Duration: 4 research days in The Netherlands, 4 ideation days in Taiwan

Type: Group project with 6 students

Course: FlightCase Studytrip to Taiwan

During our 4 weeks trip in Taiwan,  we visit 6 company and one of them was ITRI, the Industrial Technology Research Institute of Taiwan. Our research question stated that Taiwan will officially become a hyper-aged society in 2025 with more than 20% of the population classifying as elderly. Within this question our sub-question was Dementia. The design question we made for this topic is as following:

Brainstorm session in Taiwan. Photo made by: Jorddka

MEET TANGRAM

TANGRAM is a keychain that makes it easier for people, who have a family member or friend who suffer from dementia, to talk about this disease and their experiences with this disease. If you don't know TANGRAM, it will look like a normal keychain, but when you are part of the community you recognize the keychain as the symbol for dementia.  TANGRAM creates a community where people anonymously our face to face can talk to each other about dementia.

My individual contribution to this project besides the group brainstorming and ideation was the design of the logo and keychain. As a design for Interaction student, I also created the idea of using a small ordinary object that enables people to talk to each other more easily, to lowering the barrier of talking about it.

1. Doctor visit, Information box.

When a person gets diagnosed with dementia, the family receives a information box about dementia and the community that is created to talk about this disease.

3. Keychain visibility

The keychain is part of the information box. It can be attached to something you bring with you daily. The keychain shows that you have a family member or friend that suffers from dementia.

4. Keychain conversation

Only people who have the keychain will know what it actually means. By seeing the keychain on someone else, you can relate to each other and start a conversation about dementia more easily.

2. TANGRAM platform

The information box gives an introduction for the TANGRAM platform where information about dementia can be found. Experts are walking around on the platform to answer questions and you can (anonymous) talk to each other on this platform.

Scenario

TANGRAM. Made by me

Information box: Made by Anne van Lieren

TANGRAM platform: Made by Maarten Ornee

TANGRAM keychain visibility: Made by me

TANGRAM keychain conversation: Made by me

TANGRAM platform: Made by Maarten Ornee

TANGRAM