Positive psychologists sometimes advise that not too much ought to be expected from the contributions to subjective well-being made by consumer products. ‘Positive Design’ challenges this view.
It was a great honor that Anna Pohlmeyer and Pieter Desmet were invited to introduce Positive Design at the European Conference on Positive Psychology (ECPP 2014). They prepared a number of activities for Thursday 3 July, including a key symposium and a design exhibition of student work.
The key symposium provided a general introduction to the topic, presented recent findings of key researchers and designers from the field, provided inspirational design examples, and engaged participants in a ‘creative interaction’ that illustrated how design can create meaningful experiences. The main speakers were Anna Pohlmeyer (TU Delft), Pieter Desmet (TU Delft), Marc Hassenzahl (Folkwang University, Essen) and Carolyn Strauss (SlowLab, New York / Amsterdam). Meike Ziegler (founder and director of the company Creatuals) and Iris Ploum (graduation student of TU Delft) engaged the seminar participants in an interactive design experience.
Anna Pohlmeyer initiated and supervised a studio related to her research on Design for Savoring within the Master project “Exploring Interactions”. A selection of the final designs was showcased in an exhibition at ECPP 2014. The students were present to demonstrate their projects with prototypes, videos, and posters.
In addition, all conference attendees received a TinyTask as an initiative of the Delft Institute of Positive Design. TinyTask triggers people to commit to small assignments and thereby to new experiences that can have a positive effect on their well-being. It was designed by Hans Ruitenberg in his final graduation project at IDE.
The Positive Design Day was well received. The audience was intrigued by the contribution of design for human flourishing and acknowledged it as an innovative theme within their field.
Click here for more information on the conference website.
Symposium team: Iris Ploum, Pieter Desmet, Marc Hassenzahl, Meike Ziegler, Anna Pohlmeyer, and Carolyn Strauss
Exhibition team: Lisa van de Merwe, Hui Lin, Viola Tjew A Sin, Lex Postma, Inge van der Lee, Frank Stemerding, Kiki Ottenhoff, and Anna Pohlmeyer
Positive Design Day
