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About 

Arden Maria
Van Hollebeke


Arden is a Human Centered Design student at Cornell University. Her education builds on an interdisciplinary curriculum with an emphasis on real-world examples and technical skills. Through an evidence-based, empathy-driven approach, she fosters strategic, sustainable, and healthy futures by design.

As of , Arden is working on adapting her studio project prototype, WeFrame, for installation on Cornell’s campus in order to improve the health and well-being of the entire Cornell community.






















© Arden Van Hollebeke 2024

PosiBank

OBJECTIVE Design and construct an interactive scoreboard that supports a healthy habit related to a personally significant goal
DELIVERABLE Prototype Artifact TIMELINE Jan - Mar 2024 TEAM Solo

O1 THE TASKOur Positive Design Studio was tasked with designing and constructing an interactive scoreboard, or tracking device, to support a healthy habit related to a personally significant goal. We were given the additional assignment of actually using and reporting on our product over the course of about two months—the time span from the project’s deadline to the end of the semester. For this project, I created a design intervention for my own life, so I served as both the designer and the end user.

02 PRELIMINARY RESEARCHMy design process started with VIA Institute’s Character Strength Survey, which I completed to determine my top five character strengths: fairness, humor, honesty, prudence, and zest. The original goal was to use at least one of these strengths to inform my design. However, I was instead inspired by one of my character weaknesses: gratitude. Via Institute defines gratitude as “feeling and expressing a deep sense of thankfulness in life, and more specifically, taking the time to genuinely express thankfulness to others.” Recognizing a need to cultivate more gratitude in my life, I set out to strengthen this character weakness. I began by gathering more information about the concept of gratitude and its associated benefits to better understand the role it plays in my life. “Gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. [It] helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships” (Harvard Health Publishing, 2021).


03 PRODUCT ANALYSISAfter further reflection, I decided to create something that re-envisions a product I already own but struggle to use, One Line A Day. One Line A Day is a memory journal used to track one highlight of my day over the course of five years. I realized that this product is intended to resolve the very problem I was aiming to address and yet, I neglect to use it. Since the product was a birthday gift from my best friend, I felt guilty that I did not use it every day as she wanted me to. So I conducted an unstructured interview with her to discuss my concerns and inquire more about her personal thoughts about the product, as she owns it herself. To my relief, she, too, expressed difficulty using the product consistently. Following the interview, I drew up a list of all of the drawbacks of One Line A Day—in other words, the reasons why we struggle to use it.

  1. Progress is only revealed after the book is opened
  2. A five-year time period is overwhelmingly long
  3. Lack of usage reminders
  4. Limited interactive features
  5. Product’s importance is overshadowed by other tasks
04 IDEATIONAs part of the ideation phase, I thought up attributes and examples of good scoreboards using a mind map. This exercise helped me identify characteristics of scoreboards that I may want to highlight in my own design.

I next created a list of all of the characteristics that I wanted my product to exhibit. These qualities were largely influenced by my product analysis and mind map. I also created a list of key outcomes to drive my design process.
    Positive Characteristics
  1. Observable progress 
  2. Relatively short time frame
  3. Perceivable goal and reward 
  4. Daily usage reminders 
  5. Interactive features 
  6. Aesthetic materials
  7. Simple design interface
    Key Outcomes
  1. Engage in daily positive reflection
  2. Practice self-care and emotion management
  3. Reframe negative perspectives
  4. Establish a healthy habit
  5. Develop an optimistic outlook


Subsequently, I drew several rough concept sketches, culminating in a final sketch: a hexagonal prism with a slit at the top and an LED display on the face. 

05 SURVEYAlthough the product was intended for personal use, I conducted a brief survey on five people (age 19) to gauge their input. The results were mostly consistent with my final design, with the exception of preferred material choice. However, I ultimately opted to use wood—as opposed to plexiglass—because I wanted the interior components of the product to remain hidden.

06 CONCEPT DEVELOPMENTFrom here, I further developed my concept, brainstorming potential opportunities and challenges reflected by the product’s design and the project parameters.

  • Timeframe: An LED Matrix with 64 LEDs will track about two months of progress, so users’ reward appears in reach.
  • Friction: Blinking LEDs create a moment of friction between the product and its user, encouraging them to use the device.
  • Design Simplification: The LED sticks on the sides of the hexagonal prism overcomplicate the product’s design. The LED Matrix can serve multiple functions: to track and remind.
  • Design Modification: The product may need larger dimensions to account for both the Arduino system and the index cards in its interior.


07 LOW-FIDELITY PROTOTYPEIn order to begin manifesting my design, I constructed a low-fidelity prototype out of cardboard. This process helped me to visualize the size of my design with respect to its interior components. From this process, I drafted a list of design iterations that would inform my high-fidelity prototype.

  1. Increase index card slit size
  2. Add hole for LED Matrix
  3. Maintain larger dimensions to account for Arduino system
  4. Add interior balconies for Laser Transmitter Module
  5. Use wood to account for Laser Transmitter Module and index cards


08 HIGH-FIDELITY PROTOTYPEUsing the knowledge gained from producing my design out of cardboard, I constructed a high-fidelity prototype. I started with wiring. This step involved much troubleshooting. I began by wiring the LED matrix and laser transmitter module separately. Then, I united them on a single breadboard. In coding, I used a similar approach. Then, I laser cut the constituent parts that would form the backbone of my prototype and sanded the rectangular pieces at the same angle so that they would fit together. From here, I glued the pieces together and reinforced the interior with tape. Finally, I glued the Arduino components to the interior.

09 FINAL PROTOTYPE ARTIFACTPosiBank is a tracking product that helps people develop an optimistic outlook by collecting daily positive reflections. When users insert an index card into the slit, it passes through a laser transmitter. Each time the path between the laser transmitter and its receiver is broken by an index card, an additional LED illuminates on the LED Matrix.
    
    User Flow
  1. At 7pm every day, PosiBank blinks a red hue, signaling users to use the product.
  2. Users reflect on one positive aspect of their day.
  3. Users write down this reflection on an index card and insert it into PosiBank.
  4. An additional LED illuminates on the LED Matrix each time the user inserts an index card.
  5. At the end of 64 days, users collect their positive reflections and read them over.