The Stimulus-Response is a key mechanism within humans and animals which permits those organisms to adapt as perfectly as possible to the environment they are exposed to, but the study is focused on the human side. The study explains how an organism responds to a stimulus through sound, touch, smell and vision, this is meant to look at behaviour on different types of associations between stimulus and the reaction. Within the context of design, the stimulus Response model is the relationship between us humans and artefacts (meaning products) and the exposed environment. The environment can affect our behaviour through the artefact, which in turn causes a reaction from humans. Through the design of Bios Urn, the product has found a means to form an “active side” to the human needs in the environment they exposed to which is external factor of death. The purpose of the design is to give an alternative means to memorialise our loved ones in their deaths it is a second chance to let them live again through a plant. In this process they have used death to regenerate life in a natural and sustainable method by using the ashes as fertiliser in which one can plant a seed of their choice. The idea on the Bios Urn is to help communicate its function aesthetically, because the product and its function serves as a solution to an environmental, economic and social problem.
The Bios Urn provides the reaction to the consumer by letting their deceased loved ones reincarnate through a plant without letting the memory of them die (Moliné, 2002). Action Theory and User Task Models Action theory involves the process of the mind and the structure one can describe as an experience of knowing, originally it was known as Will psychology. The theory investigates “the course of human action, motivation, the intention and plan” (J. Lindworsky, 1923, p.8) (Waddell, 2007) Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) was the founder of action theory were his study would explain motivation and the choice making process in human behaviour, J. Lindworsky (1923, p.8) would further state “that people would get motivated by things that are said about a product, how it works and how it would sort out a problem within their exposed environment”. Through the mental process and structure, the experience of knowing the product is formed and how one will see it within that experience will build a feeling within them to push them to participate with the artefact (Esterhuizen, 2012). Cognitive Psychology and User Mental Models Cognitive Psychology can be described as the study of the mind; it can be defined as either thinking or knowing. The focus of the study looks at how we acquire knowledge and how we use it as we receive it along our mental structure and processes, in other words it is experiences of consciousness such as feeling and willing. Cognitive Psychology looks at human perceptions, reasoning with information, planning, concept information and decisions-making and problem solving.
Cognitive science looks in building process models to extend the knowledge of human abilities and artificial. The Bios Urn developed the Bios cube to help located the best suited area where to plant the urn in your garden. The product device has an app that updates you on the plant’s growth and data on it is exposed environment based on what type of plant. The Urn’s design has an added benefit to water the plant for you just for 20 days, then it would notify you on the app that the water is critically low. The system design runs on an artificial intelligence where it could be a mental model for the Urn, it communicates, thinks and understand (Moliné, 2002). The Traditions of Rationality When we look at ourselves “humans” we perceive and think rationally, and we use language to communicate rationally. It is a cognitive thing and in the Tradition of Rationality there are models of action. Winograd and Flores (1986, p. 8) have called this as the “rationalistic tradition”, it means they further state “a narrow view focused on some aspects, which is not rational if viewed in a wider perspective”(Winograd & Flores 1986; p. 8). When we rationalize before purchasing products we undergo a series of steps, we characterize the situation in means of identifiable objects with properties that will suit our needs. Then we investigate the general rules that would apply in our situations that the object’s properties would solve.
In the final step, we apply those rules in our situations that concern us to find conclusions about what actions could be taken to solve the problem to our needs (Esterhuizen, 2012). The Bios Urn concept has drawn out the conclusions that could solve a social, environmental and economic problem we face after death. The situation of death is a painful thing when a loved one is taken by it; the product offers a solution to a social problem of turning the idea of death into a positive thing so its seen in a better light. It offers a solution to a environmental problem, a loved one has an opportunity to live again as a plant, but also taking up less space where a casket in graveyard full of thousands of other caskets are occupying a much larger space. It offers a solution to an economical problem where you do not have to spend so much money on funeral arrangements and caskets, you save money while you give a loved one a gift of new life (Moliné, 2002). The concept of Action Concept of action is a behaviour of an actor. The actor can be defined as goal-directed behaviour. Human action is conscious action and this action is action that is related to attaining certain ends. Human action can also see as criticism because this purpose action invite criticism. Human action can be transformed into goals and these goals is determine by the environment and what the conditions is (Polleit, 2011). Motivation Motivation is all about what is the goal and what let people determine their behaviour, what has triggered it. Motivation can be affected by actions and these actions can be increased on how long an action is and how people deal with it will determine the motivation.
The actions that humans will give through motivation is also by beliefs, expectations, knowledge and how we have seen it in the past or experienced it in the past (Psychology Notes HQ, 2013). In the video the motivation is to let people get them to buy the product and they show us that ashes of our loved ones can now be transformed in a plant and this let us get emotional behaviour and this then let us decide to buy this product Value User Values Value is how we determine our action off past experiences. Values can be determined by beliefs, standards and criteria that people belief in. These standards, beliefs and criteria will affect how people act in situations. User value is all about solving a problem through economy, efficiency, consistency, convenience, familiarity, reliability, flexibility, high benefit, cost ratio, time saving. Value is important because this is part of how people experience things. User value is also the benefit that user get out of a product. It is all about how the person feel when they use the product (Roberson, 2018). In the video the value is that they show us that we belief that we can bring our loved one’s ashes to life this is then the product for you to buy. We will want to buy this product because we know its about our loved ones. This video is also about how they can solve a problem about how to get the environment more eco friendly and how to get less graves and more trees now and that’s why this product in the video is so great because it will solve these problems. By solving these problems, they also made this product cost effectively and very convenience and time saving and all the mention things of value user value.
When we see this video, we start to think about our loved ones that already past away and that this product could be handy to have. Value of Design Value of design is all about how functional a design is like how consuming it is and how cost effected it is and what is the aesthetics of it. The problem about this value of design is that technology can either rule human or the human rule technology. The value of design must still be functional with the new technology that is born, and we must figure out new ways for human action through new technology and how we going to solve the problems that come with the new technology. Problems can be solved through HCD, Human Centred Designs (Ffrench, 2016). In this video we can see that value design is also affected into this product we see that this product is well functional design and that it is cost effected. The Concept of Self-Concept Concept of self-concept are individual values and needs. Self-concept is all about how someone thinks and how they see their self. It is also about how we behave and how our character is and how this affect us as individuals. Self-concept is about the image of our self (Cherry, 2018). In the video concept of self concept is all incorporated into how we can get our loved one back into a lovely honoured way. Ecological Self Ecological self is about that you as person respect your environment and what kind of activities the environment holds for you. The ecological self has 5 steps namely the ecological self, the interpersonal self, the extended self, the private self and the conceptual self. The interpersonal self is all about specific signals and emotions. The extended self is about our personal memories and familiar routines and this is also who we believe we are. The private self is when people feel a certain experience and just you feel it and nobody else.
The conceptual self is like self-concept like what people belief of themselves. Ecological self is also about how people claim value to something like users get attached to something and then they claim it to be theirs (Neissar, 2009). Ecological self is incorporated into the video by how they can save the environment and how we respect the environment, and this is by planting these trees to make the environment more eco friendly and we also don’t use coffins anymore and this is how we respect the environment. Reasoned Behaviour and Planned Behaviour Reasoned behaviour is a behaviour that is immediate as we are inclined to react the way we do. Planned behaviour is having control over your behaviour instead of having an immediate reaction to something but internally analyse the situation and find a way to execute your behaviour.
The video is mainly targeted for planned behaviour as it is for the future instead of on the present. The video is trying to persuade the viewer to choose this product. The video can also be targeted for reasoned behaviour as eco-friendly people would instantly love this idea of growing more trees. Cognitive Abilities Cognition means that we mentally know something through perception or reason. With cognitive ability we see this in the video by noticing the reason for the video as an advert to instead of getting buried we are rather cremated at put into an urn that is used as a root for the tree that they are going to be giving life to (List Of Cognitive Abilities – Search List Of Cognitive Abilities.) The videos purpose was successful as it had all the details of how it works and what it is. Perception The meaning of perception is how we perceive things through our senses. Through the video we use our senses of hearing and seeing, we hear throughout the video a melody of mainly piano and this melody is calming. Through our sense of seeing, it is illustrated to us how we can use our ashes to grow a tree and how this process is able to work (O, 2018). Visual perceptual abilities in the psychological view Visual perception is where each sense organ is used to perceive something, like seeing, hearing and smelling. In the video we use our eyes to see what they want us to see as most information is seen through our eyes and we cannot smell anything through watching a video but we do hear the music in which they inserted in the Background of the video (McLeod, 2008). The perceptual Action and Perceptual Artefacts A perceptual action not meant to be a product but rather a belief in which they want to notice something when put into an environment. There are two types of perceptual artefacts that we can see, which are, perceptual tool and perceptual objects. In the video we see how someone can put themselves into that position of wanting to rather be put into the urn but must consider their beliefs of being cremated or buried in the ground, it is for them to notice how this is a good thing for the world and can lengthen life on earth. In the video we see how they use perceptual objects by noticing the way in which they convey the goal of the video, they use multimedia to show the product and question the viewer. We don’t so much see perceptual tools in the video as there is not technological objects but rather drawn up objects and words. Problems of Visualisation in Design It’s very difficult to perceive with the human eye how big something will be once it’s being viewed via an ad or design, the same applies for weight and energy. We cannot see electricity or the exact weight of something, this creates a problem and in the case of the Bios urn it can either seem like it is very small or for some it might even look like it will be a very large object because it acts as both a grave and a pot for your tree. The actual size of the Bios urn is slightly larger than a 1.5l bottle.
Focusing also on the design natural colours were used to indicate on life and nature and growth. The design and colours being easy to the eye creates a sense of security. Perceptual Model The prototype is created to gain knowledge about the user’s perception. It is to climb inside their heads and hearts and discovering what they expect from the product, what they think of it and how their cultural beliefs work with/against it as well as how their values and norms tie into the product. All of this will create a better understanding for the product seller of how people from different cultures, religion, and beliefs will react to the product being sold. The creators of the Bios urn can then change people’s perception of the product by making it very user friendly and in this case, it has been laid out very neat and very easy to understand of how the product works and how one should use it. Another thing that helps both user and creator is when the user can use their senses to understand the product better. Feeling the product, smelling the product, holding the product in their hands. Now you as the creator can see the reaction of the market being catered for and perception changes might occur and will influence more sales. Expressive Action Interactive expressions are a form of expressive action which serves as a means of communication. Another way to understand it, expressive actions are evoked by certain events that creates desire, excitement or is aversive. Expressive action is in other words a response. This response can come through in many ways and forms. Bios urn evokes the sense of security that your loved one will not only rest in peace, but also provide the last bit of themselves to create a new life. It influences the way we think about death and what will happen before our own eyes when we see the tree grow and realise that our loved one is responsible for bringing the tree to life (Philbeck1, 2016). Some might still not understand why this concept exist and some might still be scared even though this ad communicates a gentle message towards the audience. It’s all about how we will react towards the product once we have it in our hands. The delineation of and Action System Humans can act based on certain variables.
Their intentions to/with the object and realise their goals with satisfaction are known as an Action System. This system comprises the cultural and social background, environment, artefact/object, user, and the relations between them. In most cases cultural background plays a big part in human action because of the effects cultural and social factors that could be values, norms and needs. It can also be controlled by ways of thinking and understanding and sometimes it can feel like a responsibility of commitment. The human conditioning is formed by the way they were brought up and where they were brought up, which means that in certain places with certain products, they aren’t allowed to buy the product or even side with the product because it might go against what they believe in. Bios caters for everyone because every person is going to pass away at some point and they have the option to be buried or cremated, and those who choose to be cremated can use themselves as the basis to a new life. Another advantage that this product has is it helps the environment and most people love environmentally-friendly products, so people are more likely to want the product as to shying away from it. The Interface The action interface may involve the following relations and each of them may construct an interface or a surface. All the relationships are integrated by the user’s actions with the artefact. Relation between: human and machine; human and the goal; machine and the goal; goal and the environment; human and the environment; and machine and the environment. None of the relations are equally as important as the other in various artefacts and only if these surfaces, and media create connecting structure to human action. When you look at the Bios urn ad or at their website, you can easily find what the end goal is and what kind of relationship is being established. All the above-mentioned relations features with the Bios urn website and ad because it creates different desires and goals for the human throughout. Because the design and layout make it so easy for people to understand, it is quite difficult to implement the Bios urn wrongly. The Structure of the interface for the use This means the human physically USES the artefact/product. The USE exists widely in everyday actions. For Bios urn the USE factors in when you water the tree or plant the seed, or you trim the branches. It is a 100% involvement from the human putting themselves into action to execute the “USE” that are being described. There are three structures revolving within USE is the relationship between: the human and the artefact; the human and the environment; and the artefact and the environment. These three interfaces are called action interface because user’s action relates to all these interfaces.
