This research offers a comprehensive understanding of experience. A systematic experiment was conducted to answer the research questions. Findings of the research strongly support that service design is capable to enable the users with conscious experiences in the real-life contexts. Diagram 5.1 illustrates the formation of experiences and the role of design in altering users’ experiences. More specifically, the diagram reveals the methods that can be implemented in design practice to enable conscious and responsible user experiences.
Diagram 5.1 Design intervention in changing to conscious user experiences
Design intervention is the role of design in change making. By altering the signal input and shaping the behavioral output, design intervention is able to change users’ experiences. Three factors are effective to enable users in the process of transformation. These included: guidance, time and initial input. In order to enable users to be more conscious, both the users and designers need to understand the previous experience and design intervention needs to be implemented in the core layer of previous experience. Users tend to be more responsible to their behaviors when they are aware of the
consequences of their behaviors. This indicates that design intervention can enable users to be more aware of the consequences on both intellectual and emotional level.
The formation of experience consists of four components. The findings of this research are consistent with Sanes et al. (2000) and Eagleman (2015). The sensory organs receive signals from the outside environment as we see, hear, smell, touch and taste. The brain processes the informational input and
forms a series of mental activities, then releases motor signals as behaviors that react to the environment.
People learn to navigate and interpret the world from the outcomes of their behaviors. The knowledge people gain from the previous experiences become the informational input for the future encounters.
The change of experience is possible when design intervention is introduced to users. The role of service design in altering users’ experiences is that it can be used as a means of intervention to break the old patterns in previous experiences. According to the findings, by modifying the signal input and interfering with the behavioral output, service design is effective to enable conscious and responsible user experiences.
Design intervention is a means to enable users. Instead of presenting users with the end results of design products, services or systems, design intervention emphasizes a platform that should be used by both users and designers for initial exploration and collective contribution in design practice. Design intervention is not a means to decide for the users, but it is a medium to enable users to decide for themselves.
According to the findings, three factors are found essential to enable users in the process of design intervention. Firstly, the guidance from designers and design methods. It is important for users to obtain assistance from designers, along with the introduction of design methods. Designers play a role as a facilitator in the process. Designers need to help users to understand the basic concept of design methods and adjust the schedule according to the progress. Meanwhile designers need to build a sense of safety for the users that they are guided in a systematic way of self-exploration. Empathic listening is fundamental in design intervention. The interactions between users and designers are important for self-reflection of the users. Secondly, sufficient time for users and designers to obtain and process the information, then react on it. Change is a process. The brain needs time to absorb the information from its environment and digest the information internally. Furthermore, progressive understanding of the information helps to create the confidence in the changing process. Thirdly, enablement requires a large extent of initial inputs from users. Instead of passively participate in the design practice, such as attend to the interviews in exploration phase and test for prototypes in reflection and implementation phase.
Users are guided to utilize design methods. In other words, they need to be actively thinking and acting in the process of design intervention. This enhances the sense of ownership and competence of the users.
In order to raise the consciousness of users, both the users and designers need to be conscious about the informational input in the beginning of design intervention. The first step is to understand the previous experiences. According to the findings, experience map is an effective tool to comprehend the previous experiences. It provides a tangible way to visualize complex experiences. The components in experience map help to break down the experience in large details, also the visualization offers a direct perspective to analyze the connections of each component. Meanwhile, in the process of creating the map helps the
users to reflect on their previous experiences. In line with the studies by Libet et al. (1983) and Haggard et al. (1999), users become more conscious when they are given the opportunity to review the experiences, in particular to reflect the actions and outcomes.
The second step is to alter the environmental signals at the core layer of the previous experiences. The findings about layered experiences are coherent with Kandel et al. (2000), that our present experience is based on the experiences we had in the past. More specifically, it depends on the environmental signals at the core layer of the previous experiences. It is worth noting that environmental signals have a profound impact on experiences. Environment ranges from nature landscape, artificial buildings to social settings and informational environments (Kaiser et al., 2003; Deng et al., 2010). It largely determines the mental activities and behaviors of the users (Proshansky et al., 1983; Roth et al., 2011).
Hence, designers undertake the responsibility in determining the contents of signals that need to be changed. It is crucial for designers to understand the users’ previous experiences in a holistic way, and able to disclose the core layer in the experiences.
Use design intervention to enable responsible user experience is intricate. The increasing sense of responsibility requires users be aware of the consequences both on the intellectual, as well as the emotional level. The finding of one of the participants is consistent with the studies by De Groot et al.
(2009) and Steg et al. (2005). It suggests that people become more responsible after they are aware of the consequences of their behaviors. According to the data, intellectually understand the consequences of the actions has negligible influences on users’ sense of responsibility. Experience map is a useful method for users to review the consequences of their behaviors. Yet, it cannot help the users to emotionally experience the consequences before it has happened. However, this research suggests that service design can help users to increase the emotional awareness by visualizing the foreseeable consequences.
It is noteworthy that if the design intervention directly implemented on users’ behaviors and without a thorough consideration of the mental activities, it can lead to undesired outcomes. In other words, the order of the alteration is important. It is possible to achieve single behavioral change through design without the change in mental activities. But this will cause negative impacts on users’ experiences, especially on the mental activities. It decreases the sense of control and increases the passive attitude of users’ lives.