Chapters authored
MindFull: Tableware to Manipulate Sensory Perception and Reduce Portion Sizes
Rising obesity levels across the world are a major threat to health, well-being and the economy. Reducing the amount we eat is difficult. This is partly because consciously controlling our eating typically increases the amount we eat. The paper presents the MindFull tableware—a new design for tableware to help people to reduce portion sizes effectively and unconsciously. MindFull designs exploit a range of features of our sensory perception identified from psychological research literature. Initial experiments show encouraging results for the design and suggest several directions for future development, research and applications for the design findings.
Part of the book: Proceedings of the Conference on Design and Semantics of Form and Movement
Investigating and Designing the Appearance of a Device for Facilitating Pelvic Floor Exercises: A Case Study on Design Sensitivity for Women’s Healthcare
Pelvic floor disorder (PFD) refers to a weakened or damaged muscle structure affecting the self-esteem, confidence and social participation of affected women. With appropriate training, the weakened muscles can be strengthened, but for a long-term improvement the women need to be actively engaged in the process. While there exists a range of devices that can intra-vaginally measure pelvic floor activation and help women do their exercises, it is unclear how the appearance of the devices may affect women’s willingness to use them. We believe that a further understanding around the appearance of these devices may help women feel more comfortable using them, therefore helping them care for their health. We carried out interviews and online questionnaires with women (n:70) who use the devices and clinicians (n:4). We report on identified areas where the appearance of devices is important for women. We present the iterative design process and evaluation of a system aimed at facilitating self-directed pelvic floor management based on this research. We suggest that discrepancies in the responses from participants call for personalisation of the device to meet individual user expectations and increase the design sensitivity when designing for smart devices that help women care for their health.
Part of the book: Proceedings of the Conference on Design and Semantics of Form and Movement