Blossom
Work-Life Balance / Interaction Design
Skills
Survey Design
User Interview
Research Analysis
Mechanism Design
My Role
User Researcher
Product Designer
Duration
2022/07 ~ 2022/11
Members
Myself
Yong-Wei Tian
Shu-Ting Chen
Che-An Liu
Ling-Chen Liu
Liang-Jin Chen
Project Overview
We aim to address the imbalance in work-life balance that has emerged in the post-pandemic era. By encouraging users to pause work and take a walk when it's time to rest, the project helps them distinguish between work and rest, allowing for proper moments of relaxation.
This project was awarded the Best Demo Award at the Open HCI '22 workshop and was exhibited at TAICHI and CSCW.
Design Challenge
How can we help remote workers become aware of their mental state and encourage them to set aside work to take a break?
Blooming State
"Blossom" blooms with its LED light glowing blue, indicating that the user is currently in a stable mental state.
If the user's stress levels are detected to be high, the Blossom gradually wilts, and the LED light changes to a red glow.
Wilting State
"Blossom" wilts with its LED light glowing red, indicating that the user may be under excessive stress and needs to take a proper break.
When the user takes a break and gets sunlight exposure, "Blossom" blooms again, with the LED light gradually transitioning back to blue.
Project Background
In 2022, as the COVID-19 pandemic gradually subsided, many companies began adopting hybrid or fully remote work models, bringing increased attention to "Work-Life Balance." Effectively managing work time is a crucial factor in achieving work-life balance while working from home (Maruyama et al., 2009).
Failure to manage time effectively can lead to psychological detachment, resulting in stress, fatigue, disrupted sleep, and even reduced work efficiency. Furthermore, remote work may offer fewer opportunities for interaction, leading to a lack of social support.
43.8%
of remote workers in the post-pandemic era felt that working from home blurred the boundaries between work and personal time, often leading to longer working hours.
of workers reported feeling emotionally strained due to being constantly on call.
38.4%
According to a 2022 survey report by 104 Job Bank
Understanding the imbalance
User Interview and Survey
To understand the characteristics of remote workers in Taiwan, we distributed a survey in relevant online communities and received over 70 responses. Additionally, we conducted in-depth interviews with five remote workers to explore their daily lives, experiences, and physical/mental states while working from home.
Insight & Analysis
According to the research results, we identified the most pressing issues faced by remote workers and outlined three key opportunities: stress management, work efficiency, and team dynamics.
Remind users when it's time to rest and create a relaxing atmosphere to distinguish rest from work.
Enhance the work atmosphere to shift mindset and improve focus.
Affinity diagram of interview and surveydata (using Figjam)
increase group pressure during WFH (sense of community, formality, and professionalism)
Meet Our Target User
Persona
By analyzing the data from five interview participants and survey results, we identified a target user through a persona spectrum. This user frequently faces physical and mental challenges while working from home and hopes to establish clear boundaries between work and rest.
Amanda's work day at home
User Journey Map
Based on the persona, we have created a detailed user journey map that describes the daily routine and feelings of working from home. We aim to focus on preventing work from causing excessive mental stress and establishing a clearer boundary between work and rest to achieve work-life balance.
How can the Blossom helps workers?
Solutions
By detecting heart rate variability (HRV), visualize the remote worker's current stress level. Use the wilting of a flower and changes in light to prompt the worker to become aware of their stress and step outside to get some sunlight. As the flower blooms again, it encourages the worker to rest and recharge.
Target Problem
Unable to recognize their own mental state
Solution
Provide emotional state reminders through ambient notifications.
Continuous work leads to emotional tension and lack of rest
Blurred boundaries between work and rest in terms of space and time
Recharge through rest to maintain optimal work performance.
Distinguish the boundaries between work and rest by stepping outside to bask in the sunlight.
Visualizing Stress and Reviving with Sunlight
This project transforms stress into a tangible, visual experience. A paper flower serves as a medium, wilting as stress accumulates and blooming again when exposed to sunlight, symbolizing recovery and renewal.
Make the paper flower bloom with life.
Mechanism Design
By integrating the following technologies and materials, we created an adorable flower pot that wilts as stress builds up and blooms when energy is restored.
Created a simple flower prototype using paper and bamboo chopsticks, attaching the calyx to a movable ring that expands or contracts the petals when the ring is pulled up or down.
When the LED displays red, the motor rotates to loosen the string connecting the bud, creating a wilting effect. When the LED turns blue, the string tightens to make the flower bloom.
A photoresistor detects whether the flowerpot is exposed to sunlight, and an MPU-6050 serves as a pedometer. Step count data is transmitted via UART to an Arduino, which controls the overall logic to determine whether the flower blooms again.
From Stress to Blossom: The Journey of the Flower
Interactive Flow
Detect Mental State
Connecting the Wearable Device to the Blossom
and the flower lights up green, indicating normal status.
The device detects the user's heart rate to assess their mental state.
Provide Tension Alerts
When stress is detected, the flower's light changes to red, and the petals wilt to signal the user's tense state.
Guide to Take a Break
The user is encouraged to take a break by:Stepping outside with the flower for sunlight exposure.
If the user does not rest after a certain period, the system activates additional prompts: Vibrating or flashing lights on the flower.
End of Rest, Bloom again
After completing the break activity, the flower regains vitality, blooms, and lights up green again, indicating recovery.
Bringing the designs to life & hearing from the users!
Testing and Feedbacks
At the end of the project, we were able to exhibit our design concept at an exhibition of 2000+ viewers, where users can actually interact freely with Blossom. Ultimately, we won the Best Overall Award and were recommended to showcase our prototype and poster at the TAICHI and CSCW exhibitions.
