THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE OF
WEARING FOOD
TUTORS DR. JOHN FASS | DR. EVA VERHOEVEN | MOR BAKAL | EMILY GROVES
RESEARCH QUESTION
What does the experience of wearing a device that delivers proteins to the body look like, and in which ways does it affect other areas of human life?
OUTCOMES
A research method proposal for design research for speculative futures;
A concept wearable device.
MA UX DESIGN FINAL MAJOR PROJECT
In a dystopian - yet not unlikely - future, where a virus destroys human capacity to digest proteins, there is the urgent need to design an alternative way to get the essential nutrient. Maybe through the skin? Could humans ever wear their food? How could designers approach this issue?
CONTEXT
DURATION
5 months - July/2019 to November/2019
RESEARCH METHODS USED
| Literature Review
| Practice Review
| AEIOU Framework
| Prototyping
| Collaborative Design Workshop + Design Fiction
PROCESS
| Intensive desk research on areas I was previously not familiar with, such as biochemistry, nutrition, nanotechnology, biomaterials, philosophy of technology, transhumanism and posthumanism;
| Practice review on previous art and design works touching the subject of body augmentation or modification;
| Collaboration with specialists in the aforementioned fields;
| The combination of two different qualitative research methods - design fiction and collaborative design - into one in order to investigate a speculative future;
| A thorough analysis of the artefacts created in the speculative design workshop, culminating in the extraction of their design principles;
| The translation of said design principles into a piece of conceptual wearable device;
| An argument in favour of the de-hierarquisation of design methods in order to spark meaningful conversations with all involved.
MORE INFO
Click on the links below to be redirected to my blog if you're interested to read more about this project.
Initial Design Explorations Phase
Collaborative Speculative Design Session
Final Outcome and Considerations
SOFTWARES USED
Adobe XD | Adobe Photoshop | Adobe Illustrator | Adobe Premiere | Adobe Audition