Vending Your Inner World
Fall 2022
Anxiety is recurring and cannot be solved by isolated actions. This project uses price tags to quantify anxiety instead of economic value, visualizing key triggers on a website. Dreamy icons draw the audience in, inviting them to explore their inner anxieties.
Photo by: Cosmo Wang, Model: Grace Zhang
1 - Background & Research - “Vending Anxiety”
"Vending Anxiety” and "achievement-oriented culture" are popular terms in East Asian countries used to describe the spread of anxious emotions, frequently seen on today’s social media platforms. Over time, they become accustomed to this way of life, simply following the prevailing social norms.
In our fast-paced, visually-driven world, we are surrounded by numerous invisible sources of anxiety that often go unnoticed.
We are exposed to vast amounts of information across various platforms, where small details can trigger discomfort or stress.
2 - Invisible Influence
Denial, normalization, and avoidance can lead to an overburdened subconscious and unaware conscious mind. Subtle signs of subconscious anxiety often manifest physically.
INVISIBLE INFLUENCE: The Hidden Forces that Shape Behavior by Jonah Berger
Our actions are often subtly influenced by others.
Humans naturally imitate one another.
People easily observe social influence on others' behavior but often overlook its effect on themselves.
The Social Achievement Trap
Social Capital:
Societal Impact:
Invisible "Shackles":
Arbitrary standards were set for capital accumulation, fostering "competition" and causing shame when unmet.
The focus on high achievement increases pressure and anxiety. Those who do not meet these standards may feel marginalized.
Constant comparison and fear of failure cause mental strain, as society prioritizes success over emotional well-being.
Survey & Persona
Randomly select 64 individuals aged 18-28 recently entering the workforce. The top 8 sources of anxiety are:
How this Platform Works?
The new generation speend most of their time online. This website uses contrasting visuals to explore society's ideals for fitting in.
A vending machine is a common piece of automatic selling equipment in daily life.
When users hover over the page, hidden anxieties emerge as warning signs, uncovering deeper truths beneath a dreamy facade.
Final Website
Homepage Design
Homepage Hovering Design
Calories
Food
Mainly targeting female who tend to be more mindful of calories
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Shopping website as the medium
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Hover to see the calories data behind
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Referring social media reviews
Beauty Surgery
Looks
Female tend to have especial anxiety/worries of how they look
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If you do not purchase the service, you will be warned for falling behind the beauty trend
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If you don’t purchase the trending beauty standards, you’ll be warned about falling behind.
Time Flies
Medias
It is an era of media information explosion. People spend too much time browsing short videos.
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Why 3”33s?
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According to TikTok, the average watch time per short video is 3"33, but there are only 432 of these intervals in a day.
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Clicking the dry eyeball will trigger a pop-up window as a reward.
Growth
Fate
Facing parents and potential parents, and wishing their offspring to be the most prominent kid and to let children win at the starting line. “The earlier you become proficient in all the skills, the better life you will experience.”
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Users have no choice but to add all-encompassing expenses to their cart, each deemed essential for raising a child.
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Impossible button- unable to say “NO”
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Impossible button: will always jump to “ON” even if you try to turn it off
YES
NO
Website Prototype Link: http://b.parsons.edu/~wangh130/parsons/zyhhhfinalweb/index3.html
