MoodFlow a proof of concept

"The mind is malleable, our life can be greatly transformed by even a minimal change in how we manage our thoughts and perceive and interpret the world. Happiness is a skill. It requires effort and time."

Step 1: observe

I observed how my family, relatives, friends and strangers handle their daily emotions. Ok, so we need all the help we can get! I would love to come up with a gadget / application which could help all of us to better the way we react, manage our emotions, use technology to facilitate personal change.

Point of View:

Negative emotions are a part of life, but it does not mean that we should let them take over our lives. Lets create an electronic “Assistant”, that can prompt us to become aware of our own emotions, deepen our self-awareness, enhance our Emotional Intelligence.

Anxiety

Anna

Most of us have heard by now how deep breathing helps with anxiety, but do we remember to do it when it matters? When we are in a middle of an anxiety prompting situation? Here is Anna nervous before a doctor appointment. Visiting doctor's office had always made her anxious. If only Anna could remember to breath! If only Anna could remember to NOTICE her emotion. Sally is in the room with Anna, she reminds Anna about the breathing trick and helps her relief the stress

Annoyance

Boris

Here is Boris driving. Traffic jam is annoying Boris immensely. Can he notice, control, change his emotion before it takes over?

Agitation

Sally and Boris

This is Sally and Boris arguing, saying things they both will later regret. Was there a way to prevent this from happening? Sally and Boris do not like confrontations, could they have stopped themselves before the yelling started?

Step 2: Needs

• Anna needs to notice onset of anxiety and remember a helpful exercise.
• Boris wants to manage his road rage. He would like to be able to stop his destructive emotions before they take over.
• Sally is very sad after a confrontation, but she just can't stop herself when she is in the middle of a conflict.
• Anna, Boris & Sally, me and likely many others have these common goals - we would love to minimize our negative emotions, relieve stress, become happier!

Step 3: Goals / Tasks

• Neuroscientists and Buddhist tradition are in agreement that it is possible to train our minds in habits of well-being. Which, in turn, will bring us closer to these goals. One of the existing models with promising self-awareness enhancement results is an Emotional Intelligence model.
• What is EI? Emotional Intelligence is the ability to identify, use, understand, and manage emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges, and diffuse conflict. Emotional intelligence impacts many different aspects of our daily lives, such as the way we behave and the way we interact with others.
• First step in developing, deepening EI is learning to perceive emotions, acquiring an ability to recognize them. Anna & Co needs an “Assistant”, that can prompt her to become aware of her own emotions.

Use available technology to identify these emotions as they emerge. Possibilities:

1. technologies for measuring emotional response:
• Sympathetic Nervous System measurement
• Automated Facial Expression Recognition
• Wearable electrocardiograph (ECG) monitoring system
• An emotion sensing platform containing an ear clip photoplethysmograph sensor. This sensor measures the blood volume pulse of the ear lobe, etc.
2. use location services and/or accelerometer for spacial/situational awareness: i.e. the user is driving, at work, at home etc.
3. use audio sensor for situational evaluation: the voices are razed, the pitch just changed, etc.
• After the unwanted emotion is detected we need to have a system of reminders, alerts and cues that can help a person notice and recognize her emotion. Possible scenarios:
• send out an SMS
• generate a phone call
• play a tune
• display an image
• change an LED color, blinking pattern
• discrete buzz
• connect to friends
• “Assistant” should react as desired, i.e. alert the user in a previously established way. For example, Boris should be able to configure the system in a way that, when next time he gets aggravated while driving “Assistant” will start playing his favorite song. However when getting into a heated argument with Sally he should get a phone call, giving him enough time and opportunity to react in a non-confrontational manner.
• Statistically most “change” resolutions fail. Change is hard and requires effort and attention. An element of surprise, sense of novelty are known to naturally help sustain attention and interest. Randomize reminders.
• Make it into a game: satisfy the need for gratification, provide positive feedback when task is accomplished, a negative emotion is managed.
• Provide support network – have a community of people who are dealing with the same issues. Provide privacy.
• Some times reminders are not enough - helpful solutions, depending on the circumstances, a bag of tricks to alleviate stress are needed.
• Allow people to track their progress, or analyze failures – collect “emotional reaction” data and provide an insightful way to visualize it.

Point of View

Negative emotions are a part of life, but it does not mean that we should let them take over our lives. Lets create an electronic “Assistant”, that can prompt us to become aware of our own emotions, deepen our self-awareness, enhance our Emotional Intelligence.

Storyboard I

On the road

Example of what the interface does and how it is used to accomplish tasks in a real usage scenario.

Storyboard II

Interview

Example of what the interface does and how it is used to accomplish tasks in a real usage scenario.

MoodFlow Mockup I

MoodFlow Mockup One

rapid prototypes created with Balsamiq.

MoodFlow Mockup II

MoodFlow Mockup Two

rapid prototypes created with Balsamiq.