Resilient at work

Resilient at work

Jain, R.

Desmet, P.M.A. (mentor)
Siriaraya, P. (mentor)
Schok, M. (mentor)

Industrial Design Engineering

Industrial Design

2016-08-26

This Master thesis report presents how design methodology founded on principles of positive psychology can be used to design for the prevention of stress. People who work in stressful professions are at increased risk of health problems. One of the key ways to maintain a positive outlook on life is by increasing the resilience of an individual, defined as the capacity of an individual to adapt to changing external circumstances or stressful/traumatic life events. Maintaining and strengthening resilience is expected to prevent sick-leave, burnout and other associated serious psychological problems (Rutter 1987). The project, which is a collaboration between Mindset and the Delft Institute of Positive Design focuses on an opportunity-driven approach wherein the emphasis is on eliciting positive emotions to achieve long-term happiness as a means to build resilience, in that, it’s not fixing what’s wrong(stress) as much as building what’s right (personal strengths) (Seligman 2002). Building upon this, the project explores how advancements in interactive technology could aid the process of strengthening the resilience of individuals who work in stressful professions. The report is structured into 3 phases. In the first phase of the report connections are sought between stress, resilience and positive psychology. Principles of building resilience paved the way for the generation of nine concept ideas, which were discussed with participants from the Dutch National Police, and a group of social workers dealing with patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorders and other psychological conditions. The discussion led to selection of a concept idea for further elaboration in the subsequent phase. Furthermore, the discussion with the policemen and social workers led to the synthesis of interaction qualities of the product being simple and personal. The selected idea was inspired by Seligman’s empirically validated activity of recalling three good things on a daily basis with causal explanations which caused lasting happiness, and saw a decrease in depressive symptoms over a six month period. The concept is a button, and the user presses it every time he feels even the slightest of positive emotions, thereby providing a means to build a collection of positive moments. In the second phase of the report, a divergent approach was adopted in order to elaborate and explore the potential of the concept. During this phase, the concept was broken down to its basics: a positive journal, and various means like framework of emotional granularity at providing causal explanations to the moments were tested. Over the course of several iterative user tests, a division was made of the concept into two parts: moment of registering positive moments and moment of reflection of registered positive moments. In addition to being simple and personal, further interaction qualities for both moments were unearthed. The qualities for registering the positive moments were fixed as instantaneous and mindful while for the reflection of positive moments, the qualities were fixed as savouring and inviting. Concepts were generated and compared using a Harris profile analysis method. A final concept: the ebo band was synthesized to conclude this phase. In the third phase of the report, an experiential prototype is built and tested with 8 participants for a duration of 5 days per participant. The feedback on the experience was mostly positive, with participants claiming to have become more aware of their positive moments by registering them and finding happiness in the reflection of their registered moments. Finally, conclusions were drawn and recommendations for further product development have been presented.

stress
resilience
positive-psychology
Eudaimonia
well-being
ebo

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:085eeb2a-1ce1-43c5-ad7c-1278c02c9851

Campus only

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2016 Jain, R.