brooklyn-design-storytelling

[brooklyn-design-storytelling]

Week Eleven

Concepts and Learning

This week we presented our final diegetic prototypes (posters, images, product) and draft of our wix site to Mojan. Bella has done a lot of work on our website so that we can place our images and products in easily and created a really nice and cohesive design. I liked seeing everyones developed prototypes and I feel like we improved a lot and took on the feedback we were given last week. Mojan also liked our website design but did mention that when you entered a product it was a bit confusing. She suggested adding specifications and taking away some of the sections that the wix template included. I feel like adding specifications is a really good idea because it makes us think more about our product and add details that make it more realistic. I think everyone did well at getting involved with giving feedback and suggesting what we could focus on for specifications. I can use this new knowledge and experience of creating a product website on wix for my studio class where I use wix for documenting my work. If we were to create a wix shop again I would try not using a template because it auto generates a lot of pages and content that we didn’t need.

Diegetic Prototype Development

Specifications:

Package contents: Sleep Therapy Dock, Sleep Therapy Headband, USB cable, quick start guide, detachable headband strap (Small, Medium and Large sizes provided).

Dock Dimensions (H, W, D): 200mm x 200mm x 150mm

Durability: Water Resistant headband and sensors

I decided to highlight the product contents in my specifications because typically for something like this where there are multiple components people like to know what they are getting with it. Here is where I decided it was important to have multiple strap sizes available to the sleep therapy headband that are detachable so they fit everyone. I thought making the headband and sensors water resistant is important as it will most likely sit on someone's bedside table where they might have a glass of water that could be knocked over.

Reflection on Semester

This semester has been really good overall. I have been in a group that I get along with and I think considering lockdown we have worked together really well. I felt included in all the activities we did and never felt like my opinion wasn’t heard. Next year I can take lots of theses new experiences and knowledge of collaborating and apply them to any more group project for my design thinking classes and even my studio classes. If the same thing happened again I would try to use my research found at the beginning of the semester to support my diegetic prototype more. I think everyone improves on our communication skills during the second half of the semester when doing online calls. I felt like we were back in class when we did calls because everyone got involved, and we left the call open while doing all our individual work even if we weren’t necessarily talking. I’m looking forward to next year and hopefully I will get to work with some of this group again.

[brooklyn-design-storytelling]

Week Ten

Concepts and Learning

This week I presented my first draft of a sleep therapy diegetic prototype to my group and Mojan to get some feedback. I think everyone had come up with some really interesting prototypes and we all stayed on a similar track which is good because all our prototypes look pretty cohesive. During the week we brainstormed some different ideas for business names in our group chat such as WeCare, and Acuity ended up deciding that Eudaemonia best represented our ideas. Bella designed some different logos for this and it was nice to finally see them on Miro.

I felt a bit anxious presenting my prototype because I wasn't sure if others would like it but all the feedback was positive. Mojan brought up that we should make sure our diegetic prototypes are realistic and create descriptions that back up our products and ideas. After talking with my group I think I need to change my prototype slightly so the colours and iconography are more cohesive with everyone's prototypes and our logo.

After seeing everyones work I can now understand where I can improve and the type of images I should be creating for my prototype (posters, photoshopped pictures of people using the product). I think we did well at giving constructive feedback to each other and identifying where everyone could improve but we could have been more decisive about what method of designing everyone should use so our work would be finished to the same standard. I can use this new knowledge in my work over the next week to develop my prototype further. If the same activity happened again I would consider having everyone write down some feedback for each prototype on Miro sticky notes first so no one was nervous about critiquing others work. I can use this new knowledge and experience in my Spatial Design Studio because it is important to give others feedback and discuss your own work so we can improve.

Diegetic Prototype Development

Product Posters:

Product photos (no background or writing):

Person Wearing Headband:

Note. Profile of Girl Sitting. From Pexels by Graboska, K. 2021. (https://www.pexels.com/photo/profile-of-girl-sitting-7281590/)

Note. Woman Holding White Smartphone. From Pexels by Graboska, K. 2021 (https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-holding-white-smartphone-7283621/)

Includes photoshopped sleep therapy headband for both images above

Product description: The Sleep Therapy Set tracks sleeping patterns, heart rate variability, and blood oxygen levels through the sensors on its headband to create a better sleep plan for you. The Sleep Therapy Set tracks heart rate variability (HRV) instead of average heartbeats per minute gives us a more accurate picture of your stress levels. HRV represents the time between each heartbeat and a higher viability means you’re calm while low variability indicates you’re experiencing more stress. By being able to identify your stress levels and what triggers these emotions the sleep therapy set can create a plan to reduce stressors and help you learn to manage them effectively. Your doctor and/or therapist can upload any important information to your Sleep Therapy dock that can assist in creating a better plan for you.

Dock Description: The Sleep Therapy Dock displays the time along with all the information that your headband sensors have recorded. It has a profile, search, home, health and doctor/therapist contacts. The headband can be placed in a slot on top of the dock to charge the headband after each use.

Price: $350.00

This week I developed my prototype further by editing the prototype using photoshop so it was more refined and futuristic looking. I created posters with backgrounds and information, basic product photos for the wix website and photos with the product photoshopped on someone. I made a product description that backs up my ideas and makes it seem more realistic. I'm excited to show my group what I have done this week and look forward to adding it to our wix site.

References

Graboska, K. (2021, March 27). Woman Holding White Smartphone [Photograph]. Pexels. https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-holding-white-smartphone-7283621/

Graboska, K. (2021, March 27). Profile of Girl Sitting [Photograph]. Pexels. https://www.pexels.com/photo/profile-of-girl-sitting-7281590/

[brooklyn-design-storytelling]

Week Nine

Concepts and Learning

After another short catch up in Microsoft teams we split up into our groups again and began brainstorming more diegetic prototype ideas. I felt like this week's brainstorm was a lot better than last week because everyone had done some more research and done their own brainstorming before class. I brought up my new ideas for diegetic prototypes and everyone seemed to like the idea of wearable stress or anxiety trackers and desk pets.

Initially we started coming up with diegetic prototypes that could link to someone's life and having it so they blog their life. In the person's blog posts you would be able to see the diegetic prototypes in their life. Our group felt like this was an interesting way to link all of the different prototypes together but after some discussion with Mojan we were informed our website should be more similar to a government or product website.

When reflecting on our brainstorm we already had a few things associated with technology so we decided to create diegetic prototypes that are wearable technology for a product website. I think this new idea could lead us to more experimental and futuristic prototypes. We did well at brainstorming for this new topic and picking what we each would like to look into creating prototypes for. I felt uncertain about what I wanted to design because the two ideas I had looked into were already chosen but by the end of the class I had decided to do a sleep therapy diegetic prototype. I think I could have spoke up more during our video call about being worried about the prototype I was designing because my group is usually very supportive and helpful. If I were to do this brainstorming again I would keep the paper guide open for reference because we misunderstood what our website was meant to be which led to us wasting time on ideas we couldn't necessarily use.

Research and diegetic prototype design

Brainstorm:

Sleep tracking

Stress monitoring

Fitbit, Apple Watches, etc.

Fitbits now have things such as stress management, sleep trackers, and health metrics dashboards all of which are all meant to work together to help you create better choices about your mental health and wellbeing based on the data it collects. (Fitbit, n.d.) Although this company is taking good steps towards helping people improve their mental health, most people don't use it for this reason but instead use these for counting steps and exercising.

While stress and anxiety can cause a lack of sleep, lack of sleep can also have a major impact on a person's physical and mental health. Stress and sleep deprivation affect one another and can create a cycle of negative moods, difficulty concentrating and low energy. (Johnson, 2018)

I have tried creating a product that tracks sleeping patterns, heart rate variability, and blood oxygen levels and uses them to identify your stress levels and what triggers these emotions to create a plan to reduce stressors and help you learn to manage them effectively. This diegetic prototype has a dock with all of the tracking information, a profile, doctor/therapist contacts and the basic things like time. The prototype also has a headband with sensors that can be worn at night.

I used Rhino 7 to make a 3D model of my diegetic prototype and add materials and lighting, then used photoshop to add text and icons to the screen as well as add a blue backdrop to the images

References

Fitbit. (n.d.). Advanced health watch | Fitbit sense. https://www.fitbit.com/global/nz/products/smartwatches/sense?sku=512SRSG

Johnson, J. (2018, September 5). Stress and sleep: What's the link? Medical News Today. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322994#sleep-deprivation-effects

[brooklyn-design-storytelling]

Week Eight

Concepts and Learning

After a class discussion we went into our groups to brainstorm what if scenarios based off the design fiction matrix we did over the mid semester break. From looking at our brainstorm it is clear we are quite interested in the growth aspect of mental health and exploring desirable futures for New Zealand. Many of our what if scenarios involved improving access to mental health services and having regular mental health checkups in schools but we felt it would be hard to come up with diegetic prototypes for these ideas. From here we chose to combine multiple what if scenarios and make it more broad.

Final what if scenario: “What if in 2051 New Zealand was the highest rated in the world for mental health and way of life for young adults?”

I felt that this was an interesting and positive topic to create diegetic prototypes for and I am excited to see where this takes us.

Next we brainstormed diegetic prototypes related to our what if scenario using green sticky notes to brainstorm ideas or scenarios and purple to brainstorm more specific prototypes. It was nice to talk with my group and feel like we were back in class but I think sometimes it was hard to hear and understand everyone's ideas because we were online. Unfortunately this resulted in people often speaking over one another but we did quite well considering these technical issues. I did think that most of our ideas were quite generic and similar to products that already exist but we are on the right track. This brainstorming reminded me of today's key concept of using objects to tell speculative stories about possible futures. My group often looked at normal objects and altered them slightly to tell a story of how things could look different with better mental health and way of living in New Zealand. When we do this brainstorming activity again I will try to think of more unique ideas that help people to better imagine and consider this possible future. I can adapt my actions now that I have this new understanding to do some more research and come up with better ideas for possible diegetic prototypes my group could design.

At the end of our group call we decided to use wix because most of the spatial design students had experience using this before. I think using wix will be really useful because it has lots of useful templates for websites that could make it look very realistic. We also set up a trello board to a to do, doing and done list as well as a list of all our links to collaborative work such as our information google doc, and miro board.

Today I understood the key concept more than I had in previous classes because now I can see how our design matrix and ideation has been influenced by past and present social and political situations. These diegetic prototypes reminded me of Graham, a person designed to survive a car crash (Project Graham, n.d.), because although it was extreme at first glance it is a very relevant scenario based on lots of research. Diegetic prototypes like Graham help people to see something that could exist within a fictional world and creates interesting and insightful conversations. Mental health like car crashes is very common in New Zealand. Creating diegetic prototypes that look into possible futures, good or bad, could be helpful in deciding how we want the future of mental health for young people in New Zealand to look.

Research

After class diegetic prototype brainstorm: Stress monitors, desk pets, wearable stress or anxiety detection technology, reduction of social media use, increasing conversations about mental health in schools, different learning environments.

Note. Anki Vector Robot. From Popular Mechanics by Sorokanich, L., 2018. (https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a24433070/anki-vector-ai-robot-toy/).

Emotional support animals - Desk Pet

Vector: I have been fascinated by desk pets for a while and the idea that you can have a little robot rolling around your desk. Vector is quite a popular desk pet that can explore and react to different situations and environments (Digital Dream Labs, n.d.). He has the ability to recognise people and objects as well as read the room and hear what's happening. He is also known to be helpful with a built in camera, timer, and ability to connect to alexa to tell weather etc (Digital Dream Labs, n.d.). While this is a relatively basic design I think this could be a really cool way to look at creating a diegetic prototype for mental health. Emotional support animals are known to be very beneficial to people with anxiety, stress and a number of other mental health issues. “Dogs can lower your blood pressure through touch and contact which can help reduce anxiety symptoms, and calm emotions”(Therapy Dogs New Zealand, n.d.). Although they are very beneficial expenses associated with these animals (training, health, and food costs) can mean they aren’t even an option for people with mental health problems. I think creating a desk pet that has similar abilities to that of an emotional support dog could be a really interesting concept.

References

Digital Dream Labs. (n.d.). Meet vector. https://www.digitaldreamlabs.com/pages/meet-vector

Project Graham. (n.d.). Meet Graham. The only person designed to survive on roads. Meet Graham. https://www.meetgraham.com.au

Sorokanich, L. (2018, October 31). Anki's AI robot is a delightful (and expensive) desk toy. Popular Mechanics. https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a24433070/anki-vector-ai-robot-toy/

Therapy Dogs New Zealand. (n.d.). Emotional Support Therapy Dogs. https://therapydogs.co.nz/emotional-support-therapy-dogs/

[brooklyn-design-storytelling]

Week Seven

Concepts and learning

This week we began the online class by looking at different examples of diegetic prototypes such as Electrix and Screen Tan.

Next we did a task called, the thing from the future, where we brainstormed ideas for a postcard from 30 years in the future, in a world where continued growth is the defining characteristic with the theme of education. The post card was meant to evoke excitement in the person who sees it. My group began by discussing what we want the future of education to be or what it could be. The topics we discussed included:

High school education is easier

Cheaper and better access to education across the world

Virtual reality instead of online video calls

Hands on education

More education about basic life skills (taxes, mental health etc.)

During this activity I kept thinking about futuristic movies like Ready Player One (Spielberg, 2018) where technology has evolved so much and become an essential part of everyday life. My group felt quite excited when thinking about movies like this because it had lots of good diegetic prototypes for the future that could create an interesting possible future for education. Our final idea for a postcard was to have a picture of a student attending a class from home via virtual reality. I think we did well at exploring a possible future that is realistic, where technology is more prominent but I think we could have gone further. Perhaps we shouldnt have focused so much on movies because of this if I were to do this same activity again I would try to come up with more unique ideas for diegetic prototypes. I can use this new knowledge and experience when my group starts creating our own diegetic prototypes associated with mental health. Having these discussions with my group and the class about these diegetic prototypes helped me to better understand the reasoning behind them. It encouraged us to use our imagination to look into different preferable futures and discuss different social and political factors that could influence them.

We also did a design fiction matrix as a class where we brainstormed the fact, fiction, past and future of covid 19. Brainstorming this topic was an interesting experience because we have all had a lot of experience with the topic over the last year. I liked seeing other peoples thoughts on the subject but I found the process quite overwhelming because there were so many people commenting at once. Coming up with a what if scenario made me feel stressed because many of the bad options were very possible futures. If I were to do this same activity again I would try to contribute more ideas to the miro board or conversation and try to look at other people's ideas after.

Mid Semester Break

Over the mid semester break I used this new knowledge of brainstorming design fiction matrix on miro for my group's brainstorm on mental health. As a group we used the research we had collected to help us come up with different future scenarios for both growth and collapse. I think seeing similar ideas for what if scenarios is what helped us to understand what we were collectively interested in and where we wanted to take this project. Our what if scenarios linked back to today's class key concepts of designing diegetic prototypes that explore all possible futures, even ones that aren't that accurate.

References

Spielberg, S. (Director). (2018). Ready Player One [Film]. Warner Bros. Pictures.

[brooklyn-design-storytelling]

Week Six

- Lockdown -

Before our week six class we went into a level 4 lockdown this meant that classes have moved to online and our group had to adapt to the new circumstances and do video calls through Microsoft Teams. I felt quite stressed this week as I had to go get a covid test because I was at a location of interest (don’t worry I’m negative) but my group was very helpful in helping me not worry.

During the week before Thursday’s online class my group had two video calls where we worked together to design and animate our slides. I think we did well at letting everyone get involved and taking into consideration everyones ideas and opinions. It was challenging to get everyone on a video call at the same time due to the current circumstances but everyone made an effort to join at some point.

I can use this new knowledge of creating a video/animation using powerpoint in my other Spatial Design classes especially in lockdown depending on how long we stay at level 4.

- Week Six Online Class -

Concepts and Learning

This week we looked at speculative design and learnt about exploring possible futures rather than predicting the future. I found the examples of speculative design that were shown in the online class very interesting and in some cases quite funny. I liked seeing peoples ideas for solving problems and seeing how some of the extreme or what could be described as absurd solutions would possibly be needed in the future. An example of this is Neo Fruit which is “Speculative Technological Design Project, focusing our attention to a future scenario in which we will create all our food artificially.” (Levy, 2019) These Neo Fruit look almost alien like but with an increase in demand for food due to increasing world population these fruits fill a gap in the current market (Levy, 2019).

Note. Neo Fruit. From Core77, by Levy, M., 2019. (https://designawards.core77.com/speculative-design/84449/Neo-Fruit)

As part of this weeks class I also watched Nick Fosters video (Hellofosta, 2021) where he talks about design fiction and diegetic prototypes. This video helped me to get a better understanding of what Anna meant by diegetic object and gave more context to Neo Fruits.

These ideas speculative design that Levy and Nick Fosters talk about remind me of a reading I did in week four where Sustainability Science Education said they like to imagine a full range of futures (Sustainability Science Education, 2019). Although they don’t use the same terminology as Nick Foster I think this reading made it easier for me to understand what Nick Fosters was saying (Hellofosta, 2021).

I can use this new knowledge for when we start looking at designing our own diegetic objects as a group but I think this could be very useful for my Spatial Design studio class. In most of my studio classes our designs a speculative and we make objects and drawings based on scenarios or briefs created by our tutors. I think reflecting back on all of these peoples ideas could be very beneficial for my future designs.

Group Work on Presentation

After Thursday's class our group handed in our presentation. At the time I felt that my group had done quite well considering we were in lockdown and were unable to meet up in person to work on our presentation. After seeing other groups work from both Wednesday and Thursday's class I think my group could have perhaps done more work on our infographics in our presentation. If I were to do this again I would spend more time on designing the imagery and infographics so that we did not need as much text as we had. Making this presentation was a good learning experience and seeing what other groups did was really interesting. Overall I think my group can use this new understanding and knowledge to create a more effective presentation towards the end of this semester.

References

Hellofosta. (2021, February 3). Everyday Futures. [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h12AkAIHyQw&t=1041s

Levy, M. (2019). Core77 Design Awards 2019 - Neo Fruit. Core77. https://designawards.core77.com/speculative-design/84449/Neo-Fruit

Sustainability Science Education. (2019, August 24). What is Future Thinking? [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GjAHJSHDTs

[brooklyn-design-storytelling]

Week Five

Concepts and Learning

At the beginning of today’s class we shared the infographics and other information visualisation that we found after last weeks class. It was cool to see what everyone had found and I was surprised that come of us had found very similar ones that in some cases were from the same artists. If I were to collect information visualisations as a group again I would possibly get each person to focus on finding ones that represent different information such as food, climate change, etc.

After this we got presented with some infographics and had to brainstorm ways that we could make them more visually investing or easier to read. With our new knowledge of information visualisation this task tested what we had learnt and our creativity. I think as a group we did well at coming up with ideas on how to keep the same ideas in the infographics but make them easier to read. Now that I have this new understanding of how to correctly display information in an infographic I can use this to help my group in creating a clear and informative presentation.

Group Work on Presentation

In todays class we also did a lot of work as a group making decisions about our topic of mental health and organising how we want to do our group presentation. This is where we decided to focus specifically on the mental health of young adults in New Zealand which can then be compared to the data on mental health of elderly and children in New Zealand. Using Trello we wrote down everything we needed to do in preparation for the presentation in Week Six and we put a link here to a group document with all of our information.

My group chose to stay in this class longer than usual as we felt uncertain for most of the class about what and how we wanted to present our research. I think we did well at organising and writing down our goals for the week so we had a clear understanding of what we each needed to do however looking back I think we should have set some deadlines for the work to be done so we didn’t leave things to last minute. If the same thing happened again I would get people to chose roles they felt comfortable in to take advantage of everyones skills and abilities then set some deadlines so we can look at our presentation as a group and practice presenting together earlier.

[brooklyn-design-storytelling]

Week Four

Concepts and Learning

For today’s class, we started by sharing our research and identifying the existing situation, trends, drivers, possible futures, wild cards, and preferable futures of mental health. When doing this activity, we felt upset that the stats about mental health tend to be much worse when compared to other countries and were disappointed by the wait times for access to mental health services. While doing this, we discovered that depending on how New Zealand handles mental health in the coming years, the possible futures could be vastly different.

In this activity, we were good at exploring all possible futures good and bad, and not leaning more towards one. Imagining a full range of futures was similar to the ideas presented in What is Future Thinking, where they say it is important to “address multiple futures, ask questions and think critically about the past, challenge the status quo and imagine a more sustainable tomorrow” (Sustainability Science Education, 2019). Using this idea in more work for this class could benefit our group, especially when researching mental health.

As a group, we did find it challenging to identify answers for the individual category compared to the other ones. If I were to do this activity again, I would try to do more research on the individual category so we have a broader range of information to support us.

In the second half of the class, we started looking at infographics and the different ways you can use infographics to display information. We also watched a TED Talk where David McCandless talked about The Beauty of Data Visualisation. I found this video very helpful in showing how to display information so it is easier to understand. McCandless's TED talk showed me how a simple change in graph or data visualisation can make a big change and identify patterns and connections that you had previously overlooked (TED-Ed, 2012). When looking for examples of information visualisation, I think looking for ones that use David McCandless ideas on the design of data visualisation could be useful.

What I learnt from class today is that the way you display information is just as important as that actual information. I can use this new knowledge and experience for our presentation at the end of the semester.

Information Visualisation Research:

I chose these infographics because I thought they displayed information in new and interesting ways. I think collectively what makes them effective in how they have each been tailored to the different information they are representing. All of these could have been put into a bar graph or a pie chart but instead have instead been designed in ways that make it easy to understand the context and compare different percentages or quantities. I think looking back on these infographics could be helpful for my group and I when we make our presentation.

References:

Kay, S. (n.d.). Global Carbon Footprint [Infographic]. Venngage. https://venngage.com/gallery/post/global-carbon-footprint/

MacEachern, R. (2013, May 28) Calorie Breakdown [Infographic]. Behance. https://www.behance.net/gallery/8859589/Design-x-Food-Infographic

Phung, S. (2021, July 1). Ocean Pollution [Infographic]. Hubspot. https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/best-infographics-2016

Sustainability Science Education. (2019, August 24). What is Future Thinking? [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GjAHJSHDTs

TED-Ed. (2012, November 24). The Beauty of Data Visualisation - David McCandless [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Zg-C8AAIGg

[brooklyn-design-storytelling]

Week Three

Concepts and Learning

At the beginning of today's class, we did a quiz to check our assumptions. This activity was interesting because it showed how we have a lot of bias about topics and that news and social media tend to spread lots of misinformation. I think this new knowledge about bias will help my group for this project and the research of our chosen topic because we will now look beyond headlines and instead reflect on the statistics and numbers (and not use numbers to mislead people).

After that, we did an activity where we identified the existing situation, trends, drivers, possible futures, wild cards, and preferable futures of food. This was an interesting way to generate ideas and start thinking about things that will shape the future of Aotearoa.

I found it interesting to listen to other group's ideas about possible futures compared to ours. My group went quite extreme with our answers listing things such as 3D printing food, eating exotic animals, and an increase in supplements instead of food, while other groups were possibly more realistic with their answers. Although we were a bit extreme with our answers I think we did well at taking into consideration everyone's thoughts and opinions which gave us a good range of answers across the different categories. If I were to do this activity again I might have tried to use answers based more on currents trends and facts rather than assumptions but it was a good learning experience.

When brainstorming ideas there were lots of topics we found ourselves interested in but were leaning towards researching the LGBT+ community or mental health. As a group, we decided on the topic of mental health because there are lots of different directions we could go with this topic, and we felt this would be the most interesting.

What I learnt from this activity is that I need to do lots of research to understand a topic so I am not misled by headlines or bias. I can use this new knowledge and experience when begin researching as a group for our next assessment. It could also be useful for my Spatial Design class because I can be better informed about places and people that I am designing for.

Research

To have mental health disorders refers to a wide range of health conditions but all of which is to affect someone's mood, thinking and behaviour. If someone has good mental health this means that they are able to think, feel and react in appropriate ways that enable them to live their life while someone with poor mental health might find thinking, feeling or reacting very difficult. Mental health disorders affect people of all ages  and can range from common problems such as depression and anxiety to rarer ones such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. (Mind, The Mental Health Charity, 2017) They can also have a wide range of causes such as trauma, isolation, poverty, unemployment and more with some people being more deeply affected by certain things than others. In many ways mental health is similar to physical health and should similarly be taken care of. (Mind, The Mental Health Charity, 2017) In an investigation done in 2017 made from a combination of sources including medical and national records, epidemiological data, survey data, and meta regression model it was estimated that 792 million people lived with a mental health disorder. (Ritchie & Roser, 2018) This is slightly more than one in ten people globally (10.7%). As shown in Figure 1, we see that globally, mental and substance use disorders are very common with around 1 in 7 people (15%) having one or more mental or substance use disorders. (Ritchie & Roser, 2018)

Figure 1.

From Our World in Data, 2018, (https://ourworldindata.org/mental-health#licence)

In 2019/20 in New Zealand a total of 184,711 clients were seen by mental health and addiction services and out of these 51% were male and 49% were female. When looking at the ethnic groups reported, Māori were most likely to be seen by mental health or addiction services while Asians were least likely to be seen. (Ministry of Health NZ, 2021) Globally around 800,000 people die from suicide every year and most cases can be linked to a diagnosed or undiagnosed mental health disorder. While suicide rates according to statistics are decreasing compared to past years this number is still very high with around twice as many people dying from suicide as from homicide. (Ritchie et al., n.d.) Amongst 15 to 29 year olds suicide is the second leading cause of death with many of them having what could have preventable severe mental health conditions. Despite progress in some countries, people with mental health conditions often experience severe human rights violations, discrimination, and stigma. (WHO | World Health Organization, 2019) Many mental health conditions can be effectively treated at relatively low cost, yet the gap between people needing care and those with access to care remains substantial. Effective treatment coverage remains extremely low. (WHO | World Health Organization, 2019)

References:

Mind, The Mental Health Charity. (2017, October). What are mental health problems? Mind. https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/mental-health-problems-introduction/about-mental-health-problems/

Mind, the mental health charity. (2017, October). What causes mental health problems? Mind. https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/mental-health-problems-introduction/causes/

Ministry of Health NZ. (2021, June 30). Mental health and addiction: Service use 2019/20 tables. https://www.health.govt.nz/publication/mental-health-and-addiction-service-use-2019-20-tables

Ritchie, H., & Roser, M. (2018, April). Mental health. Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/mental-health#licence

Ritchie, H., Roser, M., & Ortiz-Ospina, E. (n.d.). Suicide. Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/suicide

WHO | World Health Organization. (2019, December 19). Mental health. https://www.who.int/health-topics/mental-health#tab=tab_1

[brooklyn-design-storytelling]

Week Two

Concepts and Learning

At the beginning of this class, we got into groups based on similarities with other students, unlike last semester where we separated from people with similar degrees and backgrounds (birthdays, where they are from, interests). I found someone in the class that has the same birthday as me, and we ended up in a group with three other students who all attended the same high school and are doing a bachelor of design.

The first activity we did for this class identified things we hadn’t noticed when we first sat down. As a group, we identified things such as

The carpet pattern not lining up

A skateboard in the corner of the room

The wooden feature wall on the other side of the class

Two red dots on the ceiling

How all of the tables were at least 2 square ones pushed together. None of them are rectangles.

The rail on the roof in the middle of the room

It was interesting to see all of the things people had found in the class that we had overlooked despite seeing them every week. I was surprised at the things other students had listed that were very visible and yet I still didn’t notice them.

The video we watched in class on Waihorotiu Stream showed how the stream is under Queen Street, and some people might not even know it is there. Observation is important because it can uncover important information about a place, person, or thing.

The next activity we did was a photo safari where we used photographs to put together a visual narrative that tells aliens everything they need to know about AUT. My group decided to focus on the Design aspect of AUT because we are all doing a Bachelor of Design.

I think we did well at framing photos in a way that showed important features of AUT and its surroundings. I was surprised to see how different our studio environments are despite us all doing design degrees. It was interesting to see how the different layouts and furniture created different atmospheres in every studio and made it easy to identify what they are studying. I thought it was interesting to see what others experienced at AUT and what they thought were important aspects of the university and the surrounding city to include in our photo safari. If I were to do this activity again, I would try to focus on representing AUT as a whole when explaining it through pictures. Although focusing on the design faculty for us as a group was interesting it didn’t represent the many different subjects, facilities, and people at the university.

What I learnt today is that in storytelling sometimes it is important to just watch, listen, and observe. I could use this new experience and knowledge in my Spatial Design class to help me better understand the environments I am designing in.

Research on issues that will shape our future

I found it interesting to research and read about what others thought were the issues that would shape our future, especially the ones I had not even thought of. These issues explored the likes of technology, travel, resources, climate change, and inequality. (Brown, 2020)

Last semester we researched climate change so I wasn't surprised when both 5 Global Issues to Watch in 2020 (Brown, 2020), and 10 grand challenges we'll face by 2050 (Lufkin, 2017) believe it will have a major impact on our future. However, it was interesting to know to what extent experts think this will go with Lufkin bringing up the idea of “lost cities”(Lufkin, 2017). Lost cities are a big possibility with rising sea levels and changing weather patterns “if current trends continue, we may have to come to terms with losing whole swathes of cities, islands, and low-lying regions such as Bangladesh. The economic impact to regions will be profound, and climate refugees could become the norm.” (Lufkin, 2017)

References:

Brown, K. (2020, January 8). 5 global issues to watch in 2020. United Nations Foundation. https://unfoundation.org/blog/post/5-global-issues-to-watch-in-2020/

Lufkin, B. (2017, July 13). 10 grand challenges we'll face by 2050. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170713-what-will-the-challenges-of-2050-be

[brooklyn-design-storytelling]

Week One

Concepts and Learning.

In today's class, we explored storytelling by experimenting with different methods and tools. The first activity we did in class today was to explain to an alien through drawings how to make toast. The journey of making toast that I drew was relatively basic and very similar to the rest of the class. I was surprised to see how some students started their journey at the ingredients growing stage and talked about transporting them from a factory to a supermarket. If we were to do this activity again, I think adopting Tom Wujec's technique of using sticky notes and doing it as a group (TED, 2015) could be interesting because we all had different ideas.

During the second half of the class, we brainstormed current issues (wicked problems) that affect us in New Zealand. I was surprised to see that our group and many other groups brought up similar issues like housing, mental health, homelessness, climate change, and poverty.

My group felt that mental health would be an interesting issue to make a visual map because we could all connect with the problem, and we thought we would best communicate this issue. I felt that it was hard to find images that portrayed how someone with mental health issues feels, and so I resolved this by finding images that show things that could affect mental health. My group did well in finding images that portrayed different circumstances that impact mental health, with some referring to family, police, and people who appear alone. Telling a story about mental health can link to Paul Zak's proposal that "emotional stimulation is the foundation for empathy" (Zak, 2013) because, in our visual map, we used a hook to hold people's attention and connect to students in our class similar to Ben's Story (Zak 2013). If we were to do the same activity again, I would try using fewer images and prioritizing the ones that best communicated our ideas because our visual map was quite full and maybe a bit confusing for others to understand.

What I learnt in today's class is that storytelling is a great way to connect with others when explaining an idea or concept. I can use this new knowledge and experience of storytelling in future projects for this class to help me work better in a group. I also think using this storytelling in any presentations we do could help better explain to our class what we are trying to do.

Issues that will shape our future.

After brainstorming issues in New Zealand, I believe mental health will have the largest impact on our future. I became concerned about young people's access to mental health services after Gumboot Friday. Gumboot Friday is a fundraiser organised by Mike King to help provide free counselling to young people in New Zealand. I think Mike King's support group, I Am Hope, is a great initiative, and more people should be looking into how access to mental health services could impact our future.

References

TED. (2015, February 6). Tom Wujec: Got a wicked problem? First, tell me how you make toast [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vS_b7cJn2A

Zak, P. (2013, December 17). How Stories Change the Brain. Greater Good Magazine. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_stories_change_brain