Designing Mindful Artifacts to Decrease Stress and Increase Focus

124 Pages·2016·7.36 MB·English

Not all Feedback Modalities Are Created Equal:
Designing Mindful Artifacts to Decrease Stress
and Increase Focus
by
Karen Anne Cochrane
Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree of
Master of Science
in the
School of Interactive Arts and Technology
Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology
© Karen Anne Cochrane 2016
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
Spring 2016
Approval
Name: Karen Anne Cochrane
Degree: Master of Science
Title: Not All Feedback Modalities Are Created Equal:
Designing Mindful Artifacts to Decrease Stress and
Increase Focus
Examining Committee: Chair: Alissa Antle
Professor
Thecla Schiphorst
Senior Supervisor
Professor
Carman Neustaedter
Supervisor
Associate Professor
Lian Loke
External Examiner
Senior Lecturer
Director of Master of Interaction
Design and Electronic Arts
University of Sydney
Date Defended/Approved: February 23, 2016
ii
Ethics Statement
iii
Abstract
Mindful breathing exercises have been proven to reduce stress and increase focus. While
technologies are increasingly being used to support mindfulness practices, there has been
little research that has evaluated how different modalities can affect everyday awareness.
I utilized a research through design methodology to develop three different artifacts that
use different feedback modalities to alert participants when their breathing pattern shifts
from optimal diaphragm breathing to chest breathing. Using a mixed-methods study, I
analyzed how different feedback modalities influence diaphragm breathing, and the
corresponding impact on stress reduction, focus and productivity for students in everyday
work activities. My findings show that when participants were able to achieve optimal
diaphragm breathing patterns their stress decreased and their focus increased, especially
if they participated in a regular body-based practice. I utilized my results to evaluate the
five design guidelines that were applied in the development of the three different artifacts.
Keywords: Everyday activates; mindfulness; tangible; wearable; interactive; feedback
modality
iv
Dedication
To the friends and family of the mentally ill – there is hope.
v
Acknowledgements
I would like to begin by thanking my supervisor Dr. Thecla Schiphorst for all her
enthusiasm and knowledge on the topic. I am very grateful to have her as my supervisor
and sincerely value our discussions on this topic. Thank you for Dr. Bernhard Riecke for
his assistance with designing the artifacts. I would also like to thank my committee Dr.
Carmen Neustaedter and Dr. Lian Loke for their expertise, direction and support.
Secondly, I would like to thank my friends: Emily, for her knowledge in quantitative
analysis, prOphecy, for her many conversations and for providing feedback on my drafts,
and Ben, for helping me find the words that had escaped me. Thanks to Jake and Wynnie
for helping build the artifacts.
Thank you to all the graduate students who spent countless hours assisting me with my
study and offering me many new ideas for this project.
Finally, I would like to thank my family. Thank you Marcus, for your love and
encouragement. Thank you to my dad for the support and aid. Thank you to my brothers
for the support and inspiration for my thesis project. And finally, thank you to my mother,
for not only supporting me but reading and re-reading my thesis countless times to assist
me with grammar and spelling. I could not have completed this without you.
vi
Table of Contents
Approval ................................................................................................................ ii
Ethics Statement ................................................................................................... iii
Abstract ................................................................................................................ iv
Dedication ............................................................................................................. v
Acknowledgements .............................................................................................. vi
Table of Contents ................................................................................................. vii
List of Tables ......................................................................................................... x
List of Figures ....................................................................................................... xi
List of Acronyms .................................................................................................. xiii
Glossary .............................................................................................................. xiv
Chapter 1. Introduction ................................................................................... 1
1.1. Mindfulness .................................................................................................. 1
1.2. HCI Technologies in Mindfulness Practice ................................................... 2
1.3. Research Questions ..................................................................................... 3
1.4. Structure of Thesis Chapters ........................................................................ 4
Chapter 2. Review of Literature on Mindfulness, Embodiment and
Interactive Experience in HCI ....................................................... 6
2.1. Bringing Mindfulness Meditation Techniques into Everyday Environments . 9
2.1.1. Mindfulness Breathing ................................................................... 10
2.1.2. Acceptance of Thoughts, Body Sensations, and Emotions ........... 11
2.1.3. Summary ....................................................................................... 12
2.2. Embodiment Interaction .............................................................................. 12
2.2.1. Mindfulness Framework ................................................................ 13
2.2.2. Affective Loop Experience ............................................................. 15
2.2.3. Embodied Cognition Framework ................................................... 17
2.2.4. Somaesthetics ............................................................................... 18
2.2.5. Present-at-Body ............................................................................ 22
2.2.6. Summary ....................................................................................... 24
2.3. Interactive Experience in HCI ..................................................................... 25
2.3.1. Tangibility Framework ................................................................... 25
2.3.2. m-Health Technology Design Considerations ............................... 26
2.3.2.1 Design Process ............................................................................. 27
2.3.2.1.1 Technology Responsibility ....................................................... 27
2.3.2.1.2 User-Centered Design ............................................................. 29
2.3.2.1.3 Symptom Management ........................................................... 30
2.3.2.1.4 Integration ................................................................................ 30
2.3.2.2 Design Principles ........................................................................... 32
2.3.2.2.1 Social Stigma ........................................................................... 32
2.3.2.2.2 Wearability ............................................................................... 32
2.3.2.2.3 Feedback Modalities ................................................................ 35
2.3.2.2.4 Privacy ..................................................................................... 35
2.3.2.2.5 Usability ................................................................................... 36
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2.3.2.2.6 Maintenance ............................................................................ 38
2.3.2.2.7 Cost ......................................................................................... 39
2.3.3. Summary ....................................................................................... 39
2.4. Summary of Chapter Two ........................................................................... 40
Chapter 3. Towards Design Guidelines for Mindful Artifacts for the
Embodied User ............................................................................ 41
3.1. Proposed Design Guidelines ...................................................................... 43
3.1.1. Qualities of the Tool ...................................................................... 43
3.1.2. Interaction to Transform Awareness ............................................. 43
3.1.3. Materiality ...................................................................................... 44
3.1.4. Reflection and Discovery ............................................................... 44
3.1.5. Meaning-Making ............................................................................ 45
3.2. Designing the Artifacts ................................................................................ 46
3.2.1. Qualities of the Tool ...................................................................... 46
3.2.2. Interaction to Transform Awareness ............................................. 48
3.2.3. Materiality ...................................................................................... 49
3.2.3.1 Visual Feedback Artifact ................................................................ 49
3.2.3.2 Haptic Feedback Artifact ............................................................... 51
3.2.3.3 Audio Feedback Artifact ................................................................ 53
3.2.3.4 Integration ..................................................................................... 54
3.2.4. Reflection and Discovery ............................................................... 55
3.2.5. Meaning-Making ............................................................................ 55
3.3. Summary .................................................................................................... 56
Chapter 4. Methodology ................................................................................ 57
4.1. Research Objective .................................................................................... 57
4.2. Methodological approach ........................................................................... 58
4.2.1. Research Through Design ............................................................ 58
4.2.2. Mixed Method Approach ............................................................... 59
4.2.3. Convergent Parallel Mixed Method ............................................... 60
4.3. Research Question ..................................................................................... 60
4.3.1. Qualitative Sub-Questions ............................................................. 60
4.3.2. Quantitative Sub-Questions .......................................................... 61
4.4. Mixed-Method Research Design ................................................................ 61
4.4.1. Recruiting the Participants ............................................................ 61
4.4.2. Study Timeline ............................................................................... 63
4.4.3. Research Instruments ................................................................... 63
4.4.4. Data Collection .............................................................................. 64
4.4.5. Data Analysis ................................................................................ 64
4.5. Validity and Reliability ................................................................................. 65
4.6. Summary .................................................................................................... 65
Chapter 5. Qualitative and Quantitative Results from Feedback Modality
Study ............................................................................................ 67
5.1. Qualitative Analysis .................................................................................... 68
viii
5.1.1. Artifacts Effect on Stress ............................................................... 68
5.1.2. User’s Awareness of the Artifact ................................................... 70
5.1.3. User’s Focus or Distraction to the Task-at-Hand .......................... 72
5.1.4. User’s Reflection on Breath ........................................................... 74
5.1.5. User’s Presence and Awareness of the Moment .......................... 76
5.1.6. User’s Thoughts, Emotions and Body Acceptance ....................... 78
5.1.7. User’s Opinions about the Artifact ................................................. 79
5.1.8. Summary ....................................................................................... 80
5.2. Quantitative Analysis .................................................................................. 81
5.2.1. Summary ....................................................................................... 83
5.3. Chapter Summary ...................................................................................... 84
Chapter 6. Discussion from Triangulated Data from Feedback Modality
Study ............................................................................................ 85
6.1. Qualities of the Tool .................................................................................... 86
6.2. Interaction to Transform Awareness ........................................................... 87
6.3. Materiality ................................................................................................... 88
6.4. Reflection and Discovery ............................................................................ 89
6.5. Meaning-Making ......................................................................................... 90
6.6. Synthesizing Guidelines ............................................................................. 91
6.6.1. Qualities of the Tools ..................................................................... 91
6.6.2. Interaction to Transform Awareness ............................................. 91
6.6.3. Discovery and Reflection ............................................................... 91
6.7. Summary .................................................................................................... 92
Chapter 7. Conclusion ................................................................................... 93
7.1. Summarize the Research and Study .......................................................... 93
7.2. Contributions to the HCI Community .......................................................... 95
7.3. Limitations .................................................................................................. 96
7.4. Future Work ................................................................................................ 97
References 99
Appendix A. Sample of Qualitative Data .................................................. 109
Appendix B. Sample of Quantitative Data ................................................ 110

ix
List of Tables
Table 5.1 Descriptive statistics for the relationship between feedback
modality (top row) and preference (left column) on ratios of
diaphragm to chest breathing ...................................................... 82
x