UX OF GOODBYE

Izzy

Jeanne Piffaut

Sarthak Joshi

Xiang Wuyou

Brief : Make novel way to say goodbye

Goodbye lends itself to a lot of interpretation. I really liked the idea of intonation communicating a multitude of meanings to the word and ideas around politeness. Sarthak had some really nice cultural approaches to the subject. Izzy liked the idea of a breakup reveal cake/party, and I had previously thought of doing the subject of ghosting, which seemed to go well together.

So, we started pursuing the subject with the first round of directed storytelling, creating a sign inviting people to tell us about their experiences. We recorded three interviews, which provided a lot of interesting insights. We then used them to inform our second round of interview questions for a few more in-depth interviews around the subject. Sampling was rather convenient as it was LCC students. However, we may not have properly utilised the story structure of the directed storytelling method in its truest form, and if I had done it again, I might have led the questions differently. However, the interviews still brought out both the good and bad sides of ghosting very clearly and allowed us to formulate many interesting ideas.

We then tried to use affinity diagramming, but I don’t feel like we utilised that research method to the full either, as we did it online separately, the feedback being that this was contrary to the method. We decided to explore the subject with a bodystorming session with class members, examining the behaviour of a ghoster and ghostee meeting inadvertently before a class when in the company of their friends. This was interesting because we found that both ghoster and ghostee acted through their friends rather than confronting the situation themselves. Communication was subtle, with signs being read through body language rather than words. The ghoster felt a weight of responsibility to explain or confront the situation. After reflecting on the subject after this session, we determined that studying all the different circumstances that people ghost in would take too much time. We chose to focus on instances that are considered more problematic and complicated, i.e. a long-term relationship.

We wanted to show the dual nature of this behaviour as reflected in our research. Izzy told us about the Irish folklore surrounding poppets (voodoo-like dolls in which you send messages of blessing and curses) and how we might use them indirectly to communicate the end of a relationship. Protecting the ghost’s right to space gives the ghosted the closure they crave. We wanted our toolkit to be an activity that couples could do as a bonding activity, creating the poppets together. It could also be a chance to discuss what a kind breakup looks like or how they would want to be broken up with. We tried out our toolkit using any materials from the store cupboard. Jeanne then tested the toolkit together with her partner. Izzy brought in a box with various materials, and I illustrated the packaging. We then shot a silent explanatory film of the toolkit as we couldn’t try it with people in the class cos the workshop took too long. Feedback was very positive.