The Problem
Students living in shared accommodation need personal study spaces for maximum productivity.
UX Tools and Techniques Used
• Analytics
• Coding
• Desk and Original Research
• Focus Groups
• Interviewing
• Physical Prototyping
• Questionnaires
• Sketching
• Coding
• Desk and Original Research
• Focus Groups
• Interviewing
• Physical Prototyping
• Questionnaires
• Sketching
Also, in terms of soft skills, the project required:
• Collaboration
• Communication Skills
• Communication Skills
The Project
Coloured light can be used to help create an environment conducive to learning tasks such as reading and writing by stimulating mood change and thus instilling calm or provoking arousal. The aim of this MSc HCI project was to create and test a prototype lighting device that can be taken to different locations and help create a personalised, positive study space.
Introduction to The Problem
How to study productively is a challenge facing most students. Based on discussions with my peers it became clear that a crucial factor for success was finding a place to study and configuring it to individual needs. My interest was in helping create a space that students would find inherently productive by optimising physical and psychological comfort. From personal experience coloured light had a noticeable effect on my focus, and review of the literature validated this subjective response. As a result, I decided to investigate how coloured lighting could be used to promote effective study, particularly in uncontrolled environments.
Literature Review and Research
All light has a colour “temperature”, ranging from the warm not-very-bright light of candle, to the cool bright light of a sunny day. Different kinds of light bulbs produce light with a variety of colour temperatures. In the first exploration of how coloured light affects mood, Dutch physicist Arie Andries Kruithof created a graph quantifying what her believed was “pleasing” light. Subsequent research has demonstrated that, in general, blue light can make people more calm and focussed, and red light can make result in better greater creativity.
Prototype Device Production
Based on the premise of a mood-affecting lightbulb that could be tested in a variety of locations, a very basic list of requirements for Prototype 1 was drawn up, and included:
• A device that could be carried in a backpack
• One or more lights, capable of generating a full-spectrum of colours
• One or more tangible controllers to change the colours
• Battery operated (or powered by the laptop’s internal battery)
Using a Ten Plus Ten Design Funnel ideation process, multiple concept sketches were produced, with different form factors and control mechanisms considered – from single desk-lights, to sophisticated laptop modifications. Several candidate designs were mocked up with off-the-shelf components.
I decided to custom make a device offering maximum opportunity for participant experimentation, and allow them to try direct, ambient and practical lights. One design concept that offered the advantage of providing both the direct and ambient light without taking up any desk space (and could be used on a lap) was an accessory made with LCD strip lights that could hook onto the laptop’s top screen bezel. They were paired with battery-powered novelty LED “Mood Lamps”.
The study involved validating the effect of light colour with three different lights, each visible to different fields of view:
• The Front Light, taking in the Central Area, Paracentral Area, Macular Area, and inner-Near Periphery.
• The Side Lights taking in the Near Periphery and the Mid Periphery.
• The Ambient Light covering the Central Area right in to the Mid Periphery.
A short pilot study with four participants was undertaken to test the lighting kit and to get some initial feedback to inform the main study. Feedback was gathered by a two-page written questionnaire. This approach is a hybrid of a diary study and experience sampling – asking participants to test a device and record their specific thoughts and feelings, with the same questions, in multiple locations, over a period of time, in order to correlate between emotions and activities.
Feedback from this pilot contributed to the development of the prototype device used in the main study - an Arduino-powered controller with colour and brightness controls for each lighting component.
Experimental Design
A lab test with eight post-graduate students was conducted.
The front/back lighting attachment was placed on their screen, and the side lights placed either side. The controller box was placed to the right of the laptop.
For two hours, two tasks were undertaken: a passive task of reading academic papers, and a more active task of dissertation writing:
• 20 minutes reading/writing with all of the lights blue
• 20 minutes reading/writing with all of the lights red
• 20 minutes experimenting with the lighting kit to find a set-up most ideally suited for reading or writing
The test was followed by a semi-structured interview to gain an in-depth understanding of the user’s experience of the lighting kit.
Results
The interviews were transcribed and edited to include visual cues and gestures. They were then coded and grouped, resulting in key themes emerging, such as the blue light being “calming”, and the red light “distracting”. A graphical system was developed to represent individual’s own personal colour light preferences making the spotting of trends simpler.
One of the main aims of the study was to create a portable lighting device, however none of the participants felt they would be happy to take the kit to a public location, citing self-consciousness. However, there was a lot of enthusiasm by participants who lived in student accommodation, who saw the lighting kit as a way of personalising a working space conducive to studying.
Furthermore, the participants expressed a preference for tangible controls, suggesting the side lights could be squeezable and the front/back light controlled by an Apple MacBook-like Touch Bar control.
Furthermore, the participants expressed a preference for tangible controls, suggesting the side lights could be squeezable and the front/back light controlled by an Apple MacBook-like Touch Bar control.
Conclusion and Future Work
The main findings of the study were:
• A review of literature on the effect of coloured light suggested that blue light would be effective by making the participants more alert, however we conclude that it was helpful because it made them feel calm.
• Red light, which was expected to make participants more alert, instead was considered distracting.
• The ability to personalise a study environment was very well received, however, with participants using the lights to evoke calming environments from their past or from their imagination.
• Participants felt too self-conscious to take obtrusive lights to a public place.
Future work should consider how to overcome the self-consciousness of users in order to make it more practical and attractive as a portable device, perhaps with the creation of a lightweight study carrel, folded into a small carry case, this portable cubicle would offer the benefits of the carrel desk – isolation from distraction, reduced risk of disturbance, and added privacy.
'Portable Study Carrel' Design
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