When we were testing our prototype and concept to our target audience (students), we started by introducing them what is introversion. So we started with this question: Have you ever felt a little tired by the company of your friends and the people around you? That’s the introvert in you!
Then we state our problem statement: NTU students with a degree of introversion need to be able to express their introversionwithout being disturbed when eating in school and without being judged by their peers.
With the feedback given, we started to input some visuals into our prototype.
Above images shows the same layout with different designs. We couldn’t decide which design to go with, hence we decided to open our questions to the class. Most of them preferred the colourful background, but not lines and change of colours.
We also showed a 3D rendering of the space, done by Glenn.
After our presentation, the main concern was dialogue behind our space and how we could create awareness about introversion to the extrovert students.
Firstly, we came up with our logo named rertrEAT, a place for solo diners in NTU. Why we came up with retrEAT or the narrative behind retrEAT is shown in the image below.
During our presentation, we tested out the message with our classmates. Instead of saying “I’m dining solo, please…”, we changed it to “I’ don’t FOMO, I just…” and “I’m not anti-social, I’m just…” to fit into the millennial slang. Here are what some of them wrote:
Then we proceed on with our prototype. Here is a rough sketch by Tuyen.
Physical prototype, done by all of us.
Feedback given was:
Most of the classmates enjoyed being able to write the message at the back of the chair. It felt something personal and people will know whether to approach or not.
It seems like a lounge instead of a canteen.
Can create better designs for logo and the message.
Maybe this space can be used for events such as having introvert talks by famous people.
In the previous post, we mentioned that we want to revamped our point-of-view. Hence this is our new point of view:
From our new point of view, we wanted to create a solo dining experience for NTU students to understand why some people prefer to eat alone and also reduce the judgement of eating alone.
Below are the user journey:
So we created 2 prototypes, a poster and a space for solo dining.
Elizabeth created this poster, including the copywriting. This poster will be placed outside the space to give an introduction to extrovert student, before experience eating alone.
And the rest of us (me, Glenn, Tobi and Tuyen) created the space for solo dining. Tobi and Tuyen created the chair. I sketched out the space and worked with Glenn in creating it.
The final outcome of the space
Breakdown of our process:
Aerial sketch of the space, done by AzizahPerspective sketch of the space, done by AzizahChair that was created by TobiTables and divider, done by Azizah (before Glenn input the conveyor belt)
During our presentation session, there were a few suggestions on how can we improve the space, such as a window to allow student to look outside while eating or a open concept table in the center of the space. The class even give some existing examples of dining solo such as the ramen stall or dining in the dark and more. However what was really missing is the narrative behind our concept. That was something that our group had to really think about.
After our presentation session, we discussed on the narrative behind our concept. And here are some narrative that we thought of:
Introvert brings an extrovert friend to come into the space → to understand and empathise why some people prefer dining alone
A place where the introvert students are able meet and have a meal together in a quiet space
A place of introverts to date
After much discussion, we really wanted people to understand why some people prefer eating alone and not being judged when eating solo, which really brings back to our point of view.
“Introverted NTU students needto be empathised with while eating in school to as it helps feel less self- conscious”
Then we also thought of how can we make the extrovert people really empathise on introverts, by creating a small section of the space which gives a opposite experience as compared to eating alone.
The small section to give students the experience of a crowded canteen
In this small section, we thought of having students to wear a headphones that contain the loud noise of canteen. There will be puppets to blocked their way, to show the crowdness of the canteen. And the visuals on the side will be a situation in the canteen during peak period.
And on the other side of this small section will a quiet and peaceful space, where the introverts prefer to be.
Final outcome of the edited prototype
However, this was totally off from what from what we were expected to do. Hence, in our next post, will focus on our narrative behind our concept, refine version of our prototype and some visuals.
Over the recess week, our group went to research more in depth about introverts and extroverts.
Here are some of our thoughts:
Azizah: Introverts are not anti-social, they just preferred to be alone or in a small group. Meanwhile for extroverts, they get recharge by socializing and having friends with them. However, introverts still need friends at some point of time. And extroverts need some time for them to think and reflect upon themselves. Hence, it is not about having a space for introverts and extroverts separately. It is about having the time alone and a time to socialise.
Elizabeth: I found out that introverts do enjoy spending time with people and they still want communication. Instead of having separate areas labelled for introverts and extroverts, it seems helpful to just label them as spending time alone or with people. The lighting system would help introverts keep their groups small and meaningful still. Based on the research conducted, I realized that people sometimes dont want to have social interaction but just a time to get their food and leave. Having areas for solo dining would contribute towards that.
Tobi:Usually, people are neither 100% introverted nor 100% extroverted. Moreover, they can be allocated a place on the normal distribution (bell curve) that runs from total introversion on one side to total extroversion on the other side. On this scale, most of the people can be found in the middle, making them “ambiverts” (=average). Every character is different, self-reflection is important in order to find happiness: Try to find out more about yourself, the locations you thrive in and the people that “nourish” you. Then, adjust your life to those insights. Everybody is different. For everyone, there are specific places and environments that make them thrive. And for everyone, there are people that have an either toxic or nourishing effect on them.
We started our presentation with our motivation, which was quoted by some of our interviews and surveys.
Some of our classmates liked the The First Supper idea, where we are able to combine tables to create whatever shape we want. However, our proposed idea of having a space for people to socialise our meal and having a private cubicle, needs to have more in-depth thinking to it. Some of the suggested idea are having an introvert week, a tag on the shirt that says “I don’t feel like socialising.” Hence, our group decided to revamp our point of view on the next post!
From the online survey, we deduce that majorities are extrovert as they like having company, while minorities are introverts as the prefer to be alone.
After much discussion, we decided to focus on the topic below.
