Hack #3

This hack was definitely the most challenging for me. Although the mission was simply to repurpose some type of already existing software in order to use it in an unexpected way, I struggled. It was very easy to think of ways that various platforms could be used in ways they were not intended; however, I found it hard to find any that carried significant, cultural values. I really wanted to nail the “process, aim to reverse, challenge, or complicate the cultural politics or assumptions of the software” part of the prompt because I really enjoyed that aspect of my previous 2 hacks. I initially thought I should draw on a Ti84 plus calculator or make an image in Google Sheets, but that does not have any larger implications, so I was not satisfied. According to Dunne and Raby, I wanted to approach my project from the “B” angle, or the way that a speculative designer would by seeing a problem and creating it in order to address or challenge that problem. My intention was to design a platform that sparks debate and makes users question the larger implications, not just simply make a piece of software perform in a different way. 

My idea came to me when I was sitting in class and had a super deep thought about a really important relationship in my life. I thought oh, this is good; I want to think and journal on this later; let me write it down so I don’t forget. Then I realized I don’t really have anywhere to write this down; I am in the middle of class, and I prefer no one sees and my journal is at home. I immediately thought of the contrast if this had been a thought about sending an email or adding a thought to one of my essays. We have access to emails, work, and school platforms at any and every time during the day through our laptops, iPads, and phones. Why have we not used technology to expand on personal growth or collaborative help spaces? We have Yik Yak, and Reddit, and social media, but none of those spaces create the correct environment to safely share important, personal information with others to feel more seen and get help without “outing” oneself. 

I knew I wanted to make an “intuitive leap” that addresses this gap in technological platforms. Sennett’s The Craftsman reading that we focused on Thursday in class was particularly inspiring to me. It went into great detail on tools, intuition, and “challenging the process.” The second step of an intuitive leap is adjacency, which can be defined as “two unlike domains are brought close together; the closer they are, the more stimulating their twined presence” (Sennett, 210). This relates to all the hacks we have done, and the point I was really trying to make through this project. I decided that in order to achieve this sense of juxtaposition, I needed to use a piece of software that was intended to be the opposite of reflection, ambiguity, anonymity, and emotion. Google Docs was the perfect thing for that. The purpose, explained by the name, is to convey and share information. The entire Google suite and domain is geared towards academia and businesses. 

I immediately created a Google doc titled “Things We Can’t Say Out Loud” and wrote some instructions regarding what the document was for. I prefaced the document by setting boundaries and hopefully creating a safe, welcoming space for users. The challenge then came when I wanted to ensure the users’ information stayed anonymous. Google has created a lot of barriers that encourage all data to be known and collected by everyone who has access to the document. I had to then create the document on my “burner” email, which I used only to sign up for a discount. This way, when I made the document public, I had no previous connections or interactions with anyone, so their avatars would pop up as varieties of different anonymous animals. I then decided to change the name of the document to “*Grocery List” to provide an extra layer of protection for people who do not want anyone to know they have accessed a document for sharing their emotions.  I then shared the document with my team, my Snapchat story, and my brother (who is in college in another state). I then did not check the document for two days. 

I came back to nearly 6 pages of individuals’ dreams, regrets, fears, and more. Some people even left comments of support to others. It was incredible to see the success of this. People actually felt like it was a safe space to share secrets, and they wanted to. Oftentimes, we want to share our experiences, especially failures, with others so we know we are not alone, but it is hard to do so when your identity is not kept secret. I felt this engagement played into the notion of social integration that Balsamo details in their work, “Design” from International Journal of Learning and Media: the idea that the design of a piece of technology or product is subject to the way that users interact and contribute to them. My idea rested in the hands of the individuals who received the document, their experiences, their willingness to share, and the content they produced; this is what ultimately created “my design.” I took away from this reading and my hack, that design does not exist without the audience or users who interact and collaborate with the work.