Switcher
1. Switcher -“switch immediately” - some kind of immediate help to survive a crisis, a situation in which someone is affected by one or more serious problems. It’s important then to switch to something different in the very beginning. It's a very simple app to promote the brand IDEASTARTS.
Why is it about contemporary art?
It’s absolutely against the stream as nowadays all apps are created to be used as much as possible. As for Switcher, it’s better to use it as least as possible. It’s going to be for free and on every phone. Let’s try it.
Personal story
During my first class of “Design for Mobile Devices“ at my University there was in the presentation slide that our mobile app should have a purpose to be an app, not, for example, a site. I created it exactly then. Which app do you always need to have on your mobile phone, what is app number one to have not to use?
Switcher.mov"Switcher" Proposal
May 8, 2021
The idea I developed for my Interaction Design course was a situational mobile application. Its name is "Switcher". With this app, I think I can help people If they are stuck deciding what to do, if they are not sure what is viable/true. I can help them to create a clearer train of thought. The app is to change the way to do things and the way how people think. Rather often, it's simply necessary to switch and think more positively at the very beginning of any phycological crisis. If to explain how it works "in two words": "everything is nonsense, try to understand what matters right now, develop your new logic from scratch".
It's about what is your strategy/you right now. It works like contemporary art. I use this approach to switch and start thinking more positively. First, break frames, then develop a new vision/understanding. There are examples of such an approach, e.g., my favorite from Faust of Goethe:
"The world of spirits is near, the door is not locked,
But you are blind, and everything in you is dead.
Wash in the morning dawn, like in the sea,
Wake up, here is this world, just enter it."
It's scholastics, but it still can work nowadays as "the self has become more extreme and what it means for you to be an individual today" (from previews of a forthcoming book "The Extreme Age" of Basar/Coupland/Obris, seen at the contemporary art exhibition "Age of you" on January 5th, 2020 in the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto). On the other hand, all is rather old in the world. For thousands of years, people have had the same issues as misunderstanding themselves or others; as a result, the loss of a sensation of "eternity".
My first app is rather simple; there are only three steps: breaking the frame, developing a new vision/understanding, and fixation/confirmation/agreement. I'm going to publish it for free for everyone to use. It's also a learning project to develop skills for future creative applications development.
To say this app will be for everyone is not efficient in marketing. So, my target audience will be people desperate for help it comes to some kind of light immediate psychological help. Second, people tired of routine, who need to lift up a little; third, people who are simply bored, looking for anything to entertain.
Use Cases of "Switcher".
May 20, 2021
The Jane Eyer Persona:
Bio
Jane Eyer is a young, orphaned girl, a former governess who remained at Lowood (a religious boarding school for orphans) as a student from ten to sixteen years old and then as a teacher until she was eighteen. Despite all the difficulties (the children there didn't have enough food and warm clothes), she became an excellent student, learning all the possible things that made up a lady's education in that epoch and got a job as a governess afterward.
Goals
Help to survive difficult circumstances means helping to manage to live or continue despite the circumstances, do not let them affect her very much ("survive" Collins dictionary). To help her survive a crisis, a situation in which something or someone is affected by one or more severe problems. In the case of Jane, she lost her job, love, accommodation, all the close people, and personal items at once. Unfortunately, when the crisis happened, she didn't manage to control her emotions and let circumstances affect her situation very gravely. Even light psychological help in the very beginning could have been efficient.
Behaviors
Know about a helper beforehand (have the app on the cell phone). If there are no people around, be prepared to communicate with an app.
Motivations
Manage to live despite everything
Don't allow emotions to defeat you
Try to be affected by your crisis as little as possible
Have someone/something around to communicate with
Technology Use
Jane has a cell phone and knows how to install and use apps.
Context of use:
It's a situational app. Actually, it's better to use it less when someone is in a crisis. It's essential to switch to something different then. Knowing it is on the phone should already help; who knows what will happen next. Almost everyone will watch it after downloading because of interest in something new or simply entertaining.
Also, people tired of routine who want to lift up can use this app. Understanding that there's always a sense in life is up to everybody to create that sense. If you don't feel the sense (a sensation of "eternity"), you need to analyze all about your life and maybe change something in it, but only after a thorough analysis. There's the difference as in case of initial phycological support, the main goal is to continue to live, in case of a tired of routine it can also be used as a check if I'm ok, in most cases, it should be ok, everyone can get tired of routine for a while.
Scenario:
Jane got into a crisis in her personal life. It seemed to her that life had stopped. She thought she had lost her love, a real tragedy for a young girl. All the dreams and hopes were ruined at once. But if it comes to real/eternal love, nothing can damage it. For example, Shakespeare's play, "Troilus and Cressida", compares the love between Troilus and Cressida and between Paris and Helen.
Maybe that situation was a challenge to come over, to understand if her love was real or only temporary affection. Who knows? Still, she shouldn't have allowed her emotions to defeat her. Her absence of an ability to manage her personal crisis resulted in the loss of all possibilities such as a job, accommodation, close people, and personal items. If Jane could have stopped thinking about herself and switched from her own, even enormous problem, to something else. Not losing a sensation of "eternity" is essential, especially in crisis situations. It could have been very helpful as she was extremely lucky to survive under such circumstances.
Mini Use Case:
Title: "Switch/Switcher" (just the main task name)
Actors: The Jane persona and the Switcher app.
Purpose: Allows a user to get psychological support, the possibility to switch from own problems to eternity, and get a sensation of "eternity" through the communication process.
Initial Condition: The Switcher app is open, and the persona wishes to use it.
Terminal Condition: The last message box is sent to the screen, and the persona reads it.
Primary Steps:
The persona clicks the "Start" button.
To calm down, the persona is presented with a scene of storm/rain (visual and audio streams). The user can choose when to switch to the next step.
The persona clicks "Next."
The persona is presented with a special effect of something spinning around (there should be an effect in conscious of watching something spinning around like a ball).
The user can choose when to switch to the next step.
The persona clicks "Next."
The persona is suggested as "Don't remember", "Don't think", and "Don't feel". The user can choose when to switch to the next step.
The persona clicks "Next."
The persona is suggested as "Want to live" (visuals). The user can choose when to switch to the next step.
The persona clicks "Next."
The system asks: "But how to want to live?" (visuals).
The persona clicks "Next."
The persona is suggested the answer "Believe that life is magic" and presented with a choice of several videos (separate buttons) to check it. The videos will be about something eternal like nature. Videos will be looped.
The persona selects any of these videos by clicking the button beside it. It's possible to watch all the videos in a row. The user can choose when to switch to the next step.
The system asks: "What is the sense?".The user can choose when to switch to the next step.
The persona clicks "Next."
The persona is suggested by the answer: "The sense is in creating this/that sense every day" (visuals). The user can choose when to switch to the next step.
The persona clicks "Next."
The last message box: "Want", "Believe", "Don't give up" is sent to the screen in a row, and the persona reads it.