LONELINESS WEEK 06 | Macro UX

11/02/21–25/03/21 (6 weeks)

📃Brief: Design a way to mitigate the effects of loneliness.

🤝Group Members: Damul Yang, Huijie Xiong (Rikkie), Maria Carolina Séves, Sue An, Yiwei Han (David).

👁‍🗨External Partner: R/GA — Zoha Zoya, Matt Chokshi.

Inspiration Left: Sculpture by Being Human; Right: Loneliness by Hans Thoma.

The animated slogan of our idea: I AM IN, VISIBLE (Made by David).

The slogan conveys two main metaphors: “I” can refer to lonely person, who are invisible, but through the intervention of others they will be seen and full of care and positive; “I” can also refer to loneliness itself, which is invisible, but through open activities, it will be seen by more people.

Prototyping

Instagram stories: posting stories of loneliness to warm up for the event (Made by Maria).

Selection of materials (Courtesy of Damul & David).

After negotiating the details of the final proposal, we started to divide the work: Maria was responsible for the operation of Instagram; Rikkie and I would do the final high-fidelity mannequins (with Sue as the model); and Damul would create the final posters and instructions. Of course, everyone would continue to discuss and help each other.

Making Final Model (Courtesy of Damul & David).

Model and poster production completed (Courtesy of Damul & David).

<I’m In, visible> Touring

Touring Preparation (Edited by Sue).

Counting Data (Courtesy of David).

This is an incredible experience. We succeeded in attracting the attention of pedestrians, not only young people, but also old people and children. The clear introduction and simple interaction greatly increased their participation rate. We can directly observe the smile and joy of each participant after throwing the ball, and this behavior and positive will affect and infect the surrounding people. Damul also randomly interviewed several young participants and found that there is a unique reason behind each person’s choice based on their unique lonely experience and insights. The role of this project is far more than just drawing the public’s attention to loneliness, but creating a sharing platform that connects the entire community. This platform will stimulate contagious discussions and reflections. Loneliness should not be confronted by one person, but by the entire community, city and society. We mainly went to two locations, Tate Modern and Trafalgar Square, and recorded the whole journey with two cameras.

Final Outcome Video (Edited by Sue).

Result — Looking forward to our next meeting

Final data result: Courage is the “winner” of that day (Made by Group).

To be shared, to spread and to be expected (Made by Group).

In the presentation, we demonstrated our final design and results. The professor called our work a perfect escape from solutionism. R/GA partners and students appreciate this project. However, Zoha suggested that we should consider more the factors of the epidemic and ensure the safety of participants. She also suggested that we could consider the development of a digital version of this plan. In general, the six-week design journey is very fruitful and thought-provoking. I think this project has great potential to continue to develop and improve. Because there are still people looking forward to it, then the story of brave sharing, creative expression, and love to mitigating loneliness is worth praising and continuing.

🎬Post-credits scene

Loneliness is everywhere and nowhere (Courtesy of David).

Being asked to leave Trafalgar Square (Courtesy of David).

Ending (Courtesy of David).