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SURVEYS:

Here I will be documenting my research surveys, responses and evaluation to support my Phase 3 Ideation.

PHASE 3 - Carrying out surveys to

gather research

'SAFE SPACES AND CALMING VISUALS' - RESEARCH

SURVEY 

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Name of Survey: Evaluating visual preferences and elements of a safe space

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Purpose of Survey: The purpose of this survey is to evaluate people's preferences in terms of a safe space, such as what it consists of, sounds like, and items around them. This will also give me insight into the kind of visuals that people will find most comforting and calming. The suggestions provided will help my teammate and I reach design conclusions for our Project Proposal.​

SURVEY LINK:

Instagram Polls

QUESTIONS I'D LIKE TO ASK AND WHY:

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  1. What does a safe space look like to you?- To evaluate the kind of items/objects or environments people find most comforting.​

  2. What visuals do you find most calming/relaxing? - To identify our visual options for our Project Proposal.

  3. How would you customise your own safe space? - To establish the kind of options we have provide players.

  4. What makes you feel calm? - To identify patterns/common grounds which can be applied to the experience.

Demographic of Responses

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From my Instagram insights I can see that the majority of my following are students between the ages 13-24. So the responses I've gathered are from my intended target audience which will enable to me more direct with my design choices, focusing on User-specific needs.

SURVEY QUESTIONS

1. If you could customise your own safe space, what would it have in it?

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RESPONSE

  • Mountain view, waterfall - calmness

  • Music and a bed

  • Big fireplace

  • Bright and calm environment

  • Pillows, plants, incense

  • Personalised walls - posters, album covers

  • Calming music and silence, blankets, bean bags

  • Slide and consoles

  • Trees, shelter, cabin

  • Fairy lights

  • A cozy room - lights, books, clean, plants

  • Treehouse

  • Pets, pillows, cozy

  • Something warm, familiar and music related

  • Things to fidget with - plants

  • Low and pretty lights, comfy chairs, candles, no windows

EVALUATION

I am surprised that the responses didn't consist of more personal comfort items! Or maybe this is something people don't like to share. From the responses I can see that most people like having music on with things in the room to distract them or to fidget with. A few responses included the need for plants so this could be something to think about. In addition to this, the most popular responses were lights, pillows and blankets to promote calmness. In terms of environment, it was suggested that mountain scapes, waterfalls and treehouses were people's favourites as well as features like fireplaces and fairylights.

2. What makes you feel calm?

RESPONSES

  • Nature

  • Rainfall

  • Music

  • Piano

  • Films

  • Books

  • The colour purple

  • R'n'b music

  • A person I trust - company

  • Pillows

  • Broad peaceful view

  • The sound of rain

  • Candles

  • Late night car rides

  • Keeping active

  • Music

  • Good food

  • Sleeping

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RESPONSES

  • Lights

  • Plants

  • The gym

  • Jazz music

  • Clouds

  • Moon

  • Sunsets

  • Night drives

  • Long showers

  • Sleep

  • LED lights

  • Vibrations of guitar strings

  • Driving

  • Company

  • Animals

  • The ocean

  • Wildlife - grass/flowers

EVALUATION

After reading the responses to this question it's evident that music is a huge part of everyone's lives! Almost everyone included music in their response in addition to other things like candles, nature and rainfall sounds! Most people also find lights, sunsets and the ocean very calming. These are things that we could implement into the visuals of our game and provide options for visual apperance within our Project Proposal. We propose to make users feel calm and relaxed through visuals and sound, and these are great suggestions to do so.

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3. What makes you feel calm?/

Visually, what makes you feel calm?

RESPONSES

  • Clouds

  • Blues, pinks and purples

  • Waterfalls

  • Sea waves

  • The moon

  • Sunsets

  • Clouds moving

  • Rain

  • Trees swaying

  • Oceans

  • Water moving

  • Purple sunsets

  • Waves colliding with rocks

  • Mountains

  • A fire

  • The Beach

  • Sunsets, rain, watching someone paint​

RESPONSES

  • Rain being lit up by lamp-posts

  • Sunsets

  • Light shows

  • Waves crash

  • Light reflecting off the sea

  • Detailed visuals

  • Reverb songs

  • Heavy rain

  • Stars

  • Reflection of water

  • Light breeze through a field/forest

EVALUATION

What visuals do people find most calming? From the survey results it's clear that a lot of people find oceans and the movement of water very calming as well as the reflection of it. During my Immersion research I visited an exhibition and beach waves were projected on the walls which I found really mesmerising. In addition to this, a lot of people referred to sunsets, rain, nature and clouds. These are things that we consider to integrate into the environment, or another option is using these components on their own - similar to light shows, this could be just as effective.

EVALUATION OF SURVEY RESPONSES

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If you could customise your own safe space, what would it have in it?

The majority of responses were 'music' and 'nature'. However, most people like the idea of fairy lights/LED's or a view into a tranquil environment e.g. mountain scape or tree cabin/shelter. To take this further in Phase 4 I can consider the kind of visual appearance our game will have, I will begin this by mood-boarding these responses and gaining inspiration from them.

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What makes you feel calm?

The majority of people answered listening to music which supports my research for this project! - Good to know I am on the right lines. As well as this, a lot of people responded nature, plants and cleanliness. I can assume they mean open spaces without clutter and any kind of mess that might make them feel overwhelmed. Physical interactions included reading, playing an instrument and going on a drive which could influence our interaction design in this space! But most of the responses were 'feature' related, such as lights, rainfall and candles.

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3. What makes you feel calm?/

Visually, what makes you feel calm?

A lot of people thought clouds and sunsets were the most calming visuals which were also similar to the responses in the first 2 questions - so maybe we consider these over our other options! Additionally, the majority find watching trees swaying and waves crashing just as calming. A response which I found quite interesting was the reflection of water, I can definitely agree that the movement and fluidity of water can be very calming. It could be fun to play around with this and potentially use microscopes to ensure we capture the detail of this movement! Lastly, I picked up on a few answers related to colour which I didn't think deeply about however it's clear that it can be quite effective! Most people said that purples, pinks and blues were the most calming! - It might be worth looking into 'The Colour Theory' to support this.

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MOOD-BOARDS:

Using these suggestions I have created mood-boards of both environment types and visuals which people find most effective. I can use these suggestions to influence the direction of my game and use different options to prototype and test with for our final game.

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ENVIRONMENT TYPES

PINTEREST LINK: https://pin.it/Y42mb4N

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CALMING VISUALS

PINTEREST LINK: https://pin.it/m8nBBgt

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