brief four
behaviour change + website design 

website that encourages reduction of digital social interaction

In the autumn of 2019, I was selected to be an Upstart in the amazing program run by ICAD (Institute of Creative Advertising and Design). The program is a type of mentorship: each Upstart is given a mentor who is an established creative professional working in the industry, to guide them through six-weeks of workshops. 

The brief this week was set by Unthink. It was to design a simple responsive website which would encourage people to reduce their social media usage, and engage with the world around them. In essence, I saw it as designing for behaviour change.

The irony of creating a website to promote reduction of behaviours that use websites was not lost on me. I thought about how the tone of voice could reflect this irony?

In my research I noticed that prediction reduces addiction; the endless scroll of wonders creates love.

So I thought more about it; what’s worth your time? What are you missing out on when you’re busy on your phone? Are you getting the whole story?

I imagined a website that you could only really read if you put your actual phone down. While I figured out how to do this visually, I didn't have the skillset to be able to do this through coding. However, my very talented mentor Naoise (@naoiseo !) was able to do this: and I was able to present a working mockup, which actually used the phone's sensor to do the trick.