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UX of disguise

Brief: Design a way to manipulate and deceive perceptual recognition.
Research Methods: Artefact analysis, data physicalisation.
Team Members: Hong Zhou,Jumleena, Reagan, Sushil, Ruoxi Song.
Time frame: Nov.24-Dec.8


When we discuss the brief for the first time, we start to brainstorm what directions we want to explore.




We found interesting in optical illusion:

geometrical optical illusion grid illusion



We learned a lot of kinds of optical illusions, and found that we can make our own hollow face illusion.



From this perspective, we realize that we can hide things if we apply optical illusions to design. It makes us think about creating a private space in public and it’s not visible to people by playing with illusions. This drives us to focus on the specific group of people which has social anxieties.

From online research, about 30% people having social anxiety around the

world.Some may have intense symptoms such as panic attacks, find it difficult having eye contact or social activities. However, it would be different situations and reactions for most people in real world. In order to know more about the common reactions and situations, we conduct a questionnaire.





Answers:




Analysis of the answers:



                                           



Data physicalization:



We created a room for a social gathering situation. Based on the data, we use different color represent different levels of anxious. The darker color represent the more intense.





Artefact Analysis:






Prototype:



We want to build a human size for the final prototype, however, we can only create a small version for the first presentation because of the short time and the material collecting.



Feedback:



1. Maybe include headphones, ambient/noise cancelation feature in the room
2. Make it a cool corner instead of social anxiety relief corner?
3. Make it a playful space/more things to discover
4. Fidget toys or something to help
5. Consider a portable version
6. Social anxiety is a hard topic, no one solves it yet


After the feedback, we felt that our topic and concept are too generous. Instead of focusing on solving the problem of social anxiety, we decided to develop further on a specific element of disguise.

We had couple ideas through discussion.
  1. social party scenario and a hidden corner for anxious people getting help- offer help kit(conversation starting questions, prompts, hints, and some physical props such as sunglasses for avoiding eye contact)
  2. code word(inspired by helping women to escape from abuse and harassment by ordering specific drink in clubs)
  3. masks and makeup(often mention in disguise and social environment)

Considering the short on time, we want to start with something specific and easy to test out, so we start exploring makeup and masks.




Starting building makeup/masks with physical materials.



We also invite people who never had makeup before to try makeup.




We found that there’s progression of how they feel after putting makeup, some are shy and feel not confident at first, and gradually they feel not too bad even become confident.


          


             
Some people are fully accepted with their new look, and even start acting to match the image of how they think it should be.


We also interviewed three girls of how they usually do makeup and their relationships with makeup.


These girls have very different styles and relationships with makeup. One usually wears gothic makeup and dress with dark clothes, one rarely wears makeup and doesn’t like it too much, another always wear cute makeup and dress colorful clothing styles. We had an idea of making them try each other’s makeup styles.


Gothic to cute/colorful makeup No makeup to basic makeup Cute makeup to gothic makeup



The three girls totally changed their makeup styles, the acceptance and transformation is different by observing the progression from the beginning and when they start accepting.

We also interviewed them about the feeling after the change. Two of them feel more confident after the change and exciting about experiencing new styles. And they might actually wear the new style of makeup in the future in real life. One feel not very confident with the new style, she doesn’t feel like herself no more and not too comfortable with the new makeup.







After all the research, observations and analysis on three boys and three girls with the makeup experience. We had three findings, according to the comparison of the before and after change and the observation of progression.
  1. People tend to act different when they put different makeup on, to better match the image of how they think it should be.
  2. Some people feel more confident after putting makeup on.
  3. Some people feel so different from themselves after putting makeup on, they feel shy or not too confident.

Based on these findings, we started developing our concept and prototype. We want to create a mask showcasing the transformation of how people feel confident to embarrassed and from unconfident to confident after putting the makeup on.





To achieve this, we started with trying projections.

Projections have cool effect, but it’s quite hard and time-consuming to manipulate. So we tried with tangible materials to build the prototype. Glue flashlights to a mask Tried to use flashlights to project shadows Cutting stick figure of different postures which represent confident and not confident. Testing out the distance which can best present the figures on the surfaces. Decorate the mask and divide into two parts. Finishing up the mask.




Final present of the mask and project shadows of figures. We put the confidence figure on the unconfident side of mask and embarrassed figure to the confident side. So when turn on the flashlight, it showcases the transformations as represented after putting makeup on. It also reflects our research findings, confident people may feel embarrassed after putting makeup on and unconfident can become confident as well.




Presentation:






Feedback:



1. Research part is very interesting and well documentation of the progression
2. Prototype is a mask but not able to wear it which is a bit confusing
3. The projecting shadow is cool
4. What is the prototype for and how is it to be used
5. Prototype is a bit far from the research
6. Makeup vs mask
7. Try to include makeup since a lot of research is about makeup



Reflection:


We agree with the feedback that the prototype is a bit far away from the research. We felt very short on time finishing a prototype because our plans were a bit mess and the lack of discussion in terms of getting everyone in our team together was hard. However, we felt the research and exploration on so many things are fun and they are forms of learning.

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