Little Devil
Research project about the benefits of negative reinforcement for encouraging stress-relieving behavior. Concept acts as an excuse for non-smokers to take a break.
Little Devil is a research project from Industrial Design at TU/e exploring the benefits of negative reinforcement for encouraging stress-relieving behaviour. Instead of fixing the problem of people who have stress problems, why was it that people were allowed to reach a level that requires treatment? Also, are there other ways of dealing with stress other than talking with a counselor? How about spirituality or tough love? The goal for this research project was to test methods designers hesitate to use with regards to stress (e.g. Negative Reinforcement).
At a workplace, regular 10 minute breaks during the day are noted to have a large positive impact on a persons stress. Yet, it is common that non-smokers are hesitant to take a break because they have no reason to. They are scared of being told by their colleagues and bosses that they should be working. This is where Little Devil comes in…
His design is a powerful conclusion of his research, based on strong premises and flawless intuition. It’s not for nothing that his work was chosen to be presented at the Design Cares exhibition in Helsinki and Eindhoven later this year.
Dirk Snelders (Visiting & Associate Professor at Aalto University and TU/e)
Little Devil acts as an excuse for non-smokers to take a break. Little Devil slowly moves from its relaxed state to it’s uptight state over a period of 1.5 hours. The ‘tension’ Little Devil is undergoing only happens because you are working, and within this 1.5 hours you must take a 10 minute break or suffer a funny (yet mildly irritating) consequence. The consequence is that Little Devil will start hyperventilating because it is nervous for you, and will keep doing so until you stop working. The irritating sounds created by the hyperventilating motors and waving object can then be used as an excuse to leave your desk, as everyone knows that Little Devil is irritating enough to stop you working.
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