Transforming Luck with Innovative LED-Enhanced Card Designs
In today's society, more people turn to religious methods like fortune-telling and praying for luck. However, this trend can lead to passivity and dependence on external factors. Our vision is to empower individuals to actively shape their lives, moving away from reliance on luck. Through the project, we want participants to be creators, not just observers, of their destinies.
3 months: 2023 Sep. - 2023 Nov.
People who search for good luck
User
Duration
UX Designer , UX Researcher
Product Designer
My Role
Project overview
© Yilin Chen 2024. Proudly hand created.
We found that people tend to seek good outcomes by relying on fortune-telling instead of putting in effort. Meanwile,the ritual of divination can bring a sense of anticipation and mystery to people. So we wondered how can we combine the two positive parts together.
How to make the product combine both entertainment and the function of motivating users to progress towards their goals?
Challenge
My typical approach to finding out why fortune-telling works is by observing people around me who chant Buddhist scriptures. I noticed that while chanting, they also draw on talisman paper, which is a process of transferring their intangible prayers onto the talisman. The drawings on talisman paper can be considered a ritualistic act, representing the wishes, blessings, prayers, or expressions of gratitude of individuals or groups. This process gave me a lot of inspiration.
Figure out how fortune-telling works
Approach
上吉
Love
中吉
good luck
bad luck
下下
中平
Moderate luck
superior luck
上吉
上上
superior luck+
superior luck
superior luck+
上上
中吉
good luck
Love
中吉
good luck
Love
喜
bad luck
下下
中平
Moderate luck
Fortune-changing light
button battery
Auxiliary dotted line
brass tape
Rip off the Cover
Five Kinds of Fortunes
Initial fortune Light
detail Design
interior design
Cover Design
Wealth
中吉
good luck
Wealth
财
Wealth
中吉
good luck
bad luck
下下
中平
Moderate luck
superior luck
上吉
上上
superior luck+
After understanding how fortune-telling works, I thought about using small LED lights combined with conductive materials. This way, it not only retains a certain level of fun but also allows the changing of luck by altering the circuit.
Use lights to help change the fortune
We used the brightness and darkness of the LED lights as the feature of the display change, the lights of different colors represent different fortunes and metaphors, and players need to activate the luck they desire by solving puzzles in the interactive area to light up the corresponding small lights.
wealth
love
Health
career
Different colors have different meanings
Lights Changes
There are some parts of the circuit on the central interactive area printed according to the traditional Chinese pattern, the player needs to solve the pattern puzzles and use the conductive solution pen to complete the pattern to make the other lights on.
interaction area
Change the circuit
draw
Conductive solution pen
Draw to Solve Puzzles
The pattern of the card will be printed with words that encourage people to persevere and regain self-confidence. The aim is to motivate people to achieve their goals with realistic and rational actions.
wealth
Health
love
happy
Metaphors
wishes
traditional patterns
Religious metaphors
Design
1.Draw the lots
2.Read the initial fortune
interaction process
4.”Draw” the lots to solve the puzzle
5.Light off the initial fortune and light up the hoped fortune
3.Rip the cover
My contribution involved designing the overall concept and exploring how to seamlessly integrate these tech-driven elements while maintaining the essence of fortune-telling. I focused on ensuring the product was both visually appealing and engaging, inviting users to interact with fortune in a creative, modern way.
An interesting card product
Outcome
During the design phase, I experimented with various materials to test their conductivity, which gave me a feeling of conducting experiments—very interesting! In the end, I successfully created a physical card and tested it, and the results were also successful. This experience deepened my passion for design.
At the same time, I also identified some other areas for improvement:
How might we introduce more complex puzzle to solving elements to encourage participants to think and learn at a deeper level.
How might we introduce more interesting patterns and symbols to inspire creativity and give more symbolic meaning to the cards.
A wonderful design experience
Reflection
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