Abstract:

Chronic pain in adolescents places a strain on the healthcare system. This research focusses on finding key audiovisual characteristics and design patterns to support the co-creation process of prototype tactile ‘Design Probes’ for adolescents with chronic pain.

The research was conceived with the learnings from a pilot study showing evidence that artistic interventions have a marked effect in increasing subjective well-being of chronic pain patients. Using sensory perception to stimulate the senses, thoughts and feelings, mechanisms to address chronic pain among adolescents can eventually reduce depression and anxiety.

In this study, a qualitative co-creation process involving ‘digital storytelling’ through ‘ASMR’ (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) and semi-structured interviews with experts was employed to decipher design patterns which would serve as inputs to create ‘Design Probe’ prototypes.

Through the qualitative analyses of artistic observations comprising of animation films and ‘ASMR’ sounds followed by semi-structured interviews with experts, decisive patterns were deciphered to better fathom the needs of adolescents with chronic pain. The artistic observations revealed design patterns for a potential prototype which could be characterised by the interaction of resonance-inducing audiovisual elements that stimulate tactility of perception. From the interviews, key needs articulated included the fact that individual sensations influence feelings, experiences and well-being; participant self-awareness, self-effectiveness and self-empowerment were crucial; memories and experiences could be evoked through the sense of touch; potential risks and trigger factors would have to be considered when working on expressing perception through tangible design; interdisciplinary approaches would contribute to improvements in the implemented artistic methods; cognitive realisation of the participants would have to be taken into account to increase chances of acceptance.

The findings of this research permit to create prototype ‘Design Probes’, guided by key audiovisual characteristics and articulated design pattern needs, as an artistic tool for non-verbal expression through visualising, addressing and investigating the sense of touch.

Keywords:

Design patterns, interdisciplinarity, ‘design probes’, sense of touch, adolescents with chronic pain.