Roles of Prototyping in 1PP Research through Design
Last updated
Last updated
The First-Person Perspective (1PP) Research through Design is a methodology emphasizing immersive, personal, and contextual design approaches. This method integrates the designer into the research process, transforming them into an active participant who creates for themselves or their community from within. The approach encourages designers to experience and reflect on interactions with people and environments to better understand complex social dynamics, thereby crafting more empathetic, situated, and community-centered designs.
Distinct roles of prototyping are:
Prototype as Experimental Component: Prototypes are tested as physical hypotheses, allowing designers to gauge practical attributes like usability or aesthetics.
Prototype as Inquiry Tool: Prototypes act as investigative tools, similar to scientific instruments, to observe and analyze social interactions.
Prototype as Research Archetype: These prototypes represent scenarios to confront or expose social issues, prompting critical thought and dialogue.
Prototyping as Process: Here, the focus is on the prototyping process itself, emphasizing reflection and documentation of how artifacts are crafted to inform broader design insights.
We had to develop in class a prototype for a partner's inquiry during the seminar activity. I developed a prototype inspired by Lucretia's previous project, which aimed to create an affordable, user-friendly home automation system for controlling lighting in domestic spaces or others.
The prototype, made with easy accessible materials, it was thought to incorporate emotion recognition sensors that would adjust the lighting based on the user’s emotional state, enhancing the environment’s responsiveness to individual moods.
I would have proposed later to conduct a further investigation into how environments respond to human emotions through this project. Specifically, I’ll explore how spaces equipped with emotion recognition sensors can adapt in real-time to reflect the emotional state of individuals entering them. This involves studying how accurately sensors can read and interpret human emotions and then adjusting environmental factors, like lighting, to create a personalized, emotionally responsive atmosphere. This research could reveal the potential of adaptive environments to enhance comfort, improve mood, and support emotional well-being by seamlessly aligning with the user’s emotional needs.
In the context of community design, like investigating needs in La Florida or similar neighborhoods, 1PP prototyping is powerful for engaging marginalized communities. Situating us as an empathetic observer and participant, it allows for insights that are rooted in lived experience rather than detached analysis.
In this investigation of "La Florida", a neighborhood in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, known for its socioeconomic challenges, I explore the lives of individuals who navigate daily hardships on the streets. Through conversations with those facing homelessness, I uncover stories of resilience and solidarity as they share their strategies for survival in an environment with limited resources and support. This investigation reveals the essential role of collaboration and community bonds as lifelines for those enduring life’s harshest conditions.
