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:
Initial Client Interview: Interview Allison about her problem space in detail
Empathy Conversations: Interview 3 other students with similar demographics
Observation Journal: Provide Allison with a journal to fill out about her sleep
Secondary Research: Find scientific information relevant to the problem
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:
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:
Student 2:
Student 3:
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:
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:
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:
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.
Observation: Students tend to sleep in more on the weekends compared to weekdays.
Routine:
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:
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:
Observation: Some students take naps to renew their energy in the afternoon, but too-long naps can interfere with sleep later that night.
Observation: Students who take naps tend to do so consistently, i.e. nearly every day.
Anxiety:
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.
Observation: Students who engaged in relaxing activities before bed were typically able to fall asleep quicker.
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.
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.
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