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During my summer break in 2019, I worked at one of the research campuses of Fraunhofer Institute. Together with other design students from Germany, scientists, and researchers from Fraunhofer I was here to collaborate on the general topic: Design and Science vs. Pandemics - Working with scientists on different projects regarding Covid-19. Looking back at the work my team and I did that week, I now realize the process we went through was not a typical design process. Instead of starting with a user in mind, we started with technology. Here is the whole story:
Figure 1 - Presentation Research and design vs. pandemics (Trinkhaus, 2021)
Our Team was shown this patent drawing for our task for the week: It shows a technology mounted to your head, which the scientist called the LabHat. It injects a scent into the nose of the user and measures your reaction with an electroencephalogram (EEG), a device that measures the activity of the brain. It measures your sense of smell to diagnose diseases whose symptoms include loss of smell. In addition to Covid, these include neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson‘s, whose early and often unrecognized symptom is a slow loss of your sense of smell.
Figure 2 - Rendering of the meditation mask showing the illuminated area for eye stimulation (Emrich, 2021)
Our task was to create a product based on this technology. There were no restrictions; we just had to apply the technology to measure the sense of smell. After talking to the scientists and analyzing the technology, it became clear that there was not one specific user or even field of users we could target. They could range from doctors using the device at a clinic to industrial workers who might lose their smell because of H2S Gas. One of the prerequisites we found during our analysis was that all your senses need to be stimulated for a successful examination. Based on what we initially considered a disadvantage, we created a meditation mask that helps you rest after a long day. While relaxing, your sense of smell will get tested, and the results are evaluated for a preventive checkup for neurodegenerative diseases. By putting meditation in the foreground and mentioning the medical aspect as a feature, we created a semi-medical device for everyday use that no one expected. As you can see, this was not your typical design process. It was a challenge and has led me to further explore the process we have gone through.