Prototype development: Part 3 (Report)
Introduction
“You are addicted to your phone” is a project focused on the exploration of the provocative assumption that people are attached to their devices resulting on the development of a prototype for an installation themed around the topic, whilst using a speculative design approach (Dunne & Raby, 2013). The report describes the research process and how the prototype development is informed by it.
Research and Ideation
From an initial brainstorm session, ideas (Appendix A.2) were generated on what topics the prototype could focus on. The process of removing ideas contributed towards adding a focus to the project, leading to thematic research as our next step.
The knowledge and information expanded an array of ideas on topics covering digital dependency, trans-humanism, environmental and sustainability issues as well as education and the digital divide. As questions arose around the relationship people have with technology, specifically personal portable devices, these led the group to narrow down the scope to this topic.
The relationships people have with their smartphones is observed from a multitude of perspectives, part of our literature review. One could be that there’s the assumption technology could solve all problems of humanity (Bridle, 2018), adding a feeling of certainty. Another could be that technology is actually making us too productive and focused on work (Nethercutt, 2019), actively choosing to abandon activities that benefit our mental health (Yuan et al., 2011). Finally, the possibility that people could be addicted to interacting with these devices to some extent, as on average we tend to spend over four hours a day using a smartphone (Anon, 2017).
Smartphones have become an important item to own for streamlining communication, payments, documentation, navigation, and other tasks with the option of continually improving how these are performed for increasing productivity. As a result, the project developed a strong focus on the exploration of the statement “You are addicted to your phone”, posed as an assumption to the public which is then compared with their responses and processed to generate findings through speculative means.
Our quantitative research on the relationship people have with their phones, shows that most people interviewed believe they use their phones for longer than necessary (Appendix B.1). Furthermore, it has shown that notification engagement depends on their content and what they prompt people to do. People find it annoying that they have to connect to Wi-Fi all the time and are afraid of breaking the screen of their smartphones. Finally, that there’s an assumption that smartphones play a key role in our lives and it becomes much harder to live in current times without one.
Prototype Development
The group has proposed the creation of an interactive installation space that explores the assumption that everyone is addicted to their phones by collecting responses to questions and statements and then compiling them and comparing current participant choices with ones that previously used the artifact. This will then form a body of data with insights on phone addiction and the wider relationship with smartphones when looked at from a speculative approach.
Despite different levels of design being applied to the artifact, it mostly focuses on finding new information or questions through the assumption that was put forward rather than using design as a direct attempt of solving issues or improving processes.
As the final artifact would have required a large space, projectors, and specific equipment in order to collect interactions (Fig 1.), the prototype produced aims to show how the artifact will look and feel (Houde & Hill, 1997).
This was achieved by applying a role-play scenario placing a fictitious participant using the interactive room and answering questions (fig 2). The constraint of finding a suitable space to develop the prototype on a 1:1 scale was overcome by using a green screen and placing motion graphics representing the interactions and animations in post production. This has resulted in a prototype in the form of a video (Appendix A.3) which demonstrates the intention of the project and the final artifact.
Conclusion
The medium chosen to document prototypes is paramount in conveying the aspects that it is testing. It can also reduce the need of expensive or hard to access resources, such as, large spaces with specific characteristics. This prototype focused much more on the system and the experience of participants when interacting with it, which seemed to be conveyed clearly using video.
References
- Nethercutt, Z. (2019) We’re Optimizing Ourselves to Death. Medium [online] 20 February. Available from: https://medium.com/s/buy-yourself/were-optimizing-ourselves-to-death-d41a3e7cc25a [Accessed 03rd March 2019].
- Bridle, J. (2018). New dark age: technology, knowledge and the end of the future. 1st ed. London: Verso.
- Anon, Hacker Noon. (2017). How Much Time Do People Spend on Their Mobile Phones in 2017?. [online] Available at: https://hackernoon.com/how-much-time-do-people-spend-on-their-mobile-phones-in-2017-e5f90a0b10a6 [Accessed 8 Feb. 2019].
- Houde, S. & Hill, C. (1997) What do Prototypes Prototype?. Handbook of Human-Computer Interaction. pp. 2–5. [Accessed 11 March 2019].
- Dunne, A. & Raby, F. (2013) Speculative everything : design, fiction, and social dreaming. 1st edition. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
- Yuan, K., Qin, W., Wang, G., Zeng, F., Zhao, L., Yang, X., Liu, P., Liu, J., Sun, J., von Deneen, K., Gong, Q., Liu, Y. & Tian, J. (2011) Microstructure Abnormalities in Adolescents with Internet Addiction Disorder. PLoS ONE. 6 (6), pp. e20708. [Accessed 8 February 2018].
Appendix
A.1 Online Journal
https://medium.com/luckyllama/
A.2 Inspiration and Ideas related to society and technology.
https://medium.com/luckyllama/inspiration-and-ideas-related-to-society-and-technology-72535e2f18a0
A.3 Prototype Video
B.1 Interaction Design Interviews
1. What is your relationship like with your phone? Do you think you use it too much or moderately?
Some said they use their phone moderately and would be fine about leaving it alone for a weekend or few days so aren’t too attached. Most said that they think they use their phone too much.
2. What is the first thing you see/look at when you turn your phone on?
Look at turning on WIFI settings, text messages, and all interviewees mentioned some form of social media (Messenger, Twitter, Snapchat, Reddit).
3. How do you usually deal with notifications, do you instantly check your phone when you get the notification?
Most said that they look at their notifications on their screen but don’t necessarily open them straight away, depends who it is and what it is about. However, they pick up their phones almost straight away because they know the notification is there and needs dealing with — out of habit. Most interviewees agree that it is annoying to have too many notifications, particularly group chats.
4. How long do you think you spend on your phone?
A couple of people said 1–2hrs, two people said 2–3hrs, and another couple of people said 3–4hrs. Interestingly, when they looked at how long they actually spend on their phone it was significantly higher than what they predicted. Two interviewees who estimated 3–4hrs actually had an average screen time of 6hrs a day, and they were aware that this is too much.
5. Are you aware of how much you use your phone, do you have any apps that help you to use your phone less?
One person said that they aren’t aware of how much they use their phone and don’t use any apps to monitor this, but they do know about these kind of apps.
However, most people said they are aware of how much time spent on their phones and know about iPhone and social media settings that can stop you from using your phone or the Internet for a certain period of time. One person said that they have a screen lock setting on their phone, but they don’t like using it because it’s annoying and doesn’t stop him from wanting to check his phone. Another interviewee does use time limits on social media to use Instagram less. Overall, people are aware of spending time but don’t tend to use any monitoring apps regularly.
6. What is the most annoying thing about your phone?
• A couple of people said having to connect to WIFI
• Afraid of breaking the screen
• Battery usage
7. What do you spend the most time doing on your phone and why?
All interviewees said that they spend the most time on social media apps because they can communicate with friends. They rely on their phones too much and that it is necessary in society nowadays to have a phone because it can do so many different tasks for you, for example, one person doesn’t carry cash at all anymore and is completely reliant on his phone for things like paying for bus tickets.
