With our background, site, and user research complete, we have collected 3 key insights that are driving the design direction for our project:

Our design challenge is:

How can we create a moment of escape for students studying inside the masters homebase (MHB), by drawing them outside and engaging them in calming ritual or ludic play?

Using this design challenge to guide ideation, we engaged in a brain writing exercise to identify some initial ideas. This involved recording 3 ideas in 6 rounds so that we could bounce of each other. The total number of ideas generated was 18, but some of these shared common themes. The outcome of the brain writing exercise can be seen in the image below.

We then identified ideas worth exploring in more detail:

1. Projection Mapping, manipulated with an instrument/ device/ control panel. This idea aims to get students to focus on something else for a moment, where the projection mapping art is interesting, and the controller encourages exploration and simple creativity. This encourages engagement in ludic play by allowing them to manipulate the art. The idea was mentioned in different versions throughout the brain writing exercise:
   • Projection mapping with a hand held device controller
   • Projection mapping with a control panel on the windows inside
   • Projection mapping with an instrument where the user creates their own music
   • All ideas free standing or laying on bean bags
   • All ideas with and without headphones
2. Breathing Visualiser: students often use the balcony just to get some fresh air. Breathing exercises are also known to be useful for stress management, and would facilitate the moment of escape we are aiming for. By visualising this, one person becomes sort of a performer and others may be encouraged to ‘take a breather’ as well.
3. Whack-a-mole: this concept is a fun way to interact with the unique shapes in the Hex-Box structure.

Next Steps

Within the next week we aim to select an idea out of the 3 listed above by using a decision matrix, create a project plan for the remaining workload, and start to sketch out the specific elements of the chosen idea in preparation for prototyping.