I am in, Visible — W6
Designers | Damul Yang • David Han • Maria C • Rikkie • Sue Heeyeon An
External Partner | R/GA
Brief | Design a way to mitigate the effects of loneliness
Development
After the feedback from peers we have decided to scope the journey of the experience again carefully. As I wanted to improve the aspect of storytelling which creates lack of engagement for the experience, I suggested an idea to have the experience in two different platforms which were online and offline, digital and physical (fig 1). Using Instagram to introduce a personal story of loneliness, then to bring it into the physical world, as one story. Specifically, a person lives in this digital world sharing their own stories of loneliness experience then with the help of the invisible figure he/she would later on move outdoors and listen to others’ suggestions and advice. I believed this way would enhance the storytelling aspect of the experience. Also, taking the feedbacks from last presentation we decided to make it as a travelling event where figure, the lonely human appears in the public every month. For the values of the coloured balls - love, creativity, courage and writing option. Calling friends and video calls are acts of love, and getting a new hobby, a creative act. Additionally, ‘write your own’ option which allows people to share their personal advices. Having only one week left we together planned out the schedule in order to finish the project within the deadline (fig 2).
Fig 1. Digital and Physical. Image by Sue, Damul and Maria C.
Fig 2. Scheduling. Image by group
Prototyping
At first, we gathered ideas for materials in order to build the mid fidelity prototype and discussed whether it is suitable, considering stability, durability and visibility. After the discussion we decided to use tapes and cling films since it was the best option we could get in time. The quality of the prototype came out nicely then I expected, it was stable enough to hold the balls and the transparency which I worried the most was also good.
Fig 3. Figure Making Process. Filmed by David and Edited by Sue.
Fig 4. Figure Making Process. Image(s) by Sue.
Fig 5. Instructions and Stories. Image(s) by Damul.
Fig 6. IG account and Stories. Image(s) by Damul.
Outdoor
We divided the tasks equally within the group and my main task was to film the experience and interviews that happened in two different locations - Nearby Tate Modern and Trafalgar Square. The reason behind selecting a crowded area was to show the narrative of an invisible figure, feeling alone in the crowd.
Fig 7. Two Location Set up. Image(s) by Sue
Vid 1. Set Up. Filmed and Edited by Sue
Result
I would like to say the experience was very successful having approximately 100 people interacting which is an amazing progress comparing to the previous test with the transparent board last week. Moreover, personally the result of the collected data was very interesting. The colour blue, courage was dominant and the least was creativity, unexpected. This made me see the different reality from my previous readings. Also during the interview, we noticed people were reflecting their own stories of loneliness during the experience. Furthermore, people were very pleased to be involved in the experience asking about the next location on Instagram.
Vid 2. I am in, Visible. Filmed and Edited by Sue
Fig 8. Result. Image by group
Fig 9. I am in, Visible Results. Image(s) by Sue.
Fig 10. Instagram Shares and Engagements. Image(s) by Sue and Damul.
Final Presentation
In general, the partners from R/GA really appreciated the humane aspect of the concept. Matthew Choksi and Zoha Zoya thought the storytelling was well structured and clear. They loved how we reframed the idea in both the physical and digital world and also the creative concept of the twist, invisible to visible. One of the improvements they suggested was maybe we could have developed the digital area to allow people to have a taster of the experience. Zoha Zoya pointed out as designers have had taken COVID-19 safeties and restrictions (2m distance and touching same objects) into consideration carefully which is the world we live in now and is the design challenges what all design industries are working with.
Vid 2. Final Presentation. Edited by Sue
Reflection
It was a very challenging 6 weeks! I’m impressed with our works how we externalised such a complex emotion, loneliness and built an experience that gathered people together. Even though there were struggles in between it was a great opportunity to explore diverse areas and learn from it. What I loved the most about past 6 weeks was how we went outside and tested with actual people. This allowed us to see new design opportunities and challenges which helped us developed our project even more. Long story short, We made it weird and made it real!
