The Only Reflection that Matters
Senior Project > Solo Project > 15 Weeks
For my senior project I intended to design a product, which may be accompanied by a service, that would act as a tool to fight a social stigma.
I chose to focus on the social stigmas of body and self perception.
‘Noor’ is an interactive mirror that enables the user to prepare themself to fight the stigmas of the confinement of beauty standards set by society.
After weeks of research and studying prevalent stigmas amongst society across various cultures and I decided to focus on the stigma concerning beauty norms set by society as it seemed to be the most unanimous stigma world wide. It affects every age group, gender, cast, creed or religion and even at multiple stages of life. Mental health awareness and self care is a prominent trend in 2019.
“2019 will be about designing for feelings, as we enter a new emotional era” - Common Ground, WSGN ‘18
The Stigma
Beauty Norms Set by Society
Self Esteem
There is a strong desire to be accepted by society. At the same time we cannot devalue our individuality and must believe in ourselves. The only person who can help you is you!
Stigmatizing or Sensationalizing
….. How about Routinizing?
I used Simon Sinek’s ‘Golden Circle’ concept which helped keep the loyalty to the user and the social movement at its core.
For the purpose of this concept we start with WHY?
Research
After prolonged study of the current trends, stigmas and relevant brand advertisements the secondary research lead me in the direction of learning how people feel about their skin. Skin is often considered to be a representation of both, the internal and external well being. It is the most prominent feature of our first impressions.
I conducted an online survey to research the relationship people have with their bodies, particularly their skin. The qualitative and quantitative results showed a connection between people’s self esteem, mental health, insecurities and skin.
As a competitive golfer I’ve always been taught the importance of a pre-shot routine in sport. Like most athletes I have applied these learnings to my everyday life as well. I spoke to Head Golf Coach and Pro Aditya Kanitkar and SCAD Golf Director Coach Amanda Workman to get a better understanding of a pre-shot routine.
Why a Pre-Shot Routine?
In golf, a pre-shot routine is a specific set of activities and thoughts that you perform before each shot. Kind of like a pre-game ritual in other sports or like a daily routine for everyday life.
It prepares yourself for the best opportunity to succeed by establishing a personal and reliable routine and helps organize your thoughts.
“The reason behind this is that when we organize ourselves and know what to expect, it’s easier to actively work towards counteracting the thoughts and symptoms of any of the aforementioned mental health conditions.”
“Routines in life are a sequence of actions regularly followed to produce an organized action or result. To shoot lower scores a pre-shot routine is important to ensure your thoughts are organized. Without a good pre-shot routine you’re opening the door for tension and anxiety to creep in which are both killers of the golf swing.” - Brian K. Shaver (PGA Tour Pro)
After several dialogical conversations and studying the survey responses I came to understand that the best tactic was to equip people with a steady set of actions or a routine. This would help the user be self reliant and able to fight their insecurities and anxieties. I wanted the activity to be independent so that they are instilled with a sense of self trust and don’t have to rely on anybody else to be strong enough for them.
Conversations with competitive golfers and athletes revealed several tricks that they used as mental cues to improve their mental game and overall performance when competing. It was usually a mind trick or acted like a placebo. Like flipping a ball marker when placing it on the green convinced a golfer that her luck had changed so she would perform better.
Ideation + Refinement
Final Concept
‘Noor’ is an interactive mirror that compels the user to perform their self-confidence boosting “pre-shot routine”.
With an inbuilt IOT device, Noor senses when you stand still in front of it for more than 5 seconds and promptly turns off the main source of light in the room. To turn the lights back up you must perform your pre-shot routine. With each step that is completed the light halo around the mirror builds up. Upon completion the entire halo lights up which turns on the main light in the room once again.
5 Easy Steps
Step 1: Install either your Lean Stand Noor Mirror or Mounted Noor Mirror.
Step 2: Using the Noor app set up your routine so that your Noor mirror can recognize when you’ve completed each step using a gesture control software.
Step 3: Stand in front of Noor for 1….2….3….4….5….(seconds) and lights off!
Step 4: Perform your routine and watch the halo build just like your confidence!
Step 5: The lights are on and you are ready to seize the day!
Your routine can be something as easy as doing a sequence of a power pose, breathing exercise, a motivational phrase, singing a song or even a funny face!
Personalize it to whatever works for you! Experiment and embrace what makes you unique. Each of us has our own journey so why not our own routine?
Don’t like what you see? Try a different perspective!
If you feel like you are having an unfortunate day you can literally change your perspective.
Turn the mirror to be positioned in a different angle. This rotation will act as a visual cue that might help you believe that your luck has flipped!
Of course it’s all a placebo effect, because all you need is a little faith and a pick me up.
Fight a stigma with a superstition!
Personalize!
With its minimal metal frame, you can dress it up and make it your own. Maybe decorate it with some flower power, use magnets or post its for some fun anecdotes!
Let Noor be your power station!
Building a Community
Through the Noor app you can customize your routine on your app. An additional feature to the app would be an online platform where users can share and upload routine videos. This will open up discussions related to beauty conformity imposed by society. After all it takes a village!
Promotional Video
Company Core Values
Communication
‘Noor’ acts as a tool that helps us to perform a daily routine and as a communication facilitator. It helps us prepare ourselves for the day and give ourselves the best chance for success as we possibly could. The community helps us discuss our fears and insecurities as we acknowledge our limitations. Only then do we know that we are not alone and that there are several people who resonate feelings that we may have. Acceptance is the first step towards fighting anything.
Embracing Individuality
‘Noor’ helps us embrace our individuality. It aspires to help each person understand and embrace what makes them unique and how it makes them special.
“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” - Dr. Seuss
Self Confidence
‘Noor’s goal is to not only make you aware of your self perception but to instill a sense of pride and confidence. This will help you live a healthier and happier life, thereby improving your overall quality of life.
Assembly Video
Watch how Noor comes to life!
Behind the Scenes
Coming up next…. Noor app mockups!