For a second year class on Product Design and Sustainability, I wanted to focus my design on the anxiety commuters might experience at night due to fear of harassment.
This under-researched topic is and can be a cause for commuters to not experience active commuting at night. In fact, we can link this state of anxiety to street harassment people may experience. Unfortunately, street harassment does not concern only women, but all - including the LGBT+ community, for which the motivation behind harassment is homophobia-driven. This can make ‘after dark’ commuting less desirable and can alter the way people commute at night as, for example, they would rather take a taxi than to walk back home due to fear.
The challenge I came upon was the one of reducing adverse consequences. This involves making the act of walking at night safer for the commuter and lessening their feeling of vulnerability on the streets. I would aim for a product that encourages more physically active commuting by reducing adverse consequences at night; this is environmentally sustainable because its strategy provides a holistic approach to design decisions concerning stakeholders.
The final product focuses on the relationship between smell and memory as well as the use of aromatherapy by creating a range of holistic unisex jewellery made out of terracotta clay. If commuters feel their anxiety reaching high levels while commuting at night, a solution to this would be to feel safer by smelling a relaxing scent.
