The UX of Boredom
- Ava Shepherd
- Oct 31, 2021
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 3, 2022
Designers: Doris Alvarez, Bala Chander, Jinqi Han, Zhe Lou, Ava Shepherd
Brief
For this brief we had to design an experience that expresses the value of boredom. Boredom can feel different to everyone, for some it can be uncomfortable and even unbearable, when for others it can be peaceful and feel like time to process your thoughts. Deciding which side we wanted to express is the key thing. As this was our first two week brief we were all very eager to jump right in and see what we could come up with.
For this brief we additionally have to use two new types of research methods to help guide our work. Directed storytelling and Prototyping.
Directed Storytelling
After reading the brief our group quickly started brainstorming the different ways we could express boredom. As a group we quickly recognised that what we find boring differs significantly between us all. For example: I find queuing and waiting in line a really boring task that just feels like wasting time. However, others in the group felt like it often gave them a moment to relax during the day when they are busy. From this we decided we would all do some directive storytelling with people outside of our course to see how boredom is experienced by a variation of different people.
The results from our directed storytelling was our key influence for our first interim presentation in week 1. After sharing our findings as a team and comparing the different ways people experience boredom, we plucked the most interesting answers and used them as a basis for our experience.
We decided that we wanted to focus on the concept of time and how boredom is able to manipulate the feeling of it. In order to communicate this concept we designed an experience where a user would experience two different situations and state when they believed a minute had passed. One of the situations was watching a highly visual and entertaining music video, where the other was to stare at a blank wall. Participants would experience one of each situation and the same time and then switch once they had finished their ‘minute’.
Feedback / moving forward
We received a lot of feedback from this experience, the main point being that we created an experiment and not an experience. Instead of exploring an idea through design, we were creating a hypothesis and proving it with our design. This was really vital feedback as it was not something we had considered before it was pointed out to us. Additionally once this issue was highlighted we could not un see it and it shaped the rest of our design process from then on.
Another key piece of feedback that we received was to consider who says what is boring and what isn’t? Even though we had already previously understood that everyone finds different things boring, we still went ahead and told people that staring at a wall is boring, when in fact it may not be for everyone. This also really changed the way we thought about this brief and what it means to be bored.
Week 2:
Starting fresh
Following our first presentation our group was feeling a bit unmotivated. We got stuck in the cycle of creating experiments and were not sure how to come out of this pattern. This is when we realised we had not yet experimented with the research method of prototyping and that it would likely be a beneficial task for us moving forward.
Prototyping
Listening to the feedback from our first presentation we decided to change our concept to focus on how being bored feels. What does it do to people? What characteristics do we feel when bored? We came to the conclusion that it often makes us feel heavy and slow. Boredom is often this thing you carry around for long periods of time and makes you demotivated / unproductive. You often feel like you have lots of options around you to relieve this boredom such as eating, reading, cleaning etc. However, these are all temporary fixes and often leave us feel unsatisfied. This is because when we are bored, we become removed from our interests and projects. They begin to lack meaning for us (Hains, 2015).
Greenson (1953) discusses how often boredom often feels empty and that "the self is sensed as heavy, weighted or low" (p.16)
From this concept we decided to prototype a heavy boredom coat. We wanted to weight down the coat with these everyday items that distract us and give temporary relief.
Final Presentation
To present this idea we decided to call up a volunteer and wear the coat. We then proceeded to blindfold them and slowly make the coat heavy. We decided to both blindfold the person and add the items while they were wearing it for two reasons. First we wanted to show how you don’t see this feeling of boredom coming, it slowly builds and then before you know it your whole body is ‘heavy’ with boredom. Secondly we decided to add the items one by one to reenforce this concept and ensure the participant felt light at the start and slowly felt heavier.
Feedback / reflection
Following our presentation we received a few key points about how we could have developed our experience further. The main focus was on how we needed more 'layers' in this project. How would it have been different if we added the weight in ‘layers’, and each layer had a different meaning and general relationship to boredom. Eg: quick and easy relief goes first like food and then is followed by activities such as reading and knitting.
I think this was very fair feedback for our group and showed me how prototypes need to be done a few times to get to your final goal. It is ok to try multiple different things and see where it takes you. Just because it works the first time, does not always mean it is the right end goal.
Bibliography
Greenson, R.R., 1953. On boredom. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 1(1), pp.7-21.
Haines, B, 2015, The Quiet Alarm. https://aeon.co/essays/life-without-
boredom-would-be-a-nightmare
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