Communicating Ideas¶
S1: Storytelling¶
Golden Circle¶
Why: MY goal is about diving deep into conversations about the ethical implications of blending transhumanism with mental health tech. It’s crucial to me to preserve human values and identity while riding the wave of technological advancement. I firmly believe in safeguarding our unique essence, identity, and mental well-being amidst this tech boom.
How: I want to dive into interdisciplinary collaboration, get creative with design, and dive into social and cultural dynamics. I want to challenge perceptions and prompt some serious self-reflection through immersive experiences. I’ll blend design thinking, ethical exploration, and tech innovation to create interventions that get people thinking critically and considering ethics on technology.
What: My purpose is to create immersive installations, interactive experiences, and tech artifacts that make people talk and reflect about where humanity meets tech. Expect prototypes, exhibitions, and multimedia materials that kickstart discussions on the future of human identity and mental health in our tech-centric world.
Stakeholders¶
My project delves into ethical reflections and societal impacts, aiming to ignite meaningful conversations about transhumanism and technology. To ensure a comprehensive approach to addressing the complexities surrounding the integration of technology into human identity and experience, I seek to engage a diverse array of stakeholders.
At this moment, I identify stakeholders to be crucial to project development primarily within academia, government, and industry. The technological industry provides invaluable insights and advancements that can be applied to my project, while academia aids in conceptualizing the topic. Government involvement is vital for formulating policies necessary to navigate humanity’s course among technological advancement. As the project matures and becomes more tangible, engaging media and broader communities will become more feasible. However, my current challenge is to narrow the project’s focus to specific communities given its broad scope in the realm of technology and humanism.
My objective isn’t merely to interact with specific organizations concerning cultural and civic concepts; rather, it’s about drawing inspiration from them to deepen my understanding of humanity’s essence and preservation and to create artifacts that help people through their mental health journey. Although the project currently lacks significant economic objectives, investor engagement may become relevant in the future. I anticipate that my stakeholders will evolve and change as I progress further into this project.
S2: Brand Persona¶
Visual Workspace¶
Throughout this course, we explored a stakeholders radar tool designed to help us evaluate the tone, voice, and vision of our project. This tool, commonly utilized in business settings to define communication strategies, was adapted for our assignment to align with our project’s objectives. However, applying it to my project posed a unique challenge. Unlike typical business applications aimed at selling products or services, my project focuses on stimulating reflection rather than commercial transactions. Consequently, translating a reflective tone into a tool primarily designed for sales and marketing communication has been proved to be complicated.
As I delve deeper into the tools provided, I aim to offer more detailed insights and expand upon their application within the context of my project.
Access our Miro Board to learn more about my Visual Workspace.
Before delving into the tone of voice of my project and the emotions I aim to evoke, it’s important to clarify my overarching vision. Essentially, my goal is to pave the way for a future where technology serves as a tool to enhance mental well-being while preserving individuality. To achieve this, I prioritize the development and utilization of ethical technology that places humans at the forefront.
The most important thing is the promotion of happiness while upholding principles of honesty and respect for each individual. Additionally, I aspire to create technology that not only allows individuals to maintain their uniqueness but also fosters connections within the community.
In essence, my project seeks to use the potential of technology to empower individuals, promote well-being, and cultivate a sense of belonging within a supportive community framework. After promoting these technologies, I also want to understand and reflect on the impact of them in me and within this community.
My Tandem Project: Personality¶
How will my project act?
When envisioning the persona of my project, I drew inspiration from the character Janet from the series “The Good Place.” Much like Janet, an artificial intelligence embodied in human form, my project aims to offer comfort, support, and address various needs. Given its focus on mental health, I recognize the importance of maintaining a serious tone that respects the sensitivity of the issue.
While seriousness is essential, I also strive for an energetic tone that is easily digestible, capturing people’s attention and engaging them in the subject matter. The goal is to encourage reflection on the intersection of mental health and technology, challenging conventional perceptions and fostering dialogue about the future.
Despite the project’s focus on mental health, it’s crucial to emphasize its altruistic intent. By aiming to create technology that genuinely improves mental well-being, the project stands as a beacon of progressiveness, taking into account the diverse individual needs.
Ultimately, my project serves as a bold reflection tool, prompting individuals to question society’s current understanding of mental health and explore how technology can contribute to its enhancement.
How will my project talk?
The tone of my project should embody honesty, proactivity, and a touch of sarcasm. The core idea revolves around developing technologies initially aimed at improving mental health. However, there’s an underlying uncertainty about whether these innovations might pose future problems. Essentially, I want people to perceive the technologies I’m developing as beneficial for society while also questioning their long-term implications.
Consider, for instance, the use of a brain implant to alleviate depression. While it may appear promising at first glance, the potential risks associated with such invasive interventions cannot be overlooked. Thus, I aim for a tone that subtly challenges perceptions, prompting individuals to reflect on the true nature of what I’m proposing – whether it’s ultimately advantageous or detrimental.
How would you like your stakeholder to feel??
When it comes to identifying an archetype for my project, it’s a bit challenging as I resonate with various defined archetypes. Ultimately, I want people to connect with a project that is honest and simple yet fosters change and liberation for the community. Additionally, for this project to succeed, it requires originality and imagination. However, discussing the potential fears coming from my project underscores the inherent complexity of technology. The fact that we all belong to the same community and use technology collectively can make us dependent and at risk of losing exclusivity. Furthermore, addressing the topic of mental health may also lead to specific isolation for each individual.
Similarly, if I had to choose a specific archetype, I would opt for the Innocent. Ultimately, what I aim for is to explore spirituality in a simple and honest manner, while utilizing technology, which is complex and can sometimes deceive.
S3: Transmedia Storytelling¶
My audience¶
When considering four target audiences to communicate this project, the first and most straightforward group would be the academic community. Given its innovative nature and technological requirements, it naturally aligns with academic research and thesis projects. However, effectively communicating with academics presents a challenge, as it’s all too easy to drown in complex terminology and abstract ideas. Nevertheless, the objective remains clear: to prompt individuals to critically evaluate the ethics of technology within their research endeavors and to inspire responsible and ethical knowledge creation.
Furthermore, engaging with the technology industry, which is already focused on projects to enhance mental health, is very important. While this sector may prioritize technological advancements over ethical considerations, the goal is to introduce a renewed emphasis on ethical principles and responsible innovation. Ultimately, the aim is to forge a future where technology serves humanity as a whole, transcending individual interests.
Moreover, reaching out to the healthcare community, particularly within mental health, is essential. Although this group may encounter challenges in integrating technology due to its subjective nature, there lies an opportunity to encourage its adoption as a means of improving mental health outcomes. It’s imperative for the psychology community to embrace technology as a tool for fostering individual well-being.
Lastly, targeting the general public, particularly the younger generation, is crucial. While the concept of transhumanism remains relatively obscure, Generation Z, having grown up in the digital age, harbors deep concerns about mental health. Thus, this project serves as a catalyst for reflection, motivating individuals to envision and create technology that not only enhances mental health but also fosters stronger community bonds.
The overarching message is clear: to inspire each of these communities to envision a future where technology and ethics intersect to uplift mental health and well-being for individuals and society at large.
S4: Last Class¶
Summary of my project¶
Final Reflection¶
This subject has been a valuable tool for me to consider the purpose of my project during the second trimester. Throughout this period, we’ve had numerous moments where we participated in various seminars, attempting to apply what I envisioned for my thesis. However, none of the classes specifically helped us identify the objective of our projects and the audience we aimed to impact. Utilizing the tools provided proved challenging, especially since I made the decision early on not to create a product as a designer. Instead, I want to generate interventions, events, or objects that stimulate reflection on leveraging technology to enhance mental health and prompt people to question its implications.
I found that these tools were more geared toward a sales or marketing tone, which didn’t align with my intentions. Nevertheless, as I approach the second year of the master’s program, I see potential in utilizing these tools to refine and expand my thesis project. While they currently serve as a means for reflection, I anticipate their usefulness will evolve as my project progresses. Reflecting on my experiences, I believe these tools would be better suited for use once I have a clear understanding of my project’s direction. Once I solidify my ideas and begin development, it would be beneficial to outline stakeholders, planning, vision, and more for me to execute in the second year. Despite the challenges of adapting these marketing-oriented tools to a thesis project, I’m eager to reuse them in different contexts and apply them to expanding my project next year.
Additionally, while this subject focused on communication, I felt that I lacked the practical application of communication skills this trimester. The interventions and designs I worked on highlighted the need for me to first gain a deeper understanding of the technologies I want to explore and mental health concepts before effectively communicating my project. Therefore, I anticipate that these tools will be more beneficial in the third trimester as I transition from research to implementation. My focus moving forward will be on implementing the plans I’ve developed this trimester rather than continuing with my current approach.
Tandem Project:¶
First Meeting¶
During the Tandem Project, we established continuous communication to provide mutual support. Our journey of discovering which topics to explore was quite complex, especially for my partner, who changed topics during this last trimester. Instead of merely documenting our conversations and attempting to add more information to our thesis discussions, we focused on supporting each other to generate ideas and explore new perspectives. Our aim was to inspire each other to delve deeper into specific subjects.
Hence, this first video serves as documentation of our thesis creation process and our communicative approach. However, numerous conversations followed, but undocumented, as formal documentation through audio or video recording implies a level of seriousness and planning that diverged from our desired thesis approach.
In essence, our Tandem Project relationship revolved around mutual support, aiding one another in the creative process. This was achieved in a less structured manner, occurring at various moments and with a sense of spontaneity. As we enter this next trimester, I believe we can now more clearly develop our ideas and continue to provide support to each other in a more organized way.
Pictorial¶
The Pictorial will be uploaded by the 8th of April