Designing to encourage remote socializing and physical activity - Identifying guidelines and implementing them in a concept

Abstract

The current pandemic situation has led to many people working from home, resulting in less social interaction and a more sedentary lifestyle. This problem was raised by the company HiQ and is the basis for this thesis. User research was conducted in order to find out more about how office workers experience the current situation and to get a deeper understanding of the problem. The user research showed that users have an unfulfilled need for socializing, as well as a wish for being more physically active than they are today. Based on the user research, seven guidelines were identified for how to design to increase both social interaction and physical activity. Further, a concept in the form of an application was designed in order to explore a way of implementing these guidelines. This was an iterative process where users were involved along the way to evaluate and test the concept, and to find out whether their needs are fulfilled through the design. The result of this showed that this concept is something that users both need and would like to use.