Take back control of your time: design activity for reflecting on time and timekeeping practices

Abstract

This paper reports on the procedure and the results of a design activity carried out to reflect on time and timekeeping practices. The design activity involved a diary study followed by an idea generation workshop in the scope of a graduate level course with the participation of 12 graduate level industrial design students. The paper first explains the procedure of the design activity. Then, it presents the outcomes under two themes: i) timekeeping related insights: the students’ reflections on their timekeeping practices and ideas on how to improve these practices to support wellbeing; ii) pedagogical insights: students' thoughts and instructors’ reflections on the online diary-keeping and conducting the workshop remotely. The findings are believed to be beneficial for inspiring designers interested in designing interventions to support better time management practices; and for design educators interested in conducting remote diary study and/or workshop in distance education settings.