The ship of Thesis
Framing your design challenge and next steps
Frame your Design Question
After the end of week 1, I picked some speed in the process because I finally managed to master brainstorming alone and virtually. Talking to people and discussing about my topic helped me make a few decisions and now when I look back, it’s beginning to make sense. So I sat down to refine the process and decided to frame the design challenge because I believe it will keep the direction intact and constantly remind me where I need to go from here.
So, what is the problem you are trying to solve?
Thyroid disorders have been increasing the last few years. Most women in the world are prone to this than men but surprisingly, there is not much information or awareness about the thyroid issues. Specially, women in their prime, reproductive age who are diagnosed, find it tremendously difficult to cope with the other issues such as Mood Changes, weight changes, decreased libido, fertility, etc. that accompany. I would like to design a method to allow women take care of their thyroid health and take precautions to avoid thyroid issues.
Good. Let’s get to some tough questions now.
+Frame it as a design question.
How can I engage women who are unaware about their thyroid functioning to check their thyroid health often to live a healthy life?
+Now state the ultimate impact you’re trying to have.
I would like to create a interactive method for women to be aware of their thyroid issue, whether to prevent it or cope with it. Thyroid issues are increasing in women today and it takes a physical and psychological toll on the woman in case of diagnosis. I would like to create awareness, allow them to keep in check of their thyroid health and engage in solutions to follow a healthy living.
+What are some possible solutions to your problem? (Think broadly. It’s fine to start a project with a hunch or two, but make sure you allow for surprising outcomes.)
This was tricky. But I imagined possible solutions that could be created in the future. Basically I went Fairytale-ish, sci-fi a little, but played along.
Okay. Let’s see where this is going.
+Finally, write down some of the context and constraints that you’re facing.
Context — Urban, In their prime fertile age, who are conscious of their health, allow new technology to guide them to healthy living.
(Reasons: Young women would be alarmed when they are diagnosed and would look for advice, information on the internet, ask friends or consult experts to deal with this. They would also be keen on being aware about the issues and methods to cope with them)
Constraint — Geographical and Population : Do I specifically choose women from a location for this challenge? Or can it be global? Since I am in Switzerland, it would make sense to focus on women here. However, I do have a lot of friends in India that can contribute to the interviews and could be potential users of the outcome of the project.
+Does your original question need a tweak? Try it again.
I think it does. But what was wrong with the first question?
How can I engage women who are unaware about their thyroid functioning to check their thyroid health often, to live a healthy life?
Is the question focused on ultimate impact?
Yes. It directly talks about living a healthy life while preventing or coping with thyroid issues.
Does the question allow for a variety of solutions?
Perhaps. But it seems to go in the direction of enlightening the women about such issues. However, the idea is to allow women to take control of their thyroid health.
Does the question take into account context and constraints?
No, in fact, this makes women seem ignorant about thyroid issues and pushy about making them monitor their levels often in the name of “staying healthy”. It has got to be smarter and accurate.
So I went back to rephrase the question.
How might we engage young women to take control of their thyroid health?
Is the question focused on ultimate impact?
Yes. The ultimate impact being every young woman knows about her thyroid health to remain healthy.
Does the question allow for a variety of solutions?
Yes, I think the brainstormed ideas seem to fit into this criteria. Also, I am able to think of more as I type this because it feels open to a lot of other unconventional means of approaching this issue.
Does the question take into account context and constraints?
Spot on with the context, I feel. Actually, it remains open to the constraints as well since we haven’t decided on the geographical location as yet.
Collecting Thoughts
That was really tough and fun. I began to understand how intentional this is getting. Some of the questions push you to arrive at places in the process where crucial decisions can be made. These decisions seem to bring a clarity in the challenge, a purpose for the process. I believe these intentional changes are going to be the foundation of this project. I am quite happy with the framing of the design challenge. It would help me look back to it, like a mantra, when I having some grey clouds during the process.
An important update:
I wrote to Zoe Romano (the co-founder of www.wemake.cc and also works at Arduino.cc in Digital Strategy and Wearables) about my project idea. It was important to gain a perspective over this topic because I would like some expert advice on the direction of the project and I would like to know how another woman feels about this topic? Does she find it interesting, useful, relevant?
Luckily, Zoe wrote to me today at noon and said she found it “interesting especially the fact of working on care issues.” But she also made some valid points on wearable tech and its involvement in our lives today.
Some of the points raised were:
- Critical side of the discourse seeing wearables as a new modality to surveillance and control of population.
- People abandoning wearables after purchasing them, within a span of 6 months.
Zoe suggested to narrow the frame on thyroid problems. And she got my brain ticking when she asked,
“ It would be better to understand in advance what type of data you want to measure and how it is connected. I don’t see a straight connection because it mostly comes from lack of iodine in food. Do you have a clear idea on what you want to measure and correlate?”
Some References she also shared were an article on consumers abandoning devices and a paper on wearable technology that Zoe and Serena wrote.
Meanwhile, I have been planning my research steps. Although, I need to narrow on the frame of thyroid issues, I am actively looking for projects on health, women care, interactive methods to raise awareness, start a dialogue on women’s health, etc.
I did find one very interesting project that I must share with you guys.
The Artificial Biological Clock by Revital Cohen acts as a reminder of the fragility of fertility. The object identifies when a woman is physically, mentally and financially ready to conceive.
Interaction: The Artificial Biological Clock assists women in remembering the ideal time to have a baby. Each month a white ball drops from the machine, completing a metaphorical menstrual cycle and presenting a reminder of the irreversible nature of time. But as well as providing a visual representation of one’s biological clock, the device is electronically connected to your bank, your therapist and your doctor. When feedback from all three is deemed to be optimal, the machine lets you know that now is a good time. “It’s not very complicated,” says Cohen.
“It’s just another internet service really.” And the notification doesn’t come kicking and screaming, the machine simply releases a bubble, demonstrating both the ephemeral state of fertility and the concept of the “perfect time”.
#1 Presentation with the jury:
Next Steps: Find a narrow issue to focus on and compile the research audience for the project.
Creative Process instructions by Ideo.org & +Acumen’s Design Kit for Human Centered Design.
