discover phase - des100

04/05/22

Client name: Zisu (Allison)

Problem Space

"My problem space is Sleeping. Insomnia is a serious problem for me, I wish I could go through any avenue to solve it. I once lost a whole night of sleep because I had an exam the next day, and I spent the time I slept on revising. But unfortunately, even though I did a complete review for the exam, I still fell asleep because I was too tired at the time of the exam." - Allison

In our first conversation, Allison described sleeping as her problem space due to having issues falling asleep and maintaining energy throughout the day. After she shared her problem with me, I came up with the following action items to gather more information about this issue in order to thoroughly understand it:

1. Initial Client Interview: Interview Allison about her problem space in detail

2. Empathy Conversations: Interview 3 other students with similar demographics

3. Observation Journal: Provide Allison with a journal to fill out about her sleep

4. Secondary Research: Find scientific information relevant to the problem

5. Summary of Findings: Summarise my observations and find key insights

After carrying out the above process, I noticed recurring ideas and issues that could be contributing to Allison's problems with sleeping. These ideas are summarised at the end (Summary of Findings) and have been colour-coded throughout using the following legend:

Initial Client Interview

My first step was to carry out an interview with Allison to gain a more detailed picture of her problem space. From this interview, I identified key problem "sub-spaces" to help organise my findings as summarised in the graphic below:

Additional notes:

Allison's best night of sleep she can remember:

• Brain just went to sleep after a day of sports

• She currently doesn’t have a regular sports schedule though

Allison is currently studying overseas in China:

• Time difference of -4 hours

• Attends class from 4am to 2pm

• Has to go to bed before 9pm

Allison has a 1 year old sister with a different schedule:

• Cries a lot

• Different meal times

• Parents have to take care of her

• Goes to sleep earlier and wakes up at 3am

The full interview questions/responses as well as additional notes from the interview can be downloaded here:

Interview plan for Allison.pdf

Download PDF • 51KB

Empathy Conversations

I interviewed three other people within the same demographic — students under 20 years of age — about their sleeping habits to gain a better understanding of the problem at hand. Each of these "empathy conversations" are summed up below.

Student 1:

Background Information:

• 18 years old

• 7-8 hours of sleep per night on average

• Takes about 10 minutes to fall asleep

• Doesn't take naps

• Doesn't consume caffeine regularly

• Consistently exercises 4-5 times a week, 7 hours per week

Sleep Specifics:

• Wake-up time is consistent

• Bedtime is less consistent; varies by an hour on average

• Sets an alarm; doesn't hit snooze

• Doesn't wake up in the middle of the night; good quality of sleep

• Never does homework/schoolwork late; instead takes time to relax by watching/playing things on screens

• Doesn't feel very energised in the morning

• Worst night of sleep: couldn't fall asleep until after 12 and had to get up at 5; felt very tired/horrible

• Best night of sleep: 12 hours of straight sleep; woke up feeling very refreshed

Insights:

• Doesn't have trouble getting up in the morning, likely due to consistency with wake-up time

• Takes time to relax before bed, possibly resulting in less stress/anxiety which helps with falling asleep

• Also stays up later to watch screens/relax which contributes to feelings of tiredness

Student 2:

Background Information:

• 17 years old

• 5-6 hours of sleep per night on average

• No trouble getting to sleep once in bed

• Doesn't take naps

• Doesn't consume caffeine regularly

• Does 1-2 hours of low intensity exercise per day

Sleep Specifics:

• Wake-up time is consistent on weekdays due to school

• Sleeps in longer on weekends

• Goes to bed at around the same time every night

• Sets an alarm on weekdays; initially wakes up to alarm but snoozes until school

• Has no energy in the morning; dreads waking up due to tiredness

• Doesn't wake up in the middle of the night; quality of sleep is fairly good

• Uses screens right up until going to bed, sometimes falling asleep with phone in hand; results in procrastinating on sleep

• Worst night of sleep: every night they have to wake up early due to lack of sleep as a result of late bedtime

• Best night of sleep: on the weekends when they can sleep in after staying up late

Insights:

• Dreads waking up due to tiredness resulting from lack of sleep; lack of sleep caused by procrastinating on going to bed through watching screens

• Doesn't have trouble falling asleep because they sleep so late consistently; would have trouble falling asleep if they tried going to bed earlier

Student 3:

Background Information:

• 18 years old

• About 7 hours of sleep per night on average during weekdays; 9 hours on weekends

• Takes about 20 minutes to fall asleep

• Takes daily naps ranging from 30-120 minutes (depending on exhaustion level) about 5-6 hours before going to bed for the night

• Doesn't consume caffeine regularly

• Does 30-60 minutes of low intensity exercise per day

Sleep Specifics:

• Wakes up fairly consistently on weekdays due to school

• Goes to bed at around the same time consistently; amount of sleep varies by at most an hour

• Sets multiple alarms: one to wake up and another to get up; snoozes in between

• Wakes up feeling groggy but also doesn't struggle with waking up

• Procrastinates on going to bed by studying/finishing items on their to-do list; doesn't take time to wind down

• Energy levels vary throughout the day: usually quite productive in the mornings, not productive in the afternoon, productive in the evenings

• Naps help with productivity and don't affect ability to sleep later if the naps aren't too long

• Quality of sleep is good: usually goes into very deep sleep and doesn't wake up until morning

• Spends about an hour on screens before bed; scrolls on phone in bed for 40 minutes before going to sleep

• Worst night of sleep: has had a few rare nights with migraines that affect their ability to fall asleep, but only under very specific conditions

• Best night of sleep: when they feel the right amount of tired, go to bed at a decent time and wake up feeling refreshed

Insights:

• Has trouble getting off screens and sleeping before bed, likely due to lack of free time/not winding down

• Uses sleep and naps as a way to fuel productivity, since they take naps in the afternoon when their productivity is lowest

• Also shown through how they measure their energy levels in terms of productivity

Summary of findings from empathy conversations:

Weekends typically result in more sleep for students than weekdays.

• This is possibly due to them having more free time and/or less pressure from school (eg. due dates).

• This also results in a lack of consistency in wake-up time which could contribute to problems with sleep quality/quantity.

Students tend to spend time on screens right before bed.

• This doesn’t seem to impact their ability to fall asleep, but may cause students to delay going to bed and result in less overall sleep since they have to get up at a certain time for school.

Students tend to feel fairly tired in the morning (groggy, not refreshed).

• This is likely due to lack of sleep since they reported feeling very refreshed if they got lots of sleep (as described in their "best nights of sleep").

Students with pre-bedtime routines that involved relaxing were able to fall asleep quicker.

• Taking the time to relax every night before bed may help ease anxieties and stress as well as help the brain transition from wake to sleep.

Observation Journal

While I conducted the empathy conversations, I also had Allison fill out an observation journal I had created for her to describe her sleeping habits, routine, what her sleep was like and how the subsequent day went. The completed journal can be downloaded below:

Observation Journal for Allison.pdf

Download PDF • 693KB

Summary of journal findings:

• Allison has a set routine for going to bed: showering, checking her schedule, eating a slice of bread and a cup of hot milk, and reading in bed for about 30 minutes.

• The observation journal was filled out over the mid-semester break which may have impacted the results, since the experience wouldn't have been similar to when Allison is stressed about school. She stated she didn't feel anxious because of the break, but her brain was still excited as she lay in bed. She also cited not having any entertainment that day and wanting to get up and play games.

• Allison slept for 20 minutes after her alarm went off. The night before, she had decided to wake up earlier to shower, which she successfully did in the morning. The shower left her feeling refreshed, energized and motivated.

• Her energy dwindled during the day which led to her taking a 30 minute nap. This nap gave her more energy but not as much as she had in the morning.

• The previous day, Allison spent a lot of time cleaning her house which left her sore when she woke up. She felt like she could sleep well because her body was tired.

• Allison also commented that she felt her mattress was too soft, and that she felt "out of sorts" if she didn't wash her hair.

I also had Allison attach images of her bedroom before she went to sleep and after she woke up. These are shown below:

Before sleeping:

This image shows how close Allison's bed is to what is likely her desk (where the chair in the foreground is). The proximity to her study space might be contributing to Allison's anxieties surrounding school while she's trying to sleep.

After waking up:

As seen in the above image, Allison has curtains that she can close to block out light in her room. She didn't report problems with light preventing her from falling asleep so these curtains may help prevent such issues. However, she did report in a follow-up conversation that the light from her bathroom (which she uses before bed; not shown in the images above) can sometimes "shock"/surprise her due to its intensity. Another issue Allison described about her sleeping space is the noise levels when she is trying to sleep. She explained how her sister and parents, who go to bed later than her due to her dealing with timezone differences, often make noise that can keep her up at night.

Secondary Research

Next, I conducted secondary research about sleep and insomnia to find some scientific information on what causes sleep-related problems. My findings are summarised as follows:

• A consistent sleep schedule is important to help align the two systems that govern one's sleep-wake cycle: the circadian rhythm and the homeostatic sleep drive. Such consistency looks like getting to bed and waking up at the same time every night. If one's sleep schedule is constantly changing, their body won't have time to settle into each new schedule which results in lower-quality sleep.

• Screens, such as TV's, phones and laptops, should be avoided close to bedtime due to the blue light they emit. This light interferes with one's circadian rhythm, block melatonin production and stimulate the brain, making it more difficult to go to sleep.

• Other factors that can affect one's ability to fall asleep/have good quality sleep include: consuming caffeine to close to bedtime, taking long naps during the day, exercising right before bed, not exercising during the day, eating too close to bedtime and not taking time to wind down before bed.

• Pre-bedtime routines, or lack thereof, can also influence how fast it takes for someone to fall asleep. These routines help the brain transition from wake to sleep, and if they are absent, one's ability to fall asleep quickly could be negatively impacted.

• Research has shown that anxiety related to unfinished assignments/schoolwork can stimulate the brain and make it more difficult to fall asleep. Studies have also found that writing down to-do lists of tasks to complete can help ease such anxieties and reduce sleep onset latency (the time it takes to fall asleep).

References:

Amanpour, Asghar & Çınar, Büşra & Kahraman, Sevde & Celik, Fatma. (2020). Relationship Between Circadian Rhythm and Blue Light. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342599257_Relationship_Between_Circadian_Rhythm_and_Blue_Light

Malacoff, J. (2020, October 13). 13 underlying reasons you can't fall asleep and how to get relief. Parsley Health. Retrieved May 3, 2022, from https://www.parsleyhealth.com/blog/why-cant-i-fall-asleep/

Scullin, M. K., Krueger, M. L., Ballard, H. K., Pruett, N., & Bliwise, D. L. (2018). The effects of bedtime writing on difficulty falling asleep: A polysomnographic study comparing to-do lists and completed activity lists. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 147(1), 139–146. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000374

Sotelo, M. I., Tyan, J., Markunas, C., Sulaman, B. A., Horwitz, L., Lee, H., Morrow, J. G., Rothschild, G., Duan, B., & Eban-Rothschild, A. (2022). Lateral hypothalamic neuronal ensembles regulate pre-sleep nest-building behavior. Current Biology, 32(4). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.12.053

Stallings, M. (2021, October 12). How to fix your sleep schedule. Sleep.org. Retrieved May 3, 2022, from https://www.sleep.org/sleep-hygiene/get-sleep-schedule/

Suni, E. (2022, March 25). What to do when you can't sleep. Sleep Foundation. Retrieved May 3, 2022, from https://www.sleepfoundation.org/insomnia/treatment/what-do-when-you-cant-sleep

Summary of Findings

Throughout this process of conducting interviews and research, I identified 5 recurring themes within Allison's problem space of sleeping: Consistency, Routine, Screen time, Naps and Anxiety. The client interview, empathy conversations, observation journal and secondary research allowed me to find key observations and insights related to each of these themes. These observations are summarised in the graphic below:

Consistency:

1. Observation: Students going to bed and waking up at different times each night (lack of consistency with bed/wakeup times) results in lower quantity/quality of sleep, an effect also proven by research.

2. Observation: Students tend to sleep in more on the weekends compared to weekdays.

Routine:

1. Observation: People with regular pre-bedtime routines that don't involve sleep-preventing activities can fall asleep quicker, as shown through the empathy conversations and research.

Screen time:

1. Observation: Students tend to spend time on screens right up until going to bed, possibly resulting in lower quality sleep (due to blue light) and/or delayed bedtimes.

Naps:

1. Observation: Some students take naps to renew their energy in the afternoon, but too-long naps can interfere with sleep later that night.

2. Observation: Students who take naps tend to do so consistently, i.e. nearly every day.

Anxiety:

1. Observation: Allison felt less stressed when she filled out the observation journal over the break and subsequently felt more refreshed when she woke up the next morning. Along the same vein, students slept more/better over the weekend when there was no school.

2. Observation: Students who engaged in relaxing activities before bed were typically able to fall asleep quicker.

3. Observation: Anxieties related to incomplete assignments/tasks tend to be on students' minds when they are struggling to fall asleep. Additionally, Allison's study space was in close proximity to her bed which may contribute to her thoughts of school while trying to sleep.

4. Observation: Research shows that people who write down to-do lists before bed experience reduced sleep onset latency.

The insights I drew from the above observations are summarised below:

Reflection and Next Steps

Throughout the process outlined above, I've employed both empathy-related methods and scientific research in order to "discover" Allison's problem space of sleeping. Such methods involved interviews, empathy conversations and the observation journal to gain insight into how the problem personally applies to students, while secondary research allowed me to find more objective, scientific information on the subject. In order to move forward into the Define phase of this project, I will evaluate the findings I have collected so far and begin to narrow down Allison's problem space with the final goal of utilising design to address her issues with sleeping.