What:

When waiting for an appointment, you often have built up stress before even entering the waiting room. This project examines the waiting space to identify what experiences are stressful for people during their idle time. The product is an interactive model that aims to give the user simple tasks to perform whilst they wait. The model resembles a brain, and the tasks are themed based on the different parts of the brain. In addition to the interactive model, a similar one has been made to mount on the wall. This wall mounted model offers the same tasks; however, it is made to be visual, therefore you cannot interact with it.

Why:

Stress is common in our daily life, and we often shoulder this stress as we enter the waiting space and remain focused on our stress, without knowing how to stop. “To understand your emotions, it’s important to know why they happen”, has been a saying that inspired the final models and design. As you sit in the waiting room and start to worry or start to stress, the interactive model can help direct your focus. The idea is that as you perform the tasks given, you allow yourself to relax and focus on the now rather than what has or will happen. The tasks can also be performed anywhere else, allowing you to use these as calming techniques whenever you need to.

How:

The methodology behind this project was thematic analysis of a waiting room and visualinterviews with users and healthcare workers in order to learn and understand more about peoples’ experiences in the waiting room. I looked into the language of the room and investigated what designs in the room people are mostly affected by, and how I as a designer could intervene with my own designs.