Group members: Jamie Wang, Peter Huang, Zeyao Li
Framework: Speculative Design
Agenda: Responsible
Goal: Performance
Presentation Slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1FvM8pernTuJZ1sgARgjLJlMN4kNEDOBVX309vK9ux84/edit?usp=sharing
Website: https://zw1745.wixsite.com/website
In thinking of a design for the future, our group had a lot of freedom in choosing how the future would turn out, and what scenarios would give rise to problems to design for. We settled on the problem of overworking in China, specifically on the 996.ICU movement. Many major tech companies’ workers spend 9am-9pm at work for 6 days a week, leading them to overwork until they physically cannot sustain themselves and must go to the Intensive Care Unit. We envisioned this problem exacerbating greatly in the future, to the extent that the government would have to intervene and establish a new way of working.
Under these circumstances, we created SmartWork, an office system that would help manage workers’ time in the office and relieve their stress. It considers the health of overworked workers, who are usually valued for their output rather than how well they working, thus fulfilling the responsibility agenda. Instead of keeping workers in the office for the entire day, we wanted their work to be based on how much good quality work they got done. This would give them more time to live their lives outside of work and relieve their stress, thus improving their performance at work.
We contemplated designing an implant that could measure brain activity, but we decided that this would be too invasive on workers’ privacy. Instead, we decided that in this time period, technology would have become so advanced that it would be possible to measure concentration and stress levels with an external tool. Therefore, we designed a webcam called SmartCam in workers’ computers that would monitor their facial muscle movements for signs of stress and their measure brain waves to gauge concentration levels. Values of stress would be sent to a product called SmartLight, while values of concentration would be sent to SmartChair.
SmartLight is a monitor for managers to see individuals’ stress levels, indicated by colored lights. When managers see that a worker’s stress level has exceeded the normal amount and lights up red on SmartLight, the manager will tell the worker to take a break to lower the level of stress. Managers are encouraged to relieve the office’s stress, because if the average stress of the whole office exceeds a certain amount, the company will be fined by the government.
SmartChair is a chair for each worker that acts as a signaling device. The more hours of concentrated work put in, the more intensely the chair will emit a blue light. When the worker has met the amount of concentration needed, the chair will blink, telling the worker that they can leave for the day. This helps prevent workers from having to stay in the office for excessive amounts of time.
In creating the project, we split up the work. Jamie worked on the website and video that simulated the SmartWork environment, Peter worked on the blinking lights that represented SmartChair, while Zeyao took over illustrating the different uses of the three products. I took over making the presentation.
After presenting, we received lots of constructive feedback that allowed us to rethink parts of our project. Functionally, having the SmartChair light be put on the backs of the chairs would not be the most effective in signaling to the user, because they do not see the backs of the chair. Additionally, blinking lights throughout the day could also be distracting. Furthermore, the system has the potential to discriminate against people who work differently, have stress in their personal life, and who relieve stress in different ways. The system also has the possibility of being sinister by invading people’s privacy and making them work in abusive ways. Despite the many drawbacks that could come from this design, it was a provocative project that got people talking and questioning about future implications.