CRITICAL DESIGN
PRODUCT & UX DESIGN
Relationships, Devotion & Intimacy in The Age of Social Media
TOOLS
Rhino
Photoshop
Processing
After Effects
ERo is...
A physical product that visualises the interaction data that two partners share on Social Media, tied to their accounts. It comes with an instruction set that clearly outlines the “proper way” to move forward with a relationship, or even a break up, on social media. In that way, it becomes a sort of “digital love god” that peers over their Social Media behavior & its pattern, and subconsciously rules the order of their relationship. Named after the Greek God of love Eros, Ero is thus marketed as
…a physical representation of genuine love & devotion
BACKGROUND
The basis of this project explores Social Media centered “rules and rituals" that we have imposed upon ourselves, and that govern our daily behaviors and personal relationships. I wished to explore how these behaviours may be negatively impacting our real-life social interactions and emotional connections in relationships.
I often find myself in a heated conversation about someone being blocked from an ex’s instagram, or sitting with a friend in a bad mood because their boyfriend “left them on read”. These are examples of a phenomenon that seems to be inescapable, yet somehow unnoticed. One I like to call “Social Media-ted Affection”. Users don’t appear to be aware that the design of these online social platforms have in turn designed their everyday actions and reactions. “Likes” are labelled as such so that they imply agreeableness, the more likes one gets must mean they’re adored then, wouldn’t it? We’ve become so attached to our phones that we expect others to be constantly available to like, comment and reply to us. Simultaneously, our future social interactions seem unavoidably determined by computer-mediated communication methods.
Research
Initial research for this project started with a secondary research process exploring what the internet had to say about Social Media & relationship behaviors. Luckily, there has been a notable number of psychological studies that addressed this domain. In fact, a vast majority of articles and academic psychological studies bring up some specific issues that Social Media creates in romantic relationships.
Primary data was collected through surveys and interviews, asking those around me about their behaviors during a breakup, questions like “How many of your relationships ended with either of you blocking the other on social media?” “Under what circumstances would you delete an ex?” and “Do you think seeing them on social media makes it harder for you to move on?”
For a more in depth look the research, with citations, read more here.
Goals
How can design & technology address this topic in an approach that is both satirical,
yet thought provoking?
Ero was not designed to be a solution, in fact, it is meant to be a piece of critical design, on the edge of satirical and desirable. It is conceived for the purpose of socio-critique, portraying the absurdity of online intimacy & the rules of dating in a digital era.
FORM
Ero comes in the form of a 3D printed decor object, with 4 data display interfaces. The structure is purposefully designed to be rigid, in an effort to reflect the artificial nature of this measured love. Simultaneously, however, its shape is reminiscent of commercially sold healing crystals.
It is designed to look seamless in one's home. With the help of the manual, partners can easily set up Ero via the website, then watch their social media interaction data beautifully come to life right in front of them.
User Interface
The onboarding process is easy, and all laid out in the instruction manual. All the couple needs to do is pair their Eros with their social media accounts using the serial number, and choosing which SM platforms they want to include. It will then identify the different touch-points, such as “number of likes” “number of tagged images”, from each side. Hence the two colors.
It's hard to remember what interactions you might be looking at. That's why Ero has integrated a simple "tap for info" feature that clarifies what data is being displayed on each side.
Initial Prototypes & Iterations
Initial prototypes meant exploring different shapes and forms Ero would take. These shapes were inspired by metaphors and the organic shape of the heart. All previous iterations did not include interfaces that displayed data, but in fact were abstract representations of this data using a faint glow (representing strong love with highly frequent social media activity), or closeness to severing the string.
Rough 3D versions of these sketches were then created out of play dough, paper, and card, given to individuals pertaining to my target audience, and their appeal as well as intuitive nature were discussed. This is how I came to a simple geometric shape for Ero’s form.
