mosaic, when we first designed it, we thought we could use some game software to sketch, such as my world and so on.
Secondly, in the function of daily communication, we have another way to express this function, which is to reflect the communication between people through the change of pattern. For example, if people communicate more frequently and the quality of communication becomes higher, the flowers will grow higher. On the contrary, the flowers will gradually wither and become shorter.
If there is new social software just like Flowery, people can break the boring normal life. On the other hand, they can play the purpose of entertainment. Even in a long period of time, it will gradually be accepted by people, and then it will rank top in the social application ranking. This is also our desire as a design team.
References
CUNY (Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy); Emerson College Polling. (2020). Statista. Percentage of people in New York City feeling not socially connected due to COVID-19 social distancing measures as of March 29, 2020. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1109747/new-york-city-social-disconnectedness-due-to-covid-us/
Lzea. (2020). Share of social media users in the United States who believe they will use select social media more if confined at home due to the coronavirus as of March 2020. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1106343/social-usage-increase-due-to-coronavirus-home-usa/
Moritz Stefaner, Prozessagenten (2012). Data Cuisine [Online image]. List of Physical Visualizations and Related Artifacts. http://dataphys.org/list/data-cuisine/
Physical Interaction Lab (2007).Wable: Web Behavior Shown with a Dynamic Bar Chart [Online image]. List of Physical Visualizations and Related Artifacts. http://dataphys.org/list/wable-visualize-web-behavior-as-a-physical-bar-chart/
Thorsten Kiesl, Harald Moser, Timm-Oliver Wilks (2007). Garden of Eden [Online image]. List of Physical Visualizations and Related Artifacts. http://dataphys.org/list/garden-of-eden/
The dimensions of the lifting device, (2020). [Online image]. Taobao.https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z09.2.0.0.45452e8dtU3Dn6&id=556839567992&_u=a1ntuj0acf86
Appendix
Group Participation Form
Script
Link to Trello
Link to video of the final prototype
Link to Google Doc
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