Melek Akan
User Experience Research & Product Design
Anxiety
A subjectively unpleasant feeling of dread over things to come
When people do not have control over what is going to happen and how it is going to happen, they feel nervous and anxious.
Delft University of Technology
Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering
MSc. Integrated Product Design
Design for Emotion
2020 Fall Semester
AI-Generated Audio Overview
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BACKGROUND
When feeling anxious, people can be stuck in a loop of over-thinking. The person who experiences anxiety feels like he or she is lost in his or her mind and overthinks all the possible terrible scenarios. Therefore, the person could feel alone and helpless. People cannot avoid the feeling of anxiety. It is an internal feeling that happens in a person’s mind. Consequently, if someone feels anxious, it is not visible to other people around him or her. However, the negative thinking loop might cause shaking, sweating, or dizziness.
On the positive side, anxiety is an important negative emotion within our lives because it helps us to be prepared for future difficult situations. It helps us anticipate things that are to come.
ANXIETY SNACK
The team has created a feeling of anxiousness throughout the eating a snack process.
STEP 1
An introduction was given to the “participant” who was going to eat the snack. The other person, who controls the process, showed what the options were and gave the “participant” the time to observe the snacks. The “participant” sees the options, but she does not know which one she will eat. For her, all the options seem quite disgusting and unpleasurable to eat. This moment refers to the feeling of uncertainty that is one of the biggest causes of anxiety. Moreover, a nervous feeling gets evoked because whatever the “participant” will eat she will probably not enjoy the taste.
STEP 2
The controller asks the “participant” to blindfold herself so she can not see which snack is being fed to her. A mask is an important tool to create a lonely feeling, to evoke her dark thoughts, and to push her into a loop of negative thinking.
STEP 3
After putting on the mask, there is a waiting time of 1 minute. However, the “participant” does not know how long she has to wait. She has no control over when she is going to be fed and what it is going to be. This extra time will increase her nervous feeling and will make her more stuck in her loop of thinking. The waiting time gives her the opportunity to analyze the options over and over again. This waiting process is important to let her get lost in overthinking by herself.
step 4
Meanwhile, the controller talks in another language with another person. The eater cannot understand what she is saying. She feels alone and detached to the people around her.
STEP 5
After 1 minute, the controller informs the “participant” to open her mouth and tells her that she will feed her with one option. The controller moves very slowly to make the waiting process even longer and more intense. The “participant” has to wait for a while again with her mouth open. “The participant” feels even more anxious now because the snack is coming very close, but she doesn’t know when. The aim was to make the “participant” feel like she has no control over the process by not having any control over choosing one of the snacks or eating it by herself.
step 6
Finally, the “participant” eats the snack, which is the pill. However, the “participant” does not know what is inside the pill. The “participant” starts to wonder, “what is this pill for?” and “what are the effects of the pill?”. Even though she receives the snack, there are still so many uncertainties in her mind.
STEP 7
effects of the pill?”. Even though she receives the snack there are still so many uncertainties in her mind.
REFLECTION
Anxiety is a special emotion because it encourages people to think through all the possible scenarios and to get prepared for the future. Even though anxiety is based on the fear of the future, the past experiences and values of individuals might affect the cause of the fear. For example, if someone is valued to be successful in their school grades, they might feel anxious while waiting for the grades after a difficult exam. On the other hand, if someone values being successful in sports, he or she might feel anxious before an important match instead of caring much about his or her school grades.
emotion snack - anxiety
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