A hospital is a place where, at times, negative emotions can not be avoided. To transform these negative emotions into a more pleasurable experience for child and family, the Adventurer’s Kit was created. The Adventurer’s Kit contains four sets of toys related to a strategy to make the hospitalization an adventure. With the toys, child and family can experience the negative emotions, in a positive way.
The goal of the project was to design a product for children that provides a protective frame, creating a safe environment in which the negative emotions that, at times, come with a hospitalization will be experienced in a less negative, or even positive way. The project explores how you can design with negative emotions, in a way that respects the negative emotion, not necessarily aiming to reduce it. In this design case, the negative emotions that come with a hospitalization were, by means of the the adventurer’s kit, transformed into an adventure. Respecting the negative emotions, but turning the overall experience into a positive one.
Unfortunately there are quite some situations you can think of which involve negative emotions. In these situations not only the ones experiencing the emotions, but also their surroundings are influenced (for example, agression towards emergency service personnel) Most of these emotions can not easily be taken away by design. But if design is able to create products that can transform these situations into less negative or even positive experiences, it could contribute to social issues and transform ‘bad’ experiences towards more tolerable or even pleasurable ones.
Contact
Freya Ruijs, freyaruys@gmail.com, 06-52417041
Links
http://issuu.com/freyaruijs/docs/the_adventure_of_a_hospitalization
