GRIP project— CRISP Magazine # 1
When they design a PSS, designers try to find a balance between flexibility and control to create effective and socially responsible value for users and other stakeholders.
Knowing what PSS are is one thing. Evelien, Mike, Geert, Erik & Dirk explain what the design process for PSS looks like.
Philips and TU / e have collaborated on several( graduation) projects that looked at health care. Halfway during one such project Geert Christiaansen, of Philips Design, mentioned to Dirk Snelders of TU / e that biometrics and work-related stress might be an interesting area to look into.
Dirk— As I thought about all the different aspects, I realised how the sheer size of such a project was much more suited to one or even several PhD projects. Days later Cees de Bont, then Dean of Industrial Design Engineering at Delft University of Technology, first mentioned the CRISP initiative, as a programme to explore Product Service Systems for, among other things, health care.
At that time, there were already several products on the market that used biometrics to measure stress levels and give feedback. Philips’ Rationaliser is an early example of this: by measuring the body’ s reactions to stress, the device could make the target group, home investors, aware of their stress levels and prevent them from making irrational decisions.
Geert— In testing, however, we noticed that few people understood its use. It is always difficult to point out why products don’ t take off, but I think the market just wasn’ t ready yet.
Stress is odd in that respect. Unlike people who are dieting or trying to exercise more, people who suffer from stress often find it difficult to interpret biometric data, because they are out of touch with their body.
Evelien— Those people are already overstimulated and overloaded and may need help to translate the insights from the data into healthy behaviour.
The be of str
There are also large individual differences in how people perceive and approach stress: some have no issues with admitting they’ re stressed, whereas others prefer to keep it to themselves. There is, however, a strong social component to work-related stress and reducing it often relies on social support.
Mike— There is no such thing as a stressed individual, it is a stressed organisation.
Crisp Magazine # 1
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