Interactive team-building experiences that are fun, effective,
and rooted in science.
Designed with neuroscientists to promote connection, collaboration,
and communication
Opportunity
Solution
Role
The rise of remote work has lead to a sharp increase
in loneliness.
Remote workers collaborate less with colleagues
they donβt know as well.
An in-person experience to help teams build communication,
collaboration and coordination.
Use fun games developed using neuroscience to concretely
evaluate specific group skills.
Research | Design | User Testing
UX/UI Lead & Game Developer
In collaboration with Georgina Chiou, Parth Kashikar,
Kausi Raman, and Madeline Warshaw
Initial Research
Problem Area
60% of Americans currently struggle with loneliness
Young adults reported twice as many compared to middle-aged adults
A major barrier in finding solution is the stigma around admitting you're lonely
Stress from chronic loneliness is one of the most deadly kinds
People with strong social connections were 50% less likely to die in a given period of time
Social isolation impacts lifespan more than smoking and obesity
Academic Review
Dunbar's 7 Pillars of Friendship
1. Growing up in the same place
2. Speaking the same language
3. Having the same education
4. Enjoying the same hobbies
5. Sharing the same moral or political POV
6. Sharing the same sense of humor
7. Sharing the same musical taste
The people you are friends with likely have three of the seven things on this
list in common with you.
Types of Loneliness
Intimate Loneliness:
Feeling like you lack a close confidant
Relational Loneliness:
Missing people to do things with like go to a
baseball game or see a movie
Collective Loneliness:
When we lack the sense of identity
that comes from being part of a community
All three types of connections need to be met
for an individual to not feel lonely
Overt Avoidance
Physically avoiding an anxiety-inducing situation entirely
vs.
Covert Avoidance
Being physically present,
but not fully engaged in the situation
Interviews
Expert Interviews
"At the brain level, the distinction between close friends and
acquaintences hasn't been made yet. You get the same benefit from
talking to a cashier or barista as you would talking to a close friend."
- Professor Michael Platt
Experience Interviews
"I love my best friends but we all live in different cities. I don't
know many people here."
"Talking to people at the dog park is so easy because everyone likes
talking about their dog."
"When people invite me to things, I don't know if they're being
genuine or just polite."
"Since the pandemic, I don't know how to talk to people who
don't already know everything about me."
Insights
You can have friends and still be lonely
People have an easier time connecting over something other than themselves
People who feel the most lonely tend to display behaviors that repel connection
How might we...?
Make it easier for people to approach
strangers in public for quick encounters?
Prevent covert avoidance behaviors
in people who are lonely?
Create environments that alleviate
social anxiety?
Design Criteria
Focus on building community connnections and
addressing collective loneliness
Emphasize in-person connection over solely virtual interactions
Mitigate the covert avoidance behaviors that
result from anxiety-causing situations
Early Ideation
Our team new early on that we wanted to incorporate some form of
physical design into our product, potentially alongside whatever digital solutions
came up.We felt that, given our focus on in-person connection, it made sense that
whatever our answer was should have an in-person componant too.
Initial Concept
booza: A digital pet that encourages you to
make connections with the community around you
Boozas are digital pets that encourage place-based community interaction and play.
By acting on behalf of these little beings; users combat unconscious antisocial
behaviors, deepen connectedness with those around them, and alleviate loneliness
in the process.
You'll interact with your Booza and care for it on the physical device.
To keep it healthy, you'll need to take it into the real world with you.
As you walk past other Booza owners in your neighborhood,
your Booza might ask to greet their Boozas and maybe even play!
You'll earn points this way. The more you interact with Booza
players in your community, the more you'll level up in the game.
Core Technical Features
Physical Device
Animated pet lives in the device
Nostalgic Tamagotchi-like aesthetic
Interactive game haptics
Game play primarily happens on this device
Phone Application
Keeps track of who you've met and progress over time
Account set-up, customization, and customer support
In-depth details about your activites and score
AR capabilities allow you to see your Booza interact in
the real world
Prototyping
Assumptions to Test
Once we had developed our initial prototype conccepts, we wanted to test
the core assumptions that the product relied on before devloping it
any further. To do this, we organized an event to simulate the
experience our product provided.
We developed and planned the activities and detials of our event
to test five key assumptions:
Physical devices feel more novel than phone notifications
People will respond to a cue telling them to interact
Participants will enjoy the experience
Individuals will leave feeling more connected
Users will feel emotionally invested in their digital pet
Overview of Event
To test the concept, our team hosted an event with just over
thirty attendees who were unaware of what we were planning. We prepared twelve
different activities that belonged to one of four categories: physical movement,
goal-oriented task, personal truths, or cognitive puzzle.
All attendees were instructed to mingle in the space until they were matched with
a partner, who was another attendee they did not know. Once they found their partner,
they were given one of the twelve activities to complete.
During the activities, we tested our digital pet concept by
splitting the time in half. For the first half hour, all attendees were
given a small stuffed animal with a key finder attached to it.
To pair each couple, we, as facilitators, would buzz two pre-planned buzzers
at once, and then have the two individuals find each other. For the second
half, we texted the participants phones instead of using seperate buzzers.
The event was comprised of one hour of scheduled activity time,
followed by a half hour debrief session, where we asked for
the particpants input on our concept
We asked them their overall thoughts on the experience,
and then asked them increasingly specific questions about
what did and didn't work in their opinion. We also wanted to
find out if they would participate in something like this
if it was based on more casual interactions instead of an
organized event.
Testing Results
Following the event, we also sent our participants a survey
where we asked questions about demographics, which activities
were their favorite, as well as an opportunity for
open-ended feedback. We received some very informative responses:
82% reported that meeting new people and making connections
was important or extremely important to them
77% of attendees came with friends, and only 12% of those participants
said they would have attended alone
88% of participants preferred the stuffed animal alerts over
the phone notifications
48% of participants exchanged contact information completely unprompted
82% of attendees said they would be likely to play a game that
incorporates real-world social events and meetups
100% of respondants said they would be interested in participating in a
similar experience in the future
Refined Insights
People loved intentionally gathering, and preferred it to
man-on-the-street interactions
Meeting new people with institutional support was very appealing
Working from home reduced their opporunities to be in person like this
Even in structured events, breaking the ice can be the most awkward part
Ideation
Based on the insights gained during the event, we decided to
focus on events centered around existing institutional support,
we started to think about what the new version of booza might look like.
Trivia Nights at bars
Orientation on college campuses
Remote & hybrid workers
Weddings and other social gatherings
Remote & hybrid workers
Decided to focus on remote work. Wanted to make the limited in
person time more valuable. Looking at company retreats because
it is a booming industry.
How might we help remote workers more effectively and enjoyably connect with their
teammates at company retreats?
Prototyping
Key Design Criteria
Cooperation based games that promote eye contact
Incorporate movement to engage mirror neurons
Activities need to be fun and not feel like a chore
Utilizes in person opportunity, can not be done remotely
Needs to increase feelings of connectedness among team
Concept Sketch
Device seperates into two parts
Piece with light clips onto hat
Other piece becomes remote control
Activity prompts are displayed on screen
Status bar on side shows group progress
Feedback
After receiving feeback on our new concept, we decided to simplify
the physical device by creating a remote that would instead
interface with an application users would download onto their phones.
This brought the device cost down significantly, in addition to
increasing the capabilities that we could bring into our activities.
Sketch Models
Final Concept
fieldtrip
Prior to the start of the retreat, we have planning, consultation, and shipping.
Once the team arrives at the retreat, they will complete the 90 minute
Fieldtrip activity, receive their post-activity analysis, and complete
an hour long team debrief.
Fieldtrip has decided to partner with a company called Boompop,
which works like Airbnb for retreat planning.
Company executives who are planning their next retreat use Boompop
to organize the experince. When planning their team's retreat
itinerary, they have the option to add FieldTrip to the schedule.
Prior to the retreat, this executive then jumps on a call
with our Fieldtrip Account Manager so we can better
understand the company's needs, pick the best fieldtrip experience
for each team, and walk them through how to use our product.
When the team arrives for the reatreat, our resealable, easy to return
FieldTrip box will be waiting for them with the hotel concierge.
After downloading the FieldTrip App,
players connect their phone to the remote
via Bluetooth by scanning the QR code on the device.
Once connected, they enter the room code for their event,
and are ready to begin
Once the facilitator starts the game, a ten minute timer will start,
and everyone's screens will display an image.
Players must find the other person with a matching screen.
After finding their partner, they start the first game.
Every game focuses on specific actions and behaviors that utilize a variety of
research-based methods to improve different collaborative skills.
Each of the skills targeted translates directly to vital skills in the workplace,
such as increased confidence delegating tasks,
or more comfort giving and receiving constructive feedback.
Bubble Burster
Players use physical mirroring to
guide their partner to find the targets.
π When we move together, our heart rates sync up,
we feel more in tune, and we pay closer attention to each other.
Mondrian's Revenge
Players must rotate and rearrange tiles on one screen
to match the tiles on their partner's screen.
π This activity focuses on eye contact and pattern recognition.
π Eye contact makes people more socially attuned and empathetic
π Pattern recognition is beneficial for creativity.
Van Go Go Go
One player describes the an image displayed on one screen to their
partner, who must then draw it.
π Focus on storytelling, verbal communication,
and linear process flow.
π Practicing good storytelling improves our ability to convey
information effectively, remember it better, and build trust.
Within in each 10 minute game, there are several short rounds,
and players will take turns practicing the skills used in both roles.
You will go through several rounds with your partner,
until the 10 minute timer runs out.
At this point, a new matching screen will appear,
and everyone will need to find their new
partner, and start a new game.
At the end of the game, a report will be generated highlighting the team's
collective strengths and weakness.
You'll see where your group showed strong skills,
as well as what areas had room for improvement,
along with recommendations of science-backed
methods for improving those skills.
The experience will cap off with a 45 minute team debrief,
lead by someone on your internal team using our free facilitation guide.
We know that this reflection is a critical way to cement learnings
from the game play. You'll ask questions about where they struggled
to communicate effectively, and what they felt went well,
as well as how they improved over time.
They'll end with a moment of gratitude.
If clients would rather have a personalized debrief,
they can add-on a coaching session
with one of our Workplace Team Coaches.
Business Models & Next Steps
Our beachhead market is work retreats, which currently makes up one third of
the extensive US corporate travel and event market, which is projected to grow
to over $500 billion by 2033.
We will begin by targeting companies with a remote
or hybrid workforce who already pay for retreats.
This gives us an obtainable market size of
$60 million annually in the US.
Over the next few years we expect to:
2023: Launch with BoomPop
2024: Hire more scientists and game designers for our core team
2025: Expand beyond Boompop partnership
through strategic marketing on LinkedIn and at conferences
2026: Launch new game modes to target different skills.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to the following groups for their
generous support and funding
of fieldtrip :