Emotions are often perceived as abstract and difficult to measure. This study focuses on the importance of managing emotions and the potential benefits of regularly checking and managing emotions to prevent negative emotional states and improve mental health. The aim of this study is to develop a system that helps users understand their emotions and prevent the accumulation of negative emotions by making the emotion management process easier and more immersive. This service aims to help users manage their emotions by providing services that can help them with self-awareness.
We often believe we understand emotions like happiness, joy, anger, and sadness quite well, finding it easy to express them in diverse ways.
A survey of 24 employees about their overall emotional state and relationships at work showed that most people had very high positive emotions in terms of emotional state and relationships. However, this was a very different response from the 1:1 interview, which was interpreted as being afraid to show negative emotions rather than actually showing positive emotions.
We often believe we can manage our emotions effortlessly and tend to defensively overlook negative ones, making it challenging to recognize emotional issues. However, neglecting to acknowledge our emotions allows them to accumulate, potentially leading to explosive outbursts and unfavorable outcomes.
"“our emotions flow in a continuous stream, like a river, and to keep up with that we’re constantly regulating them.”-Marc Brackett-
I tried keeping an emotion journal with six others for two weeks, using both an app and a notebook. While reflecting on our own emotions were meaningful and helped develop the service concept, participants often forgot to journal. I realized I needed more enjoyable and motivating elements to stay consistent.
When you are self-aware, you are able to recognize your emotions, understand their causes and effects, and manage them in a healthy way. We looked for a variety of ways to express emotions. Beyond simple emojis or words, there are many ways we actually express our emotions. For example, we drew inspiration from our physical expressions, such as yelling, hitting hard, or stroking something soft. We connected sensory expressions with emotional expressions, such as rough feeling for tense emotions, soft feeling for happy emotions, and coldness for sadness. Then, we took design patterns from here and used them as the main design elements for the app design.
The basic structure of the self-awareness service is based on the “Mood meter”. While the mood meter allows users to see many factors on one screen, this service divides the process into steps to help users focus on and reflect on their own emotions.
*mood meter
This tool, created by Dr. Marc Brackett at Yale University, is a visual wheel divided into sections. Each section represents a different emotion, such as joy, anger, sadness, or fear. People can use this wheel to identify and understand their current emotions, which can help them develop healthier coping mechanisms and improve their emotional intelligence.
I designed the app based on major functions and visual elements inspired by emotion expression.
Users determine whether my emotions are high or low in energy, negative or positive, and select emotions that suit the current emotional state.
I aimed to visually represent the emotional information selected by the user as a single set of emotional data. Drawing inspiration from the human 'eye,' I sought to effectively visualize emotions.
I drew inspiration from the phrase 'emotions accumulate' to depict the accumulation of emotional data. Through emotion records, one can observe changes in emotions over a specific period.
While working on the emotion project, I was able to experience the importance of introspection by taking the time to look into my own emotions. Checking my emotions is not a difficult task, but I think it is a meaningful process to do it continuously and to show the overall trend of emotional change.
However, I regret that there are not enough elements to motivate users' voluntary participation. More elements are needed to encourage users to keep records, such as detecting and recording subtle changes in the body, such as heart rate changes, through health check apps such as wearable devices.