A common problem for many of us in our life is procrastination. Personally, I cannot remember how many times I have decided to start working but then end up with spending another 30 to 60 minutes playing on my phone. I have tried to solve this problem by setting an alarm or timer on my phone or laptop. However, I realize that it does not help, because the action of “setting an alarm” on the phone is itself a distraction. I just cannot help but browsing a few other apps after I set up an alarm. Therefore, I would like to design something, that can help me to track the time I have spent on my work without creating an extra distraction.
The product I would like to design and make is a pen with extra functionality for timing. To be more specific, I will put a line of lights on the pen that changes color and the length of color. When a user is using that pen to write, the light will slowly turn pleasant green or blue, and the length of the part that gets light up also drop to signal that the time is going. When a user stops working and lay the pen down, the color will slowly turn red and the length of the part that gets light up will go up. In this way, the user will be able to see how much time he or she has been continuously working, when to take a rest, and how much time he or she has stopped working.
This product uses the idea of “enchanted objects”, fits in the commercial agenda, and pursues the design goal of performance and problem-solving. With the idea of “enchanted objects”, the functionality of timing is embedded in the pen, so it won’t provide an extra distraction. Also, the color the “level” of the light keep alarming the user and encourage him or her to stay focus and work. Such design and extra functionality leads to good performance and helps to tackle the problem of procastination. Furthermore, apart from good performance, the pen will be pleasant to look at and interesting to use, which makes it fit the commercial agenda.
I hope that such a design can encourage more quality work and study for anyone who frequently works with a pen.