The Dune of Mind
A virtual interactive sandplay that allows users to use the tactile function of their bodies
DURATION
4 months
2022 Summer
MY ROLE
End-to-end UX Designer
User Researcher
TEAM
1 Product Designer
2 User Researcher
1 UX Designer
ABOUT
Third Prize, National Global User Experience Innovation Competition
BACKGROUND
When our lives rely heavily on the Internet, we seem to have created some application where the digital environment replaces the physical environment, but we still find that this scenario has many problems.
One example of this is psychological counselling. It seems that it is well suited to the online world, but users have very poor experience when doing psychological counselling on the internet.
PROBLEM
Can language represent the patient’s mind?
Online counseling has become “dialogue therapy”. However, language is only part and not all of the mental states. Telecounseling creates a sense of distance from our daily life.
The missing of "space"
· Lack of physical scenes.
There is no sense of ritual and emotional mobilization.
· Patients lack insecurity.
They can’t relax and express their feelings accurately.
Face-to-Face VS Online Cousneling
The missing of “body”
· Lack of physical interaction.
There is no emotional linkage between the patients and the therapist.
· Lack of body language.
Both parties cannot feel each other’s engagement, and there are no timely responses.
How might we get better online counseling experience that as effective as in-person counseling?
How might we allow users to have more physical interaction?
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How might we create a “space” for online counseling?
SOLUTION
We weighed the opportunity areas in each of the above parts based on their effort, impact, and ease of adoption and came up with the following three-phased Action Plan for the project:
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Sandplay therapy kit
The best way to experience the feel of sand and blocks
Before experiencing the full service, users must purchase a supporting hardware package, including a physical sand table, fluid sand and a set of building blocks.
Internet sandplay therapy with tactile experience
It combines software and hardware and uses object recognition technology.
The virtual sandplay system adopts AI technology. According to the pre-trained model, the system automatically recognizes the hand movements and the shape and placement of the building blocks in the plane and retrieves tools from the virtual library for users to select.
Identification in the sandplay therapy
Place the sandbox in front of the phone holder and wait for the phone to recognize it.
Real-time tracking
The system will monitor and analyze the shape of the building blocks.
Mirroring of the building block
The system will mirror the image. Users can select virtual images in the system.
Editing of the building blocks
Click on the screen to modify the size of the block or reselect your tools.
Complete the sandbox
When you finish this sandplay, you can click ok to save your work.
Generate a virtual sandplay
Automatic generation of backgrounds and virtual sandboxes.
Identification steps
Therapists can interpret online
The one-click button enables the generation of a beautiful virtual scene
After the user builds the sandplay, the app will convert the sand and its background into a compatible virtual scene.
SDK toolkits
Establish the connection points and functional blocks of the SDK toolkit and other psychological counseling apps
Introduction page
Through the recommendation of the platform, you can see the introduction page of the sand table
01
Matching Sandplay Toolkit
Showing the logistics, the user enters the number of the building block before booking a consultation
02
DESIGN PROCESS
BACKGROUND RESEARCH
Current Status of Chinese Mental Health
Applied psychology is hot, and it’s only getting hotter. Report on the Development of Chinese National Mental Health (2019–2020) shows a decline in mental health nationwide in recent years. However, people are paying more attention to their mental health, and more people are starting to seek psychological services.
Greater risks of mental disorders in low-income groups
Low-income, low-educated, unemployed groups can’t afford high consultation fees.
Greater risks of mental disorders in low-income groups
Low-income, low-educated, unemployed groups can’t afford high consultation fees.
Increasing mental health awareness
With the development of society, more and more people know about psychological counseling.
Current Situation of The practice of Online Counseling
Due to the development of technology and the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, people have begun to accept more digital services. The whole society hailed the arrival of online counseling, which led to the flourishing of the online counseling industry. Some people have cultivated the habit of seeking online psychological services.
However, the research show
Survey shows that in-person psychotherapy is more effective.
“The participants of the current study, however, decidedly rated face-to-face therapy as more effective. ”
——Barker，2021
Online therapy: lessons learned from the COVID-19 health crisis
Customer Journey
Is online counseling as good as face-to-face counseling ?
BACKGROUND RESEARCH
We screened out qualified candidates and conducted an online interview for 60 minutes each. Based on the interviews, we summarized the differences between online counseling and face-to-face counseling and analyzed the pain points of online therapy.
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Painpoints
Persona
Based on the Interview, we drew a portrait of online therapy seekers.
DEFINE
How Might We...
How might we get better telecounseling experience that as effective as in-person counseling?
How might we allow users to have more physical interaction?
How might we create a “space” for telecounseling?
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IDEATION
We thought of two games, and new ideas struck us when the two games were combined. Minecraft has space but lacks physical interaction; Ring Fit Adventure has physical interaction but lacks space.
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Brainstorming
Is there any psychotherapy that encourages physical interaction?
Currently, psychotherapy services are homogeneous. Psychological theories show that art therapy allows patients to express their thoughts in a non-verbal way. We evaluated its practicality and difficulty and explored the possibility of combining psychological counseling with the Internet.
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Codesign
To design a wholly new interactive sandplay kit, we communicated with psychological professionals and profiled their requirements. At the same time, we established three principles for the design.
Guiding principles of interactive sandplay
we established three principles for the design according to counselors’ suggestion.
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Design Goal
We decided to design a virtual sandplay, and we brainstormed its design. Based on the problems investigated & project constraints, we laid down the following principles to guide the designs ahead:
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Iteration
We made some low-fidelity prototype drawings for user testing, which we wanted to use to see if our page design and interactions were logical and made for a more immersive sandbox experience.
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Here's an example of how to iterate on a mobile interaction page during a sandbox build.
Story Board
DELIVER
We named it AR Virtual Sandplay– The Dune of Mind. We consolidate prioritized ideas into a journey.
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Design Phase
We weighed the opportunity areas in each of the above parts based on their effort, impact, and ease of adoption and came up with the following three-phased Action Plan for the project:
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