TDD520- Communication device with a trans-

generational element

Orb - Communicating a sense of calm - aimed at

helping with sufferers of depression, anxiety and
panic attacks

Nancy Rae O’Connor

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1 in 4 people suffer from mental illness in the UK – around
15 million people. That’s potentially 1 in 4 people you know.

Source: Time to Change ‘I quit my job because of mental health stigma’. [Online]. https://www.time-to-change.
org.uk/blog/i-quit-my-job-because-mental-health-stigma [14th January 2019]
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Anxiety is a normal, if unpleasant, part of life, and it can
affect us all in different ways and at different times.

Source: Anxiety U.K. ‘Anxiety Conditions’. [Online]. https://www.anxietyuk.org.uk/get-help/anxiety-information/

[11th January 2019] 4
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“Whether you’ve got a mild anxiety disorder or a
very very severe disorder and no matter whether
you’ve had it for ten minutes or forty years, actually
anxiety is a very treatable condition and you can
improve.”
Lynne Drummond, Consultant Psychiatrist, St. George’s Hospital, London

NHS. (7th April 2009). Anxiety|NHS. Available at https://www.anxietyuk.org.uk/get-help/anxiety-information/ [7th

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June 2019]
 Figure 1 Screenshot from How to Relax Youtube Video

In this video, the charity Mind lists ‘8 Relaxation tips to help you look after your wellbeing when you’re stressed, busy or worried’. I have chosen to focus this project around four
of these ideas:

1- Take a break - take some time away from your normal routines or thoughts... even if it’s only for a few minutes
2 - Focus on your breathing - learning to breathe more deeply can make you feel a lot calmer and increase your sense of wellbeing
3 - Try active relaxation
4 - Use a guided meditation exercise
FIGURE 1 Mind. (13th October 2015). How to relax | 8 relaxation tips for your mental health. Available at https:// 7
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyEdZ23Cp1E [13th June 2019]
User Insights

Depression in children and teenagers Depression in the elderly

“Depression doesn’t just affect adults. Children and teenagers can “Depression is more common than many people realise - it affects
get depressed too. 1 in 5 people and is more common in later life.” 1
Some studies show that almost one in four young people will
experience depression before they are 19 years old.”1

Sufferers of depression often have struggles with anxiety too; this

can be for any number of reasons. However once the triggers
are pinpointed, it is possible to try and combat them - therefore
reducing the anxiety.

Anxiety, depression and panic attacks can be experienced at any

point in someones life; whether it be by yourself or someone close
to you.

Although it can often be something that we have a lot of

sympathy for, it is something that there can also be a large
misunderstanding of.

Designing something that can help users of all ages - helping them
to relieve some of the pressure that they feel when they are down,
worried and anxious.

1 Age U.K. ‘Depression and Anxiety’. [Online]. https://www.

1 NHS . ‘Depression in Children and Teenagers’. [Online] ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/health-wellbeing/conditions-
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/children- illnesses/depression-anxiety/
depressed-signs/ [24th December 2018] [24th December 2018]

What are they looking for? What are they looking for?
-Something to help them calm down during moments of panic, -Something subtle, discreet, won’t draw much attention
stress and anxiety -Able to use in public situations such as in crowds, at work and
-Something to fidget with - repetitive movements providing a sense other equally stressful situations
of calm

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User Attributes -Seeing family and friends

-School -Eating

-Seeing friends after y s W -Watching T.V and films

d a ee
school
e k ke
e nd -Doing homework
W
-Sports/clubs s

-School
-CAMHS
-Tests and exams Help or private
Co

Young sufferers - aged 13-19 counselling

nt

-Bullying and peer

rib

pressure -Reducing time

ut

-Problems at spent on social

or

home media
s

-Avoidance
of stressful
situations

Money

-Financially dependant on parents/carers

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-May have a part time job
 -Seeing family and friends

-Housework
-Work
y s W -Watching T.V and films
-Seeing friends da ee
e k ke
e nd -Walking the dog
W
s

-Money worries

-Pressure at work
-Private
-Bullying Help counselling
Co

Older sufferers - aged 45 onwards

nt

-Bereavement -Medication/ self

rib

medication
ut

-Retirement
or

-Avoidance
s

-Lonliness of stressful
situations

Money

-Self sufficient for many years 10

Human Factors
-Functions – The product SHOULD be a hand held piece of
technology which communicates a sense of calm to its users. It
should encourage users to regulate their breathing and movement
and calm down in the context of their day-to-day lives. It COULD
transfer the data to an app which the users are then able to
access on their phones; which would then allow them to monitor
their progress.

-Features – The product should be able to monitor the use of the

product and track the users progress. In addition to having the
ability to send this data through to an app which could be used
on a smartphone or laptop. The product should not weigh too
much more than an apple as that is something that we all have
carried around and never thought that it was too heavy!

-Format – The product will be a standalone object which connects

with an app. The product will not have a right/wrong way to be
positioned, the user is able to choose how they hold and use the
product. However, I intend for there to be heart rate sensors. The
sensors will record information from the user and send it to the
app; offering the user the opportunity to track their progress .

How many bits are there? How are they arranged? Are they in the Figure 2 Human Factors Diagram
right place? Which way up? Can I stack it? Can I wear it?
Younger sufferers Older sufferers
-Size – Similar size, if not slightly smaller than a tennis ball

-Scale – I intend for the product to be a small, hand-held device

which would easily be able to fit into the pocket of a backpack or
a handbag. Suitable to be able to be used discreetly during day-
to-day activity

-Fit – The product is intended to be for everyday use or as and

when needed by the users
Something to fidget with
ABOVE ALL – What do our users WANT? What do our users NEED?
- repetitive movements
providing a sense of
calm
Something to help
them calm down Able to use in public
during moments of
situations such as in
panic, stress and
crowds, at work and
anxiety other equally stressful
situations
Something subtle,
discreet, won’t draw
much attention

Figure 3 Users wants vs needs

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FIGURE 2 Albert, J.D and Karn, K.S. ‘5 Steps to Usable Design’. Appliance Design. January 2014. Pp. 12-13.
Existing products

Currently there are quite a few products on the market which can offer some
relief to sufferers of anxiety, depression and panic attacks. However, very few of
these products have been designed with this user group in mind.

During my research, I found that the most popular products which offered relief
were:

-Fidget spinners
-Fidget cubes
-Blu Tack

I have found that often repetitive motions and sensory experiences can be quite
soothing.

Often people are told to count things to help calm themselves down

E.G Start counting everything. Count 5 things you can see, 4 you can touch, 3
you can hear, 2 you can smell, 1 you can taste. Focusing on things that are
real like your shirt on your skin.

Taking this information on, I would like to look at designing a product which
offers users such sensory experiences in order to direct users (back) into a
sense of calm

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Case Study - Spire,
wearable technology
-Co-founded by Neema Moraveji, head of the Calming
Technologies Lab at Stanford University

-Spire is “the first activity tracker for state of mind, breath,

and mindfulness”1

-Spire is a small device which can be attached to a

persons clothing and allows users to monitor their patterns
of breathing and movement in order to navigate a sense of
calm in their lives

-It also allows users to set goals for levels of calmness

-The data recorded by Spire is then sent to an app which

can be accessed on the users phone

-During the hustle and bustle of daily life, things can get
stressful; Spire recognises that and when it senses your
breathing becoming more fast paced, erratic or stressed,
will send you a notification encouraging you to take a step
back and have a moment of calm

-The app uses a calming voice to guide users through

short meditations to encourage them to refocus their
breathing and continue their day in a more calming manner

1 Moravegi, N. ‘Spiritual Technologies’. [Online] https://

www.spiritualtechnologies.io/speaker/neema-moraveji/ [7th
June 2019]

As with any piece of technology, particularly health related,

there are always going to be mixed reviews, however, I am
choosing to look more at the concept of this product; the
features and what it looks at providing people with.

Moraveji has really focused on the element of calm and

how to calm people down. Looking at the removal of the
“stressor” and introducing a “calmer”.

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“Taking a moment every day to do some deep
breathing can reduce stress, calm the body and
mind as well as having long term health benefits.
Deep breathing is one of the ways to evoke the
Relaxation Response...”
Dr. Herbert Benson, Director Emeritus, Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Loi, E. ‘The Apple Watch’s Breathe app is simply breathtaking’. [Online]. https://www.stuff.tv/my/features/apple-
16
watchs-breathe-app-simply-breathtaking-literally . [13th June 2019]
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Looking closer at the sensory aspect of the
product, could there be something for each
of the five senses?

-Sight
-Smell
-Sound
-Touch
-Taste

-Could it have something to try to calm

down someones breathing?

-Light getting brighter and then fading to

encourage the user to breathe in time with it
and just slow down a bit

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 Case Study - Relax, Fitbit ‘Guided Breathing Experience’ VS Breathe for Apple Watch
Relax - Fitbit ‘Guided Breathing Experience’
-There is a circle which gets bigger and smaller and instructs the user to breathe in and
out in time with the circle
-Helping with breathing regulation and deep breathing; guiding users to calm down
-Users have a choice of a 2 or 5 minute guided breathing exercise
-All notifications cease whilst user is participating in the meditation session
-The Fitbit has sensors on the underside which are in constant contact with the users
skin
-The product tracks the users pulse and monitors their breathing; the statistics of which
are recorded and sent through to an app on the users phone (ios or Android) so that
they can monitor their progress
-“Sixty-seven percent of people who use the personalized two-minute or five-minute
guided deep breathing sessions experienced a decrease in heart rate, according to Fitbit
data.”1
1 Konstantinovsky, M. ‘Could a Single Mindfulness Session Ease Your Anxiety?’.
[Online]. https://blog.fitbit.com/single-mindfulness-session/ . [8th June 2019]
Breathe for Apple Watch
-Very similar to ‘Relax’, the feature asks the user to bring their attention to their
breathing, really getting them to take a step back and really focus
-Inhaling and exhaling with the movements of the flowery circle which moves as the
meditation goes on
-Calls and messages are muted during the meditation session, however the session
also requires users to stay still whilst breathing; if the user moves too much during the
session, it will end automatically
-The setting reminds you to take time to do this every day and at the end of each
session, the user can then see the statistics of their heart rate and the progress they
are making
-The data again then gets sent through to an app on their phone through which they
can see the bigger picture of the progress that they are making
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Case Study - Insight Timer,
Meditation app for ios and
Android

-“a meditation app with over 6,000 available meditations, which can be filtered based on various criteria, e.g. meditation type and topic, popularity,
age, etc.”1

-Users can track their progress, such as the amount of consecutive days they have meditated for, the activity of their friends, create custom tracks
and participate in discussion forums

-“Home to millions of meditators, 3,000 meditation teachers, and over 15,000 free guided-meditations. The most popular free meditation app.”2

-Originally by Brad Fullmer but was bought by brothers Christopher and Nicholas Plowman, in April 2015, who then converted it into a free app

-The app made TIME magazine’s list of 50 best apps for 20163

1 psyberguide. ‘Insight Timer’. [Online] https://psyberguide.org/apps/insight-timer/ [10th January 2019]

2 Facebook. ‘Information’. [Online] https://www.facebook.com/pg/insighttimer/about/?ref=page_internal [10th January 2019]
3 TIME (Multiple authors). ‘The 50 Best Apps of the Year’. [Online] http://time.com/4549647/best-apps-year-2016/ [11th January 21
Format

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Initially, I had imagined that the product would be a completely
perfect sphere, just smaller than a tennis ball. However seeing how
it feels to hold a ping pong ball made me realise that it just was
not quite right. The shape did not feel nearly satisfying or soothing
enough whilst holding in moments of worry or anxiety.

Moving on to look at how longing a soft ball of string would feel.

That really got me questioning whether the ball really did have to be
spherical or even solid for that matter. Could it be soft and squishy?

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Found rocks from beaches around the World

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This stone has a shape which almost resembles a love heart. I found that it was
very satisfying to hold as there was a convenient place to push my thumb into. In
addition to this, if you were to hold it the other way around, the user could push
their palm into it and hold it tightly.

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Looking at this small stone, it has the
slightest ridge to it, which follows quite a
calming movement of stroking the thumb
across it.

I think following through with this motion

would be quite calming. Getting the user to
follow the ridge and really focus on that and
how it feels.

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Final Designs

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App Designs

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Orb App Mockup

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Bibliography
1 Albert, J.D and Karn, K.S. ‘5 Steps to Usable Design’. Appliance Design. January 2014. Pp. 12-13.

2 Age U.K. ‘Depression and Anxiety’. [Online]. https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/health-wellbeing/conditions-illnesses/depression-anxiety/

[24th December 2018]

3 Anxiety U.K. ‘Anxiety Conditions’. [Online]. https://www.anxietyuk.org.uk/get-help/anxiety-information/ [11th January 2019]

4 Facebook. ‘Information’. [Online] https://www.facebook.com/pg/insighttimer/about/?ref=page_internal [10th January 2019]

5 Konstantinovsky, M. ‘Could a Single Mindfulness Session Ease Your Anxiety?’. [Online]. https://blog.fitbit.com/single-mindfulness-session/ . [8th
June 2019]

6 Loi, E. ‘The Apple Watch’s Breathe app is simply breathtaking’. [Online]. https://www.stuff.tv/my/features/apple-watchs-breathe-app-simply-
breathtaking-literally . [13th June 2019]

7 Maldonado, L. and Chen, H. ‘Impact of Early Adolescent Anxiety Disorders on Self-Esteem Development From Adolescence to Young Adulthood’.
Journal of Adolescent Health. Volume 53, Issue 2, August 2013, Pages 287-292

8 Mind. (13th October 2015). How to relax | 8 relaxation tips for your mental health. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyEdZ23Cp1E
[13th June 2019]

9 Moravegi, N. ‘Spiritual Technologies’. [Online] https://www.spiritualtechnologies.io/speaker/neema-moraveji/ [7th June 2019]

10 NHS. (7th April 2009). Anxiety|NHS. Available at https://www.anxietyuk.org.uk/get-help/anxiety-information/ [7th June 2019]

11 NHS . ‘Depression in Children and Teenagers’. [Online] https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/children-depressed-signs/ [24th

December 2018]

12 NHS. ‘How to deal with panic attacks’. [Online] https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/coping-with-panic-attacks/ [7th June
2019]

13 Pinney, K.D. ‘What is Human Factors?’. [Online] https://sites.tufts.edu/katharinepinney/2018/02/08/what-is-human-factors/ [13th June 2019]

14 Psyberguide. ‘Insight Timer’. [Online] https://psyberguide.org/apps/insight-timer/ [10th January 2019]

15 TIME (Multiple authors). ‘The 50 Best Apps of the Year’. [Online] http://time.com/4549647/best-apps-year-2016/ [11th January]

16 Time to Change ‘I quit my job because of mental health stigma’. [Online]. https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/blog/i-quit-my-job-because-
mental-health-stigma [14th January 2019]

17 Willgress, L. ‘8 Best Mindfulness Apps’. [Online]. https://www.independent.co.uk/extras/indybest/gadgets-tech/phones-accessories/best-

mindfulness-apps-for-anxiety-free-sleep-iphone-top-for-kids-a8217931.html [7th June 2019]

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