The following writing is a summary of the 'Time Well Spent' research project.
The project Time Well Spent looks at facilitating activities by meaningfully minimising excessive recreational screen use through Humansic Design interventions. Humansic Design aims to harmonise and enhance the intrinsic human needs to enable them to function well and thrive better. Social and in-bed settings were chosen as premises for the development and testing of approaches to enhance positive screen habits and make meaningful improvements in well-being.
I N T R O D U C T I O N
- Excessive recreational screen use (ERSU) disrupts health and well-being (Cigna).
- Studies showed that ERSU is displacing beneficial activities, causing an increasing risk of physical, mental and societal problems (AIA, Lin et al, Mohammed et al).
- Despite available interventions to encourage mindful screen use, there were still reports on the impact of ERSU on various health domains. 82% of Singaporeans still used their phones in bed against experts’ recommendations (CNA).
C O N C E R N
ERSU is impacting the state of individual and societal flourishing, a lack of mindful screen use may be restraining human potential and growth.
P U R P O S E O F P R O J E C T
Ease ERSU and enable more meaningful activities for user to function well/better for self-actualisation / flourishing.
P R O J E C T O B J E C T I V E
Explore less intrusive and motivating approaches to facilitate mindful recreational screen use positively. Approaches should help users to ease ERSU meaningfully or in meaningful ways that are useful for their wellness/well-being.
D E S I G N S T R A T E G Y
To better motivate an user, each design intervention aims to address, harmonise and enhance the following Humansic (human+intrinsic) needs :
- Emotional needs (Pleasure)
- Core needs (Health)
- Personal Significance Needs (Capabilities)
These interventions are termed as Humansic Design. Human-first is the core value of Humansic Design. It considers human sensitivities and human capabilities at the forefront.
H Y P O T H E S I S
- Humansic Design can facilitate the process of user minimising ERSU meaningfully.
- Humansic Design can encourage mindfulness and sensitivity while fulfilling user’s emotional needs.
- Humansic Design Interventions can serve as antidotes, encouraging users to take care of their core needs while finding meaning in the purpose of screen-time activities.
H U M A N S I C D E S I G N D N A
Comprises of 7 themes/approaches: (a) Design for Human Sensitivities & Capabilities (Humane Tech), (b) Design for Pleasure (Jordan), (c) Design for Subsistence, (d) Design for Meaningfulness, (e) Design for Reinforcement (The Transtheoretical Model), (f) Design Sensibilities, (g) Collaborative Design.
P R E M I S E S T O D E V E L O P , T E S T A N D E V A L U A T E
H U M A N S I C D E S I G N A P P R O A C H E S
- Social
- In-bed
Findings from questionnaire with 1, 252 respondents carried out with support from Active SG led to the decision of choosing these premises as targeted areas. ‘‘Commuting’ and ‘In bed’ were revealed as the two most common places where people use their mobile devices during recreational time. As sleep is a non-negotiable core need for human functioning whereby quality of sleep has a positive relationship with health (Nedegard et al, Kahneman and Kruger qtd, in Wheatley 3; ch. 1), it was chosen instead of 'Commuting'. Social support was identified as a top motivator. Studies from literature review concur with the findings from questionnaire.
H U M A N S I C D E S I G N I N T E R V E N T I O N S
A R E C O N S I D E R E D S U C C E S S F U L W H E N,
1. User demonstrates willingness to change and take action after the design interaction/experience.
2. Positive & meaningful results have been established from user's actions influenced by the design.
Results are:
- A willingness to maintain positive habits. This can be measured qualitatively.
- Positive/Meaningful improvements. This can be measured quantitatively (sleep/nutrition/physical wellness) and qualitatively (social connection/mental well-being).
- Efforts and actions to sustain healthy change. This can be measured qualitatively.
I N T E R V E N T I O N S F O R D I F F E R E N T U S E R S T A G E S
Humansic interventions are designed to help individuals at different stages to develop mindful screen habits in a more positive and meaningful way to achieve healthier digital/life balance.
Screen-reliant user: Interactive card game evokes digital mindfulness and enables social bonding through various types of play: Physital play, kinesthetic play, creative play, cooperative play and educative play.
Adjusting user: Therapeutic sleep system facilitates the mood for sleeping, minimises ERSU during bed-time and enables user to have a good night’s sleep.
Mindful user: Open-source tutorials were created to inspire more users to utilise their recreational time for more meaningful purposes. Users can transform existing items into wellness products or adopt them as craft therapy against ERSU.
R E S U L T S
80.8%
of card game participants found the game fun and liked how the various play possibilities fostered social bonding and new knowledge. 88.4% became more digitally mindful from a follow-up survey.
100%
of participants from in-bed experiment have adopted more mindful screen habits since intervention testing and shared that they felt better emotionally and mentally after minimising ERSU.
100%
of participants from extended in-bed experiment showed positive findings for mindful and meaningful screen use.
From qualitative data: Participants’ ERSU were minimised by half or more during intervention testing compared to screen time collected for baseline data. Participants also felt they had better sleep quality and higher energy levels.
From quantitative data: Participants’ sleep latency (time taken to fall asleep) and sleep quality have improved from baseline. On average, participants fell asleep 3.5 times faster during intervention testing*.
In-bed therapy experiment minimised participants habitual use of excessive screen time and also helped to improve their core needs (wellness through better sleep).
55%
5 out of 9 mindful users took initiative in wellness craft-making. Participants shared the making process was therapeutic and wore their sleep masks to bed to improve or maintain sleep hygiene.
*p<0.05 | n=3; Average control data from aggregated nights: 11
Scientific data were carried out with Dr Richard Swinbourne and Sport Singapore.
D I S C U S S I O N
Results suggest that Humansic Design was effective in facilitating mindful recreational screen use positively in a meaningful way. Findings from each intervention revealed that participants’ emotional (pleasure) needs were fufilled and their core needs were taken care of (wellness/well-being enhanced through social interactions/better sleep). Improvements are meaningful and may better enable their personal significance needs (capabilities), allowing for self-actualisation / flourishing.
L I M I T A T I O N S
The sample size for most of the tests were limited as time and resources did not permit for a larger sample size. Although the nature of this study does not enable its findings to be deemed as conclusive, the pilot tests demonstrated positive findings that are worthwhile to run further studies. Future research with a greater number of subjects and a longitudinal study may value-add to these pilot studies.
C O N C L U S I O N
It is possible to minimise ERSU with Humansic Design. Humansic Design interventions resulted in users developing positive screen habits along with meaningful (wellness/well-being) improvements. Thus, future research on Humansic Design with a greater number of participants could be explored.
This research project can add to the current body of knowledge on minimising ERSU both positively and meaningfully. Insights from this project may also inform designers and researchers to consider points of suitable application for projects relating to minimising ERSU and digital/life well-being.
With the digital community at risk of domination by screen addiction fuelled by distractive technology, this project may serve as a case study on the importance of designing with human sensitivities, vulnerabilities, capabilities and intrinsic needs in mind. Healthier minds and bodies can be cultivated when a design enhances meaningfulness and uniquely human capabilities.
A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S
Collaborations
- Preliminary Study: ActiveSG
- Card Game Web App: Zen Xie Zhenjia
- Sleep System: Lim Jason, Allen Chia, Sng Ye Min (Dirty Blonde Productions)
- Scientific Testing: Dr Richard Swinbourne, Sport Singapore
Guidance
Nur Hidayah, Dr Harah Chon, Andreas Schelgel, Grant Li
Focus Group
Aly Teo, Law Chunfu, Lim Jason, Chia Xinni, Jessalynne Woo, Shane Lim, Alison Poh, Dion Heng, Vincent Phua.
R E F E R E N C E S
"Bio Of Tristan Harris: Time Well Spent and Humane Tech." Tristan Harris, 2019, www.tristanharris.com.
"Cigna." Cigna, 2019, wellbeing.cigna.com.
Elsobeihi, Mohammed M, and Samy S. Abu-Naser. "Effects Of Mobile Technology On Human Relationships". International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems, vol. 1, 2017, pp. 110-125. ResearchGate, www.researchgate.net/publication/319212701_Effects_of_Mobile_Technology_on_Human_Relationships.
Jordan, Patrick W. Designing Pleasurable Products. Taylor & Francis, 2010.
LaMorte, Wayne W. "The Transtheoretical Model (Stages Of Change)." MPH Online Learning Modules, Boston University School of Public Health, 2019, sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/MPH-Modules/SB/BehavioralChangeTheories/BehavioralChangeTheories6.html.
Lin, Fuchun, et al. “Abnormal White Matter Integrity in Adolescents with Internet Addiction Disorder: A Tract-Based Spatial Statistics Study.” PLoS ONE, vol. 7, no. 1, 2012.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0030253.
"Singaporeans are now getting more sleep, but not many are satisfied: Survey." CNA Lifestyle, 13 March 2020, cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/trending/singapoReans-world-sleep-day-survey-12533954?cid=FBcna.
"The AIA Healthy Living Index Survey 2018." AIA, 2018, www.aia.com/content/dam/group/en/docs/healthy-living-pdf/Whitepaper.pdf.
University of Rochester Medical Center. "Not all sleep is equal when it comes to cleaning the brain." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 27 February 2019. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190227173111.htm>
Wheatley, Daniel. Time Well Spent: Subjective Well-Being And The Organization Of Time. Rowman & Littlefield International, 2017.
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