by ylva.larsen -

Recap and final presentation prep

To refresh, domscrolling is defined as: The compulsive habit of spending excessive time online scrolling through negative news or content that causes feelings of sadness, anxiety, or anger, even when it’s disheartening. And my main research question starting this project was: Can ethical and intentional design help decrease peoples doomscrolling habits?

How design promotes doomscrolling

through my secondary research i found that there are three main categories of ways design leads to an increase of doomscrolling.

1: Interface Features that Reduce Friction. For example infinite scroll, autoplay, and constant content availability.

2: Algorithmic Personalization and Content Curation. Algorithms prioritize content that maximizes engagement, often selecting emotionally intense, sensational, or negative material.

3: Persuasive Design and Reward Mechanisms. Notifications, social feedback, rewards, and habit-forming triggers.

My Personal Expriments

Did three personal experiments to try to decrease my own doomscrolling and screentime.

1: No phone in the morning. The one that worked out best for me

2: Time limit on apps. Worked to some extent, but too esy to ignore as is does not feel urgent at the moment. This method is the one that has do anything to do with the actual innterface design, having a notificatio pop up, maybe there is a better way to execute this?

3: 30 min deddicated scroll time. Did not work for me at all.

I did manage to decrease my wn screentime a little bit after a while, but I am not sure wether is is due to the exersises in my experiments or just by doing so much research and becomming more aware of the issue.

Interviews

I held 6 interviews with people between the age of 10 and 70. The most Interesting finds relevant to design were the fact that the most common hook that drives people to start doomscrolling was notifications from news, social media apps an such. Also that the type of content mostly consumed while doomscrolling is short-form videos with autoplay settup.

I also found that 4/6 wanted to reduce their own doomscrolling, so there is a wish and hopefully a maket for trying to solve this problem.

Posible design solutions

I also found three posible solutions designers can follow to decrease doomscrolling:

1: Introducing Design Frictions. For example manual content loading giving natural stopping points instead of infinite scroll

2: Regulating Addictive and Manipulative Design. For example transparency requirements, or restrictions on exploitative design.

3: Alternatives to Algorithmic Platform Designs. For example chronological feeds instead of algorithmic and user-controlled recommendation systems.

Future vision

I find this topic very interesting but I will probably not choose this as my masters topic as i am most interested in product design.

However, one posible outcome I have thought of is to elevate the time limit restricting notifications. This tool had did not work very well for me because it did not seem important or urgent to follow the notifictions nudging as i could easily ingnore it. I think that it would be more effective to impliment some sort of character that you could feel emathy for, or propose the break from screentime as a team effort.

by Indigo Tschurtschenthaler -

The niche of light pollution games

Let’s take a look at how to raise awareness on light pollution through gamification.

people gathered at night to install new lights
The installation of new lighting by the DARKER SKY Project, photo: Burmann/NPorts

Nienke Aal, wildlife management student at Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences did an internship at the DARKER SKY Project. It is an Interreg North Sea project, funded by the European Regional Development Fund, which aims at reducing light pollution and increasing biodiversity and ecological connectivity. In her report about the experience, Nienke describes the creative and collaborative approach of the project. In fact, it involved designers, ecologists, and storytellers, who all contributed to create a nature-friendly night.

Students of the minor Design for Complex Problems from NHL Stenden, the Netherlands developed interactive sessions with stakeholders to inform and encourage reflection and behavioural change. They showed them different pictures of artificial lighting and asked them to rate them as either “good” or “bad”. They approached the activity with an open mind and showed that listening is equally important as designing.

Students from the course Communication and Multimedia Design (CMD) also from NHL Stenden created a board game and an animation to raise awareness about light pollution. The game took players through four different habitats, each with a different light. Light was the villain in the game, causing difficulties to players and ultimately leading them to lose. The animation on the other hand showed the effects of light pollution on animals, but translated to humans. With light, the character felt more and more exhausted. At the end, the curtains close and the relief can be felt with the help of music. After watching the animation, five out of nine people who had not worried about light pollution before admitted that they felt concerned about the future of biodiversity.

people looking at computer screens, and talking. On the background, a big whiteboard with many sticky notes
man playing a board game
a final concept presentation

These photos were all taken by Nienke Aal for DARKER SKY. Unfortunately I could not find any close-up pictures. Nevertheless, reading about them was inspiring and made me realise that design, interdisciplinarity and non-formal education can really tackle complex issues.

Another example of interaction design for awareness I found is the videogame Lux, developed at the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi in Canada. It is designed to promote better lighting practices among the population and show the impact light pollution has on animals. Although games about light pollution are not very common, they are usually educative and serious, while this one wants to give a playful twist to the issue.

The story is set in a North American city plagued by light pollution. In the game, the player is Lux, a cat that has the mission to save small animals incapacitated by the dazzle. Lux performs different tasks, including replacing blue light bulbs with warmer ones and correcting their orientation. A drone, which represents the enemy, emits a light that disorients the protagonist.

cute calico cat with hoodie and backpack, seen from the front and from the back
Lux, the protagonist, Lux
game loop with tasks for Lux the cat
The game loop, Lux

The description gives us detailed information about the UI, the design method used and character design. The UI introduces icons and bold words in the text bubbles to help the player skim through the speech bubbles. The Lux game was developed using a user-centered design approach and the Agile method, where playtesting had an essential part. 

All animals are native to the northern American environment and are named after light or energy references, such as Candela, Joule, Étincelle and Lumen.

Candela the barn owl says: Good start. Now, to replace a blue light, you first need to find an orange light.
Candela, the barn owl, gives instructions to the player. The UI introduces icons and bold words in the text bubbles to help fast reading and improve accessibility, Lux
Final concept art of Joule the bird, Étincelle the opossum, Lumen the moth and the surveillance drone
Some of the characters with light and energy inspired names, Lux
screenshot of the mission "separated family": find the three baby opossums and bring them back to their mother.
In level 2 the player has to locate and bring back three opossum babies, after their mother almost gets hit by a truck with blinding headlights and loses them, Lux

Lux wants to play with contrast: light seems necessary for humans, but it can be harmful for animals. Through this game, players can easily learn good practices that are friendly to fauna and can recognise problematic lighting in their environment.

I really recommend you to read the whole game description, I think it is a masterpiece because every detail is carefully selected, plus the characters are adorable.

videogame with pixelated night sky and speech bubble at the bottom
The game Growing Light by Space Owl

I also found a short game that depicts a quiet moment, Growing Light by Space Owl. In it, some campers observe the stars at night. The player can use arrow keys or the touch screen to search the night sky with the telescope and follow the campers’ conversation. The author’s motivation behind this minigame is showing that we are missing out on a chunk of the human experience if we’re deprived of our view of the night sky. It is very short and simple: as a player, you only move the telescope and make the characters speak. Still, the simplicity of the plot, the minimal interaction and the dark colours were able to transmit me serenity.

board game
The printable “board” of Journey through a Bright Night

I am ending this article about gamification with an analogue example called Journey through a Bright Night. It is a board game developed by a mother and her two children, who wanted to educate their classmates about light pollution. It is an open source game that can be downloaded, printed on a sheet of paper and played with just a dice and playing pieces. While moving forward on the path, players face the same challenges that animals of different species encounter due to light pollution. The game’s format already exists, but it is educational thanks to detailed explanations.

Researching games about light pollution has been fascinating. I discovered a whole genre that I did not know existed. Unfortunately they are not very popular because environmental causes rarely are a reason for profit and this one is still a niche. I hope some day light pollution will get as much attention as plastic in the oceans, fast fashion, greenhouse emissions and deforestation, and maybe design can help make that happen.

by julia🐨razumovskaia -

The City as a Designed System: Architecture, Space, and Pace 8/10

#slowness #slowliving #slowinteraction #digitalcalm #calmtechnology

In my last three blog posts, I want to focus more on the city and the human experience in the city, the moments when we slow down and speed up, why this happens, and how design can shape our experience. In the last 10th blog post, I will describe an idea that came to me while using maps for traveling, hiking, and using maps in the three countries where I have lived.

Cities often have a default sense of urgency. We rush through the streets, quickly moving between buildings and rarely stopping unless there is a clear reason to do so. This feeling of acceleration is usually associated with modern lifestyles or digital technologies. However, long before the advent of smartphones and notifications, the city itself was already shaping the speed at which we move.

🏛️ Architecture as an Invisible Script

“First we shape the cities — then they shape us.” — Jan Gehl, Life Between Buildings (2011) [1]

Urban planning determines not only where we can go, but also how we get there. Wide, straight streets encourage continuous movement. Narrow sidewalks discourage lingering. Long building facades with minimal variation encourage visual scanning rather than observation. Even the absence of benches, ledges, or secluded corners suggests that stopping is not expected.

[2] Vester Voldgade, Copenhagen.

🤳🏾 Cities as Interfaces

From an interactive design perspective, a city can be viewed as an interface consisting of physical components:

👉 streets as navigation paths;
👉 intersections as points of interaction;
👉 buildings as visual landmarks;
👉 public spaces as potential places to pause — or missed opportunities.

As in digital systems, default settings matter. When urban space is designed primarily for efficiency, throughput, and movement, speed becomes the implicit norm. There is little friction, but also little invitation to linger.

Urban planner Kevin Lynch in his book “The Image of the City” emphasized how spatial clarity aids orientation and movement, but also warned that excessive legibility can turn a city into a mere transportation environment rather than a place where new experiences can be had.

[3] Urban Planning Elements: Kevin A. Lynch.

🏃‍♀️ Designing for Flow, Not Staying

Modern cities are increasingly optimizing flows: transportation efficiency, pedestrian capacity, visibility, and safety. While these goals are valid, they often result in spaces that are difficult to inhabit at a leisurely pace. Transitional areas—entrances, plazas, underpasses—are designed to move people through, not allow them to linger.

This logic stands in sharp contrast to alternative urban models such as the Cittaslow movement. The Cittaslow manifesto explicitly challenges acceleration as a default urban value, proposing a city designed not primarily for throughput, but for quality of everyday life. [4]

🦥 What is a Slowcity:

The Cittaslow manifesto contains seventy recommendations and obligations, the main ones being the following :

  • Enhancement of the historic urban heritage by avoiding the construction of new buildings.
  • Reduction of energy consumption.
  • Promotion of ecological technologies.
  • Multiplication of green spaces and leisure areas.
  • Cleanliness of the city.
  • Priority to public transport and other non-polluting transport.
  • Reduction of waste and development of recycling programs.
  • Increase in the number of pedestrian areas.
  • Development of local shops.
  • Development of community infrastructures and equipment adapted to the disabled and the various ages of life.
  • Development of a genuine participatory democracy.
  • Preservation and development of local customs and regional products.
  • Exclusion of GMOs.

🏎️ Pace as a Design Outcome

[5] Making Cities Slower… And Safer For All.

Speed in the city is rarely a personal choice. It is determined by structural decisions: street width, building density, visibility, and the presence or absence of places to rest. These elements together determine the rhythm of the city.

Understanding the city as a designed system helps shift the focus away from blaming individuals for driving too fast. Acceleration is often not a mindset—it is an architectural condition.

Speed in the city is rarely a personal choice. It is shaped by structural decisions embedded in street design and urban layout. When movement is prioritized over presence, speed becomes the default — even in spaces meant to be shared.

“City streets aren’t the sole domain of cars and their drivers. They’re also home to pedestrians of all ages, to cyclists, mobility scooter and wheelchair users, to groups of playing children, and mass transit passengers. They are shared spaces, which means they need to provide safety to all.” — Making Cities Slower and Safer for All, Forbes (2024) [6]

Sources 🛈

[1] Life Between Buildings: Using Public Space. Jan Gehl. Island Press, 2011. Available at: https://cus.ubt-uni.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Jan-Gehl-Life-Between-Buildings_-Using-Public-Space-2011-Island-Press.pdf

[2] Vester Voldgade, Copenhagen. Massengale Blog. Available at: https://blog.massengale.com/2015/07/19/vester-voldgade/

[3] Urban Planning Elements: Kevin A. Lynch. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8OuADNE1EQ

[4] In Praise of Slowness: Let’s Slow Down the City! Citego. Available at: https://www.citego.org/bdf_fiche-document-1735_en.html

[5,6] Making Cities Slower and Safer for All. Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/lauriewinkless/2024/07/17/making-cities-slower-and-safer-for-all/

by muhammad.turk -

The Trap of Perfection: Why “Easy” is the Enemy

Design & Research | Master Thesis Log 09

In my last post, I told you I was going to spend some time experimenting with my smartphone camera—really pushing the AI settings to see what they could do. I wanted to see if I could find a way to love the automation.

Well, I tried. And I found something interesting: I hated it.

The Experiment I went out with just my phone. No heavy gear, no lenses, just the device in my pocket. I took pictures of architecture, people, and shadows.

Technically? The photos were incredible. The AI balanced the highlights perfectly. The “Night Mode” saw things my eyes couldn’t even see. The colors were vibrant and sharp. I didn’t have to think about shutter speed or ISO. I just tapped the screen.
It was effortless. It was perfect.
And that is exactly the problem.

The Missing Ingredient I realized that when the camera does everything, the satisfaction disappears.

When I use my manual camera, I am constantly solving problems. Is the light too harsh? Do I need to lower the shutter speed? Is the focus right? When I finally get the shot, I feel a rush of dopamine because I solved the puzzle.

With the AI phone camera, there was no puzzle. It was just… consumption. I wasn’t making an image; I was just collecting one.

The “Happy Accident” I also realized that automation kills the “happy accident.”

Some of my best photos happened because I made a mistake. Maybe the shutter was too slow and created a beautiful blur. Maybe the exposure was dark and created a moody silhouette.

My phone refused to let me make those mistakes. It “fixed” everything instantly. It sanitized the creativity right out of the process.

The Realization This experiment taught me more than any interview could. It taught me that friction is necessary for art.

We don’t play video games that are impossible to lose. We don’t watch movies where everything goes perfectly for the hero. We need the struggle.

So, as I move toward my final design concept, I know one thing for sure: My solution cannot just be “easier.” It has to be “harder” in the right way. We need to bring the struggle back.

3d headphones on a website
by (B)aul -

Integration of 3D Models on the Web p.01

The integration of 3D-models, -visual effects and -interactive graphics into websites has evolved from a once niche application into a powerful tool. In the past century, this technical challenge turned into a widespread practice, used by many digital marketplaces to preview products. In recent years especially, the advances of browser-based graphics have transformed the way digital content is experienced. Today, whole games can be developed and played inside of a browser. Something that was unthinkable just a few years ago.

The Technical Foundation: WebGL and WebGPU

WebGL (Web Graphics Library) has served as the cornerstone technology enabling 3D graphics in browsers since its release in 2011. It is a JavaScript API (Application Programming Interface) that’s based on the OpenGL family of APIs. With the use of WebGL, developers are able to render 3D and 2D graphics directly inside of the browser without the need for additional plugins. By providing direct access to the systems GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), WebGL supports hardware acceleration for rendering which significantly improves visual performance. This allows developers to implement realistic lighting, detailed textures and dynamic animations that would otherwise be very CPU (Central Processing Unit) intensive. With efficient GPU utilization, WebGL supports advanced visuals such as reflections, shadows and particle systems.

As time passed and GPU technology continued to developed, demands for higher performance and better visuals grew. This advancement lead to the introduction of WebGPU in 2023. It is built with modern GPU APIs such as Direct3D 12, Metal and Vulkan which lets it more efficiently communicate with the new hardware systems. This significantly increased performance and enabled new possibilities for developers.

Benchmarks between the two technologies showed a drastic improvements regarding performance. An example would be a metaball demo that ran at 8 FPS on WebGL which WebGPU handled easily with a Frame rate of 60 which is almost a 10x improvement over the old technology.
WebGPUs architecture mirrors modern native GPU programming practices as it offloads most of the rendering directly to the GPU. This way the browsers main JavaScript thread is free to be able to handle user interactions etc. resulting in smoother and more responsive experiences.

The Technical Foundation: High-Level Frameworks

While APIs like WebGL and WebGPU provide the low-level interface to GPU hardware, using them directly requires vast knowledge in graphics programming and massive amounts of code to run even the most basic tasks. As this is a very time intensive tasks, a variety of high-level frameworks have emerged that simplify the process and enable developers to focus on design instead of programming.

Three.js

Probably the most widely used framework for creating 3D web applications is Three.js. It is build on top of WebGL and offers a simplified approach to 3D graphics within the browser and it is open-source.

Three.js itself uses a system that organizes 3D scenes through a well structured hierarchy known as a scene graph. This manages the relationships among the elements in a scene such as cameras, lights, meshes and models.

Three.js is made up of the renderer, which enables the viewer to see the objects, lights, etc. placed into the scene. The scene is made up of all the objects, such as lights, camera and meshes. Then there is geometry, which are the individual vertexes of the objects and materials, which represent the surface properties of the objects. Meshes are just a combination of both materials and geometry. Textures are images used by the materials to represent the surface properties and finally light, which is used to light up the scene, to be able to see the meshes.

With this hierarchy, Three.js simplifies the developing of interactive 3D visualizations and animations for the web.

Babylon.js

Another powerful framework is Babylon.js, a real time 3D render engine that was originally developed in TypeScript and was compiled to JavaScript to ensure browser compatibility. Babylon.js is designed for large-scale interactive applications and supports a wide array of use cases such as virtual worlds and educational platforms.

Something that sets Babylon.js apart is its comprehensive and well documented ecosystem that includes an interactive playground for testing and experimenting. The engine includes advanced features such as post-processing effects and Gizmos (tool for real time manipulation). These tools make Babylon.js a particularly powerful tool in the hands of a developer for complex interactive environments that require flexible user interaction.

Frameworks like Three.js and Babylon.js bridge the gap between GPU-level programming and high-level web development, enabling designers and programmers to integrate interactive 3D experiences seamlessly into web applications.

SOURCES

1: https://www.mongeyplunkettmotors.ie/2025/08/30/how-webgl-powers-engaging-browser-games-today/
2: https://dev.to/himj266/delving-into-the-world-of-3d-web-from-webgl-to-threejs-and-react-three-fiber-23kh
3: https://developer.chrome.com/blog/webgpu-io2023
4: https://texturecompression.com/blog/ktx2-format-guide

by karen.johannesen -

Personal experience & thoughts

I have myself attempted to use matchmaking apps for meeting people, primarily in the sense of friendships. Here I have been able to connect with people in the city I live in, or a city I might be visiting. These apps allow you to share your interests and write about yourself so that you can find other, likeminded people. The most famous apps are primarily made for dating, however, since they first became known to me I have seen them gradually implementing features to help you look just for friends as well. There are also complete separate apps focused on making friends.

The Meet-up-problem

The problem with regular matchmaking apps is that you have to arrange the meetup yourself. There are limited functions that “force” this activity. What can happen then is that people will chat and get to know each other online before deciding if this is someone you would like to meet. In such, people are able to create online connections from their homes, without having to put the time and effort into arranging a meetup. This can seem positive, but it also has the negative effect that you might not get to know the person fully. You might be thrown off by certain text messages, without properly understanding what they meant. This way you might stop keeping up contact without someone and never actually meet. In order to actually meet it requires effort, at least one person needs to take the initiative and ask. Whether or not a person initiates this is very individual, some may not feel fully secure, others might feel not that interested anymore after talking, timing & schedules might be a problem, and so on. 

The picture problem

All apps allow for some sort of image sharing, often about 6 images. This is an opportunity to show more of your identity, what you usually get up to, etc. The problem, like with any other social media, is that one often risks portraying life better, more interesting, and picture perfect than it actually is. Just like messages, images can also easily be misinterpreted and can throw people off. When it comes to dating, where looks might be important for some, images where people portray their best side might give higher expectations than reality. However, images can create a little sense of safety as you can see more of who this person is. Although in today’s day and age, this sense of safety does not reach far, as one is never guaranteed to not get catfished. Seeing the progress of AI these days, it will definitely become even easier to create false images. 

by julia.trummer -

#8 Older Adults Approach to Learning

Update

So last week we had our peer review and I got some really interesting insights into what I could have done better with my blog posts. One big takeaway was that I probably should have stuck closer to the research question I set at the beginning of the course. That said, I think I needed that phase where I went more into “research mode” and just explored what’s already out there and what other people have worked on. I wanted to check whether the things I was talking about actually made sense in the first place. And yeah, they kind of did, but I can definitely see that I need to go much deeper into the topic of interaction design for the ageing population. This topic feels like a natural extension of accessibility and it’s especially important to me because I truly believe that access to digital products can help everyone.

This is why I will use these last two blog entries to cover my initial research questions.

How do older adults approach learning?

I asked myself this questions because sometimes I see elderly that

Older adults’ approach to learning is an active process of adaptation and integration, in which new information is filtered through many years of existing knowledge and personal mental models [1]. Their learning approach is often characterised by a preference for environmental support and immediate practical utility, which helps compensate for age-related changes in cognitive processing capacity [1].

Environmental Support refers to the external stimuli, tools or contextual cues that interact with an individual’s internal mental and physical operations to facilitate successful functioning. [2]

Cognitive Strategies and Processing

While for most older adults the desire to learn remains strong, the biological and cognitive mechanisms used to acquire those new skills undergo significant shifts. [1]

  • Processing Resources: Learning is often influenced by reductions in processing speed, working memory capacity and attentional focus. Because of that, older learners generally require more time to master new skills compared to younger adults. [1]
  • Strategy Selection: Older adults tend to initiate effective learning strategies less spontaneously than younger generations. They often perform a “cost-benefit” analysis, dropping strategies that are perceived as too effortful relative to their perceived efficacy. [1]
  • Thoroughness vs. Scanning: When searching for information, seniors often demonstrate greater thoroughness, for instance, examining multiple hyperlinks in detail rather than scanning and clicking only a few. [3]
  • Self-Initiated Processing: Deficits in learning are most apparent in tasks requiring effortful “self-initiated” processing, such as the active reorganisation of new material. [1]

Unique Mental Models

Older adults possess distinct mental models that shape how they conceptualise and interact with new information, particularly in technology.

  • Linear Logic (Storytelling): Seniors often intuitively adopt a linear, text-based approach to learning, resembling a storytelling session. This frequently clashes with modern digital design, which relies on multi-layered, screen-based logic. [3]
  • Focus on Social Norms: Older learners often prioritise social norms and “politeness” within their mental models. For example, in design workshops, some seniors insisted that digital interfaces should “thank” the user, sometimes valuing this politeness over technical accessibility features like font size. [3]
  • Contextual Challenges: Learning can be hindered by contextual confusion, where similar-looking elements (such as a search bar and an address field in a browser) are mistaken for one another. [3]

Sources

[1] I. Tournier, ‘Learning and adaptation in older adults: An overview of main methods and theories’, Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, vol. 37, p. 100466, 2022.

[2] F. Craik, ‘Memory Changes in Normal Aging’, Current Directions in Psychological Science – CURR DIRECTIONS PSYCHOL SCI, vol. 3, pp. 155–158, 10 1994.

[3] D. Orzeszek et al., ‘Beyond Participatory Design: Towards a Model for Teaching Seniors Application Design’, arXiv [cs.CY]. 2017.

[4] G. A. Wildenbos, L. Peute, and M. Jaspers, “Aging barriers influencing mobile health usability for older adults: A literature based framework (MOLD-US),” Int. J. Med. Inform., vol. 114, pp. 66–75, 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2018.03.012.

by ylva.larsen -

Interview findings

Overall Overview 

Across the six interviews it appears that doomscrolling is a habit driven by boredom, free time, fatigue, or a desire to stay informed. While the participants differ in age, many describe similar emotional patterns such as curiosity at first, followed by discomfort, guilt, or mental fatigue. 

Frequency & Intensity 

  • Daily or almost daily doomscrolling: 3 out of 6 participants 
  • 10-year-old 
  • 22-year-old 
  • 61-year-old 
  • Occasional doomscrolling (a few times a week): 3 out of 6 participants 
  • 25-year-old 
  • 60-year-old 
  • 70-year-old 
  • More frequent among people with: 
  • A lot of free time 
  • Fatigue or low energy 
  • Unemployment or sick leave 
  • Limited alternative activities 

Common Triggers 

Most frequently mentioned triggers: 

  • Boredom / having no planes (4/6) 
  • Fatigue and low energy (3/6) 
  • Loneliness/being alone (3/6) 
  • Major news events (3/6) 
  • Too much free time (2/6) 

Notably, doomscrolling often starts unintentionally, people log on for something else and get pulled in. 

Type of content  

Recurring content categories include: 

  • News & global events (politics, economy, climate) 
  • Comment sections (especially negative ones) 
  • Health-related content 
  • Short-form videos 
  • Drama/conflict-based content (gaming drama, political debates) 

Emotional Experience during and after 

During doomscrolling people commonly reported: 

  • Curiosity or engagement at first 
  • Emotional detachment or numbness 
  • Tension, anxiety, or discomfort 

After stopping the most common feelings were: 

  • Guilt (4/6) 
  • Mental fatigue or heaviness (4/6) 
  • Sadness or discouragement (3/6) 
  • Relief (1/6) 

A repeated pattern is that people continue scrolling even when it already feels bad. 

Purpose and consequences 

Most participants felt doomscrolling serves a purpose in the moment: 

  • Staying informed 
  • Passing time 
  • Distracting from stress or boredom 

However, 6/6 participants identified negative longer-term effects including: 

  • Increased tiredness 
  • Mental fatigue 
  • Heightened anxiety or fear 
  • Reduced motivation 
  • Difficulty resting or recovering 

Attempts to Reduce Doomscrolling 

  • 4/6 have actively tried to reduce doomscrolling 
  • Common strategies: 
  • Time limits (often ignored) 
  • Switching to podcasts or long-form content 
  • Limiting news intake 
  • Success was mixed, fatigue and habit were common barriers 

External interruptions (meetings, parents, battery dying, physical discomfort) were more often a reducing factor than self control. 

Age-Related Differences 

Younger participants (10–22): 

  • More emotionally affected 
  • More exposed to algorithm driven content 
  • Report fear, pessimism, and negative thoughts 
  • Less effective self regulation 

Older participants (60–70): 

  • More intentional use (news and staying informed) 
  • Less emotionally reactive, but still experience fatigue 
  • More reflective and critical of their habits 
  • More likely to describe heaviness or tiredness 

Surprising or Contrasting Findings 

  • The 10-year-old expressed some of the strongest emotional reactions, including fear and worry about the world. 
  • The 70-year-old reported feeling relatively less affected mentally, despite similar patterns of negative mood afterward. 
  • Several participants described doomscrolling as both a coping mechanism and a source of stress at the same time. 
  • Awareness of the term “doomscrolling” did not reduce the behavior. 

Conclusion 

Doomscrolling shows up across all age groups, and many people experience it in similar emotional ways. However, younger users seem to be more affected by it. Even though people often scroll to stay informed or just to kill time, it usually ends up making them feel worse, showing a clear mismatch between why they start scrolling and how it affects them in the long run. 

by muhammad.turk -

Missed Connections and Surprise Conversations

Design & Research | Master Thesis Log 08

Research rarely goes according to plan.

In my last post, I told you I was hitting the “pause” button on the pressure. I promised myself I would stop forcing results and just let the process happen. And honestly? It’s working.

I had planned to share a deep-dive interview this week with a “Hybrid Shooter”—someone who mixes film and digital workflows. Unfortunately, due to scheduling conflicts, we couldn’t make it happen yet. A few weeks ago, that would have panicked me. I would have scrambled to find a backup or faked a conclusion.
But today? I’m okay with it.

Testing Without Pressure Instead of stressing about the missing interview, I’ve been using this time to experiment on my own. I’ve been walking around with just my phone, playing with the AI settings I usually ignore. I’m trying to see exactly what the software is doing to my images—where it helps, and where it takes over. It’s different when you are just “playing” versus “researching.” You notice more.

A Random Encounter: Donnie Jacob Then, something serendipitous happened.

I hopped onto an Instagram Live with Donnie Jacob, the content creator known for approaching strangers and taking their portraits. It wasn’t planned, but I got the chance to ask him directly about his take on AI in photography.

His answer was incredibly grounding.
He reminded me that “AI” isn’t actually new. He pointed out that we’ve had tools like the Magic Brush and content-aware fill in Photoshop for years. The technology has been here a long time; only the terms have changed.

He admitted that while we can’t run from the change—it’s inevitable—it might be too soon to make a final judgment on where it’s all going. But he shared one strong belief that really stuck with me:

“Humans should be the ones to make the decision.”

He believes we have to embrace the change—we can’t hide from it—but we must never let it take control over us. The photographer has to remain the one in the driver’s seat.

It confirms what I’ve been feeling: The future isn’t about fighting the technology. It’s about knowing who is in charge.

by julia.trummer -

#7 Decision fatigue

Update

Here’s a small update on the last blog post where I mentioned that elderly people don’t really use technology for entertainment. Some family members recently got a new TV and were complaining that Netflix is installed everywhere. I talked to them about it and they told me they don’t really understand why it’s there at all. They said they don’t need it and would rather just watch whatever is on TV something random, without having to think about it.

They also mentioned that on Netflix they often don’t even know what they would search for, which makes the whole experience feel unnecessary. With TV, something is always already playing. It feels like they just want to watch without having to decide first and the topic itself doesn’t matter that much. This is something i found quite interesting and will do some research on.

I beliefe this phenomenon might be explained by the following:

Reduced Processing Capacity and Cognitive Effort

  1. As individuals age, their available processing capacity and attentional resources decline, meaning they can process fewer discrete bits of information in a given time. [1]
    • Self-Initiated Processing: Digital entertainment often requires “self-initiated” processing, such as navigating complex menus or reorganising information in working memory, which shows substantial losses with age. [1]
    • Cognitive Load: If a digital interface is cluttered or complex, it demands high cognitive effort to navigate. When the effort required to make decisions within an app (such as choosing content or managing settings) exceeds the user’s available resources, it leads to frustration and a desire to stop using the technology. [2]

The Relationship Between Ease of Use and Usefulness

  1. For older adults, perceived usefulness is deeply linked to ease of use.
    • Immediate Benefits: Older adults are less likely to perceive a technology as useful if its benefits do not manifest easily and quickly during actual use. [3]
    • The “Visual Gymnastics” Effect: Users who have already spent a long day performing “visual gymnastics” to focus on digital content may find it harder to engage with non-standard or complex designs. If a digital entertainment platform requires unnecessary cognitive effort to understand its navigation, it disrupts the user’s mental model and erodes trust. [4]

Age Patterns in Entertainment Attitudes

  1. There is a pronounced age effect specifically regarding communication and entertainment devices (such as tablets and social networks), where positive attitudes towards them fall significantly as age increases. [3]
    • Significant Decline: Compared to those in their 50s, individuals aged 80+ are 47 to 48 percentage points less likely to value entertainment devices. [4]
    • Experience vs. Effort: This decline is partly attributed to older generations having less acquaintance and experience with these devices. Consequently, every interaction requires more “learning” effort, which can be exhausting, leading to a lower perception of the technology’s overall usefulness. [4]

Usability Barriers as a Deterrent

  1. Design flaws that increase decision-making friction directly impact perceived usefulness:
    • Navigation Issues: Confusing or cluttered navigation leads to hesitation and abandonment. [4]
    • Information Overload: Seniors are often more thorough in searching for information but are more prone to being distracted by irrelevant details and losing focus. [5]
    • Numeric and Spatial Fluence: A decline in numeracy can make it difficult for older adults to interpret data-heavy interfaces (like those found in complex gaming or streaming settings), further complicating their ability to see the technology as a “help” or “value”. [2]

Summary Table: Effort vs. Perceived Usefulness

BarrierImpact on Perceived Usefulness
Complex InterfacesIncreases cognitive load, leading to user errors and frustration.
Delayed RewardsIf benefits aren’t immediate, the user views the tool as cumbersome rather than useful.
Working Memory DeclineMakes active updating and navigation effortful and “costly” to carry out.
Lack of ConsistencyDisrupts mental models, causing hesitation and a loss of confidence.

Sources

[1] F. Craik, ‘Memory Changes in Normal Aging’, Current Directions in Psychological Science – CURR DIRECTIONS PSYCHOL SCI, vol. 3, pp. 155–158, 10 1994.

[2] G. A. Wildenbos, L. Peute, and M. Jaspers, “Aging barriers influencing mobile health usability for older adults: A literature based framework (MOLD-US),” International Journal of Medical Informatics, vol. 114, pp. 66–75, Jun. 2018, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2018.03.012.

[3] N. Halmdienst, M. Radhuber, and R. Winter-Ebmer, “Attitudes of elderly Austrians towards new technologies: communication and entertainment versus health and support use,” European Journal of Ageing, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 513–523, Apr. 2019, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-019-00508-y.

[4] Thefinchdesignagency, “Building User Trust in UX Design: Proven Strategies for Better Engagement,” Medium, Feb. 05, 2025. https://medium.com/@thefinchdesignagency/building-user-trust-in-ux-design-proven-strategies-for-better-engagement-c975aa381516

[5] D. Orzeszek et al., ‘Beyond participatory design: Towards a model for teaching seniors application design’, arXiv preprint arXiv:1707. 05667, 2017.