How do you ensure you create a broad and imaginative selection of ideas for your project?
Lecture Notes
What methods and approaches do you take to aid idea generation and an in-depth project outcome?
Torsten Posselt – Need a strategy to structure process as lots will happen along the way. He likes to prototype and play with it- challenge it. Failing is fine. Not thinking too much, just try things out. Failing is very important part of designers work as it helps you to learn. As long as you analyse the failure, you leaner more than you do from success. Use your hands- do something. Failing and analysing is the key.
Matthew Jones – Analyse brief and do a workshop. Look at imagery, do some tests. A project needs to say one thing well. Triagulate – look at the brief from three angles. Their view, the clients view and the consumers view.
Wouter Dirks – Describe in words what the project is. Add research. Then do a big brainstorm. Going wide and then involving the client to see what fits them best
Stijn Van de Ven – Make as much in an hour without thinking too much – stops you getting stuck in your own ideas. Separate the making from the critique of it. Write before you design – really write down the idea until it makes total sense.
Luke Veerman – Take it further than the client wants, easier to scale down than grow it. It good to work with another person to challenge yourself a bit more. Get other people involved as early as possible, UX, developer etc.
Lecture Reflection
This weeks lecture bought up lots of interesting ideas about how to generate ideas. Torsten Posselt talks about the importance of failure and analysing what didn’t work as a way to move forwards towards good ideas. All the designers touch on the importance of brainstorming all their ideas and how this is often best done in a group.
I think Stijn van de Ven’s ideas of taking an hour and without thinking too much, just create as much as you can. I think this is a really good starting point to get ideas flowing without your critique of your ideas holding you back.
Development
Thinking about my mission statement I drew out words that I felt were the most important themes to ensure my project hit.
- Connecting
- Simplifying
- Guiding
- Human-centred
- Calming
- Approachable
- Empowered
- Positive
I think the idea of connection is vital in this project. At its most basic I need my design to connect people to mental health services, and I want this process to be as easy as possible. I thought about the word connection and wrote down some things that came to mind.
I felt as if I was struggling with where to go next in my ideation process, so thinking back to the first module and the ideation process I looked at of using creativity to build more creativity, I started sketching without a real purpose creating drawings that made me think of connection.
I then brainstormed some ideas to try and decide where my project should go.
Project Directions
I brainstormed ideas about how to connect people with their local mental health services.
1- WEBSITE. I was drawn to the idea of a website platform for my project as the majority of people I spoke to told me that google was the first place they looked for mental health support and that what was currently on offer was quite confusing.
It seems like a good way to create a clear and user-friendly first step towards accessing support, that allows people to be understood, educated, empowered and directed towards support all in one simple and easy to navigate place. It can also be done in the comfort of their own homes, so no need to worry about embarrassment or stigma.
2- EVENT. I played around with thinking about how events or exhibitions in the city could bring attention to mental health services and flip the narrative on mental health, making it something to be openly discussed and the services celebrated.
I could create a Mental Health festival with relaxing and restorative instillations, wellbeing and breathing classes and stalls from local services. It would educate the local people about what was available, bring all services together and turn mental health from something secret and embarrassing into something normal and accepted.
I think this could be really interesting to pursue, but may not help to simplify accessing mental health support as everything around the events or exhibition may act as distractions and complications to the main message. It also may feel off-putting for some people to attend who are still struggling with the stigma related to mental health.
3- MENTAL HEALTH SURGERY. A lot of people in my survey and in other conversations I had mentioned negative experiences with going to a GP to ask for support. I think this stems from GP’s and doctors surgeries being set up with physical health problems in mind. They are lacking personality and very clinical and cold. GP’s are also not specifically trained in how to deal with mental health issues and unless they have a personal interest, so are not always the best person to talk to.
This drew me to the idea of creating a mental health surgery. A physical location in the city that is designed around mental health, created to feel welcoming and where the staff are trained specifically in knowing how to help people who are struggling with their mental health. It could fill the gap of a GP but offer people a more positive and welcoming first experience, while pointing them towards the best solution for them.
I think this is something that is so needed and would create a lot of change within mental health and the support available. However, it is such a big project and something that would require a lot of investment and be hard to sustain unless picked up by the government. As much as I love this idea and would be interested in creating it in a speculative way, for this project I am really interested in making something that could actually be implemented right away and would create a positive impact.
4- VR MENTAL HEALTH SPACE. I could create this building as a VR space which would make it more viable in some ways, but also loose the personal touch and alienate people who were uncomfortable using technology or unable to access it.
5- UNIVERSAL SYMBOL. The city of Southampton, where I am focusing on initially for this project, is a very multicultural place. Many residents don’t have English as their first language and it is many of these residents who are also on low income and struggle to access support from public services. It may be the case that many of these people struggle to work out where they can go for support and what is available and a text based solution isn’t particularly helpful for them.
This drew me towards the idea of creating a universal symbol for mental health that could be understood by all regardless of language spoken. There are not many universal symbols in existence but some such as the hospital symbol are implemented around the globe to help people access necessary physical health care. Mental health can also require such necessary desperate support at times and a symbol would help it become more accessible to all.
I think this idea is really interesting and when I mentioned it in the crits it got a good response from others. I think there is need in the world for this. However, it doesn’t really answer the brief I have set myself and doesn’t help to alleviate the confusion around what support is available and relevant to people.
What to take forwards
Of these ideas I think the ones I would be able to realise more fully and that sit best alongside my question and mission statement are the website idea and the event. I decided to elaborate further on these ideas to see how I could realise them.
WEBSITE. In my research last week I came across a series of questionnaires used by doctors to diagnose people with certain mental health conditions. I could use these and translate them into a simple quiz or AI conversation that would give the website an indication of what the user is struggling with and be able to make an informed decision as to where to point them.
I want to make the process as easy as possible, so someone is able to find relevant support in the fewest number of clicks. I would need to use very accessible and friendly language. This process would also involve looking into web design and UX design which is something I have not explored before, so will definitely push me out of my comfort zone.
EVENT. I would focus this event in the city of Southampton, taking over a local park or green space that often hosts events. (a natural setting would be key as nature has an important role to pay in mental health)
It would bring together all the local mental health services, NHS or private into one space to work together towards a single goal. This should break down any rivalry between different charities or services and allow them to meet, collaborate and improve the mental health services in the area together in a holistic way.
It would celebrate our diversities and differences, celebrate our journeys and celebrate the people and services that offer support.
- There could be small pods for private consultations with a booked time slot, to allow a initial consultation with a professional to find out what support you need.
- There could be inspirational talks from people who advocate for mental health.
- Educational talks busting myths around certain conditions and treatment options.
- Wellbeing sessions giving people the tools to improve their day to day wellbeing.
There are similar things to this around already: https://aitmfestival.com/about-us/
Branding
To create this website or the event I would also need a brand and a story to centre it around, so I started thinking about potential names and drawings that could help with my visual direction.
Names:
- Calm
- Easy simple
- Natural
- Person centered
- Friend
- Support, guide – famous guides? Mythology?
- Protect
- On your side
- Together
- Soft, welcoming word, curvy
Reflection
I struggled not to jump ahead this week and focus too heavily on the outcome of this project. I also felt tempted to take up my first idea without properly exploring other idea and alternatives. However, I pushed myself to explore more options and this proved really interesting and useful. After this process I think my original idea is still the most relevant to my project and will probably be the one I take forwards, but I will be able to draw upon the other ideas I explored and can move forwards feeling more secure in the idea that this is the best route for my project.
Lizzie Wa Design 
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