A robot with a white body and black arms displaying a smiling face on its screen, set against a dark background.
Blue circular traffic sign with a white arrow indicating a bend to the left.

Joel: Designing a physical Interactive emotional robot to manage your anxiety, stress and loneliness.

Graphic for an event titled 'UTS Tech Fest' with colorful abstract background and text overlay. 
Physical Computing and Interaction Design
2023.
A small robot with a screen on its face displaying a smiling face, sitting on a table with a dark background.

Joel

Designing a physical Interactive emotional robot to manage your anxiety, stress and loneliness.

Physical Interaction Design, User Experience.

Roles & Responsibilities

Team Leader: Creative direction & team management.

UX Design: Desk research, Interviews, User study, Data Analysis, Research Design.

3D Product Designer: Cardboard mock-up & refinements, CAD Technical drawing, 3D printing & Python programming.

Timeline and Team

Autumn 2023.
Pegah, Pichamon, Kim, Melinda.

Tools

Task Management: Trello
Design & Development: Arduino IDE, Shapr3D.

Background

Joel was a project made as a part of one of my core classes at UTS, ‘Physical Prototyping Interaction,’ where students were divided into teams of 5 and tasked to work on a physical system using a human-centred design research approach and sprint-based workflow. The built designs were then used to test with users to find relevant improvements and modifications. My group decided to build Joel - a physical interaction system that tackles the users' moods by allowing them to express their current emotions and helping them by providing meaningful, motivational quotes to uplift their moods.

Problem

In recent years, there has been a high number of people working from their home spaces. Therefore a study by Shank et al. (2021) investigates the knowledge, adoption, and use of smart home products, and the research identifies aligning with users' needs and preferences to enhance their emotional experiences are important and crucial while developing such design solutions. Post Covid it has been seen by Groarke et al. (2021) that the temporal interactions between loneliness, depressive symptoms, and emotion regulation diculties during the COVID-19 lockdown. Their study highlights the significant impact of emotional regulation on individuals' mental health. It emphasizes the need for interventions that promote eective emotion regulation strategies to mitigate the adverse eects of loneliness and depressive symptoms, which the researcher's study aims to address through this design solution.
Healthcare worker wearing a face mask and face shield, holding a coffee cup, standing on a train platform.

How might we alleviate the mundane commute experiences of night shift workers while enhancing engagement and motivation for individuals?

Meet Joel

Quick emotion updates

  • Swiftly enter the Opal+ experience.

  • Scan Opal+ QR to verify travel authenticity and real-time journey activity. 

  • Build a personalized profile based on users' night shift representation.

Our Approach

Define

Understanding problem scenario

Defining project goals

Design methods

Strategy: Setting timelines and task allocations (based on team strengths and Interests)

Research

Desk Research

User Interviews (3)

Inductive Coding

Thematic Analysis (Insights)

User Persona (2)

Journey Mapping

Design

Ideation (3)

Design Peer Review

Set Design standards-(Style Guide)

User Flow

Mid-fi Wireframes

High-fidelity prototyping

Testing

Usability test user scenarios

Heuristics Evaluation + Design Refinement

Experience Test Scenarios

Roleplay as User

Experience Testing + Design Refinement

Things I led

Sprint 1 & 2

Brainstorming

24 March 2023, The John Wick Chapter 4 was released, and my team members had to look no further to get inspiration for the next game design project. Its captivating visual style, action genre, and character's unique personality made us excited and pumped and heavily impacted our development for Rouge Rhapsody.

Therefore, as a Scrum Master, I divided our timeline into 4 Sprints, each of 2 weeks. Each week included 2 Scrum meetings with all team members. Our roles were divided based on expertise, interest and curiosity to learn new skills. Each member's task was split into a “User Story,” and we decided to manage, track, and update our work progress using Trello.

Handwritten notes with colored sketches of ideas for a plant and sensory device, including diagrams of components like sensors, display, and container, with annotations and lists of features and design concepts.

In the first week of our sprint, I was to shape the visual and artistic direction. Our initial scrum meeting was an intense brainstorming session where we combined genres and mapped out the scope of our project using a SWAT analysis. We decided on a top-down, rhythm-based shooter with a dark, underground-themed aesthetic and a metal soundtrack.

A handwritten sketch of a robot with a rectangular head displaying a heart, arms raised, and yellow feet, accompanied by the words 'LCD & Buttons & Touch' and 'How are you feeling?' with a signature 'Joel'.
A cardboard robot sculpture with a blue screen on top displaying the message 'You got this!' in a classroom setting, with students working and laptops in the background.
A robot made of white foam with a blue digital display on its head, sitting on a table with wires nearby, viewed on a large screen in a room.
A robot with a rectangular screen for a face, a rounded body, arms, and legs, sitting on a flat surface.

Peer review & Presentation

Based on our brainstormed idea, I created a mood board to represent the artistic style and vision for the game. This included a thorough breakdown of game visual elements from action-oriented rhythm-based games, dungeon-style environments, title screens, UI popups, navigation, typography, pixel art and character animation sprite sheets.

People waiting in a modern, indoors public space, some using laptops, others standing or sitting, with a large digital screen in the background displaying colorful abstract graphics.
A person holding a small electronic display showing the message 'hello, world! LCD 322', with a laptop on a table displaying coding code related to the LCD display.

Getting the foundations right

We decided to work on the game's functionality first. Therefore, we kickstarted the development with basic visual elements in place. The core idea was to develop the game mechanics based on the game's rhythm (audio) beats and player actions within the gameplay. I wanted to ensure that the gameplay was “enjoyable” and “fun.” The fine-tuning and evolution of the visual style will be done simultaneously based on the gameplay feedback, user experience, and basic interface likability from our playtesting.

To do so, I spearheaded the research and discussions on game mechanics, contributing significantly to developing our game's basic visuals using a sprite sheet and pushing it to GitHub for my team members to kickstart building the animations and mechanics. I also created a Trello board to organize tasks related to game mechanics, sound design, and visual/UI elements, ensuring effective collaboration and aligned goals.

Cardboard robot with a rectangular screen for a face, sitting on a white surface with a gray background, connected to a power cord.

Game Design document

Next, I worked on the game design document. I fine-tuned the story and character bios, ensuring a structured approach to set a solid foundation for developing our tech demo in the following weeks.

Sprint 3

Research Design

24 March 2023, The John Wick Chapter 4 was released, and my team members had to look no further to get inspiration for the next game design project. Its captivating visual style, action genre, and character's unique personality made us excited and pumped and heavily impacted our development for Rouge Rhapsody.

Therefore, as a Scrum Master, I divided our timeline into 4 Sprints, each of 2 weeks. Each week included 2 Scrum meetings with all team members. Our roles were divided based on expertise, interest and curiosity to learn new skills. Each member's task was split into a “User Story,” and we decided to manage, track, and update our work progress using Trello.

Two people working together on a project at a wooden table surrounded by tools, tape, scissors, and electronic components in a workshop or creative space.

In the first week of our sprint, I was to shape the visual and artistic direction. Our initial scrum meeting was an intense brainstorming session where we combined genres and mapped out the scope of our project using a SWAT analysis. We decided on a top-down, rhythm-based shooter with a dark, underground-themed aesthetic and a metal soundtrack.

Person working on electronic components inside a cardboard box at a wooden table, surrounded by various tools and parts, in a workspace.
Two men are looking at a laptop with a robot hand on a table, in a modern conference room with wood-paneled walls.
A person with glasses and a bun hairstyle working on a laptop at a desk, with a robot beside them, in a modern office setting.
Three individuals are gathered around a laptop, one of them pointing at a wooden electronic device with components on it, in a modern indoor space.
A cardboard robot with a digital face and body displaying a blue screen, sitting next to an open Dell laptop on a white table in a conference room.
A person with glasses working on an electronic project at a table, surrounded by wires, circuit boards, and cardboard pieces, in a colorful room.
A person assembling or repairing an electronic circuit inside a cardboard box. The box contains various wires, a small circuit board, and electronic components, all on a wooden table.
Two people working on a cardboard project at a table filled with craft supplies, with a green and yellow diagram on a glass board in the background.
Illustration of a robot guide with three steps. Step 1 shows pressing a sensor on its body, Step 2 shows pressing a button on its head for emotions, Step 3 shows pressing a button for motivational quotes. Each step has a robot with a digital screen, and a description of actions.

Peer review & Presentation - 2

Based on our brainstormed idea, I created a mood board to represent the artistic style and vision for the game. This included a thorough breakdown of game visual elements from action-oriented rhythm-based games, dungeon-style environments, title screens, UI popups, navigation, typography, pixel art and character animation sprite sheets.

Two people are working on a project with a laptop on a table. One person, wearing glasses and a black jacket, is pointing at the laptop screen, which displays diagrams of robots. Next to the laptop is a cardboard robot model. The setting appears to be a modern indoor workspace or classroom with large screens on the wall and a chair in the background.
Multiple hands working together on assembling a cardboard structure on a wooden table, with a screwdriver, glue stick, and other tools nearby.

User Testing

We decided to work on the game's functionality first. Therefore, we kickstarted the development with basic visual elements in place. The core idea was to develop the game mechanics based on the game's rhythm (audio) beats and player actions within the gameplay. I wanted to ensure that the gameplay was “enjoyable” and “fun.” The fine-tuning and evolution of the visual style will be done simultaneously based on the gameplay feedback, user experience, and basic interface likability from our playtesting.

To do so, I spearheaded the research and discussions on game mechanics, contributing significantly to developing our game's basic visuals using a sprite sheet and pushing it to GitHub for my team members to kickstart building the animations and mechanics. I also created a Trello board to organize tasks related to game mechanics, sound design, and visual/UI elements, ensuring effective collaboration and aligned goals.

Man with glasses and headphones working at a computer in an office, using a robotic arm connected to the computer.
Two people looking at a laptop screen with a robot illustration, one person pointing at the screen. A cardboard robot model is on the table alongside a sheet of paper with handwritten notes. The setting appears to be a modern conference room or classroom with a large screen on the wall.
Group of young people gathered around a table, discussing a project with a man pointing at an object, in a modern conference room.
A small robotic figure made of cardboard with a screen on its chest and an animated face on its head is sitting on a white table, next to a Dell laptop displaying a user guide on its screen.
A man with glasses working on an electronics project, connecting wires inside a cardboard enclosure on a wooden table, with tools and electronic components around him.
Group of people gathered around a table, engaged in a discussion or activity, in a modern conference room with large screens displaying text in the background.

Sprint 5

3D design

24 March 2023, The John Wick Chapter 4 was released, and my team members had to look no further to get inspiration for the next game design project. Its captivating visual style, action genre, and character's unique personality made us excited and pumped and heavily impacted our development for Rouge Rhapsody.

Therefore, as a Scrum Master, I divided our timeline into 4 Sprints, each of 2 weeks. Each week included 2 Scrum meetings with all team members. Our roles were divided based on expertise, interest and curiosity to learn new skills. Each member's task was split into a “User Story,” and we decided to manage, track, and update our work progress using Trello.

Four cartoon robots with green bodies and black faces, two with simple smiling faces and two with smiling faces on screens, are arranged in two rows. The top row shows robots without arms, the bottom row shows robots with arms, one raising an arm. All robots are sitting on the ground and have blue rectangular features on their bodies.

In the first week of our sprint, I was to shape the visual and artistic direction. Our initial scrum meeting was an intense brainstorming session where we combined genres and mapped out the scope of our project using a SWAT analysis. We decided on a top-down, rhythm-based shooter with a dark, underground-themed aesthetic and a metal soundtrack.

Three robots with round heads, display screens, and smiling faces, standing side by side in front of circular backgrounds in pink and purple.
A 3D model of a robot with various geometrical shapes and components, including a torso, head, and limbs, in a CAD software interface with grid and measurement tools.
A computer monitor displaying a 3D model of a yellow wearable device, possibly a fitness tracker, in a store or workshop. The desk below the monitor has various pens, tools, and small parts, with a cardboard box labeled with item number SB2552 and quantity 8 packs.
Three robot-like devices on a gray table: a white printer on the left, a small robot with a digital face and a screen displaying text in the middle, and a cardboard robot made from brown corrugated cardboard on the right.
A yellow and gray robot toy with a blue circular face and a rectangular blue display on its chest sitting on a white desk next to a black Dell laptop displaying cartoon robot characters on the screen.
Technical drawing of a robot named Joel with various views and dimensions, including front, side, top, and isometric perspectives.
A man with glasses is working at a desk in a maker hub filled with electronic components and devices, with a large monitor displaying a 3D model of electronic gadgets.

User Testing

We decided to work on the game's functionality first. Therefore, we kickstarted the development with basic visual elements in place. The core idea was to develop the game mechanics based on the game's rhythm (audio) beats and player actions within the gameplay. I wanted to ensure that the gameplay was “enjoyable” and “fun.” The fine-tuning and evolution of the visual style will be done simultaneously based on the gameplay feedback, user experience, and basic interface likability from our playtesting.

To do so, I spearheaded the research and discussions on game mechanics, contributing significantly to developing our game's basic visuals using a sprite sheet and pushing it to GitHub for my team members to kickstart building the animations and mechanics. I also created a Trello board to organize tasks related to game mechanics, sound design, and visual/UI elements, ensuring effective collaboration and aligned goals.

Disassembled electronic devices and components on a newspaper, including a digital display, circuit boards, wires, a sensor, and various plastic parts.

Overcoming Challanges

To integrate our idea successfully within the Opal Travel application, We first had to understand the existing branding and UI design language. To do so, I broke down the present Opal Travel app design elements, including brand tone of voice, typography, color palette, and iconography. I wanted to ensure we don’t redesign, respect the present design, and seamlessly add our new ideas. As a result, we started our designs at a mid-fidelity level.

Close-up of a white appliance with a small blue display screen showing the partially visible word 'comment' and a black knob on the right side.
Close-up of a robotic device with a digital screen displaying a blue smiley face.

Reflections

To integrate our idea successfully within the Opal Travel application, We first had to understand the existing branding and UI design language. To do so, I broke down the present Opal Travel app design elements, including brand tone of voice, typography, color palette, and iconography. I wanted to ensure we don’t redesign, respect the present design, and seamlessly add our new ideas. As a result, we started our designs at a mid-fidelity level.

Group of six diverse young adults sitting around a conference table with laptops, some smiling, in a modern office with large windows and decorative wall shadows.

If I had more time.

If I revisit this project soon, I will invest my time in understanding the “experiences” of the games played during the commute and to what degree it solves the problem. In terms of design, approach with a more in-depth understanding of UX strategies, market scalability and how they would effectively allow the brand to build a profitable business and retain its customers. Moreover, what would be the steps to take if the results go wrong?

Lastly, I would work closely with developers and explore the feasibility and acceptability of the MVP with customers. If developed, it can provide statistical data based on which further fine-tuning and development can be carried forward.

Fin.

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