Escaping From Dopamine
2022
Individual Project
# Interactive Design #Industrial Design
With the abundance of material life, human desires have become colourful. Once immersed in it, they will not be able to extricate themselves. The proliferation of desires has seriously affected people's lives
In response to such a common situation, I would like to design a system that combines an app and a device to warn people and alleviate the proliferation of appetite, so that people can control their desires and realise the harm caused by excessive appetite
Phenomenon
Personal
I am a gaming addict. I want to play when I am bored or studying and I feel sick all day if I don't play. The first thing I do in the morning when I wake up and at night before I go to bed is to check my phone. At the end of the day, I find that the time on my phone shows that I have spent most of my time on entertainment apps
The group
More and more people are blindly seeking to spend more. To satisfy their spending desires, they are spending without restraint through credit cards. With the global outbreak of the 2020 epidemic, consumers' offline shopping behaviour has been restricted, while the frequency of online shopping has increased significantly around the world
Environment
Many people choose products when shopping because of their beautiful packaging. For example, businesses always put a lot of effort into gift packaging in order to show the sincerity of the giver or to increase the price of the gift. Much of the packaging is made of non-recyclable materials which can cause a lot of pollution to the earth's environment and waste a lot of resources
Datas
Theory
Desire
It is a need that arises from human nature.It is the most primitive and basic instinct of all animals in the world, and when a creature is self-aware, it is called desire. Kazuo Inamori: "In fact, desire is not a sin in itself. It is only a sin if one does anything with desire without restraint"
What is dopamine
Dopamine is an extremely important neurotransmitter in the brain, and is also known as the "happy hormone" because of its function. When the brain foresees that a certain behavior will bring benefits, it releases dopamine, which makes the body feel craving and anticipation
How it works
Three dopamine "pathways", which are highways for chemical messages called neurotransmitters. Among them, the mesocortical pathway, the mesolimbic pathway and the nigrostriatal pathway are considered our "reward pathways". When you smell toast, your brain increases dopamine. When you eat it, the high dose of dopamine intensifies this craving and focuses on satisfying it in the future. It's a cycle of motivation, reward, and reinforcement. But in fact, dopamine actually makes us more intensely to pursue happiness. This is the dopamine trap
How dopamine works in our head
Case Study
Shopping
An economics study found that women who expressed concern about their financial situation relieved their new anxiety and depression by shopping, which in turn led to greater anxiety through shopping. Finally, a vicious cycle eventually develops. The thought of shopping activates the brain's reward centres and stimulates the release of dopamine, and it is because shopping feels exciting that people are prone to impulsive spending behaviour when shopping
Eating
When we haven't had our favourite foods or drinks for a long time, so we crave it so much. But when you have them, you will find that instead of the initial excitement, you worry that you will gain weight. The drawbacks that come with sweet treats cannot be ignored, such as diabetes
Playing with phones
If you've ever lost your phone, you may experience a mild panic until you find it. Around 73% of people claim to have experienced this unique anxiety. When our brains are hijacked by dopamine, we can become immersed in the 'just-in-time' fun that comes with our phones. Playing with a mobile phone can also have many serious consequences. Studies have shown a link between smartphone use and anxiety, depression, poor sleep quality and an increased risk of car injury or death
Questionnaire
Through questionnaires and interviews, two kinds of desires were studied and analysed in terms of people's desires, and the current situation of people's control and improvement of their desires was further studied
Conclusion
- Many people now feel anxious because of the consequences of eating sweets and swiping their phones
- People want to be able to relieve their desire to improve existing habits
- The dopamine reward system is addictive Facing the powerful dopamine can sometimes lead to a vicious cycle
- As you fulfill these desires, the pleasure of dopamine gradually declines
Persona
User Journey Map
Conclusion
According to the above research analysis, people often develop this desire to eat due to many external factors such as their surroundings, previous memories, or some tempting advertising pictures, etc. It is usually difficult to control themselves from not eating, so they develop unhealthy eating habits and always feel regret and emptiness after eating, leading people into a vicious cycle of eating
Design Opportunity
Therefore, we can help young people get rid of the worries caused by uncontrollable cravings by designing a combination of software and products that will allow people to easily reduce their food cravings through my design
-Slowing down the production of dopamine
-Cultivate good eating habits
-Reducing the influence of external factors
-Keeping young people's appetites in check
-Weakens the emptiness and regret people feel after eating
Ideation
System Logic Map
Solution
Appearance
Combined with function, it is designed into a triangle with a strong sense of composition, and it is divided into multiple parts, each part displays different content, so that users can understand their physical condition more comprehensively. Structurally, a simple telescopic structure is used to drive the screen change
Function
Users can first see their entire current appearance in front of the closed screen. Then every three pieces of screens in each direction are separated, which are the overall preview, the internal organs prediction and the detail prediction.When users walk up to the screen in three different directions, they can see themselves in five years, fifteen years and thirty years
Material and color
I choose a bright and transparent pink screen to echo the main body of the diet and attract people's attention, while the structure is made of black frosted metal
Logic Theory
Structure
Wireframes
UI Design
Prototype
Model Making Journey
1-Laser cutting of acrylic sheets for each component
2-Assembly of the components of the internal support structures
3-Assembly of internal support structures with small motors
4-Cutting and assembly of the motor placements
5-Initial cutting of displays in three directions
6-Final cutting and assembly of the displays
7-Function test after assembly
Coding
Interaction Process
Final Outcome
The three screens are divided to show information such as future prediction images, details of internal organs and basic body data
Reflection
In our modern, diverse society, people are keen to be in control of their desires. But in reality, they are not in human’s complete control. Therefore I have found that it’s very effective to make people aware of the consequences of not controlling their desires by presenting images or data that directly show the seriousness of the consequences
This device I have designed is aim to help people predict their future health through a concept similar to a intelligent mirror, as a reminder to change their eating habits. The device will be placed in a public gallery-like setting, where visitors can stop and explore. The software component will also help people to check their health anytime, anywhere
If it can be improved, We should think about how we can attract more users to interact with the device, as well as enhancing the visual impact of the predictive image effects
