Flipper - Tom's Portfolio

The distraction free phone for Dublin’s lonely young adults.

Flipper

tl;drYoung people are lonely because their phones are distracting them from the present.

Flipper is an alternative phone that fits between dumpphones and smartphones.

It aims to start a conversation around the purpose we would like technology to have in our lives and helps young people combat loneliness by living in the here and now.

Research Workshop

Sketching

Cultural Probes

Research

“Social media can’t compensate us psychologically
for what we have lost - social life”

“Building a more connected world holds
the key to solving the personal & societal
problems that confront us today”“The health impact of lacking social
connection is equal to smoking
fifteen cigarettes a day”“We’ve emphasised freedom of individual
expression without also ensuring that the
underpinnings of community are protected” Together4262

“I struggle with comparison. When I see something online that’s not my experience, I think my life is lacking or wrong.”“I get FOMO (fear of missing out) because I imagine how much fun their having”

Research Workshop UserJourneyMapping314264

“The loneliness epidemic isn’t just a mental health crises. It’s a physical crises, an economic crises and a political crises too.”“It is actually and perhaps surprisingly the youngest among us who are the loneliest”“Even before the coronavirus struck this was the Lonely Century”

“Human relationships are rich messy, demanding and we clear them up with technology”“We expect more form technology and less from others”

“The trust of a city is built on the sum of casual, public contact”“We have progressively sacrificed the quality of human life for our economic well-being”“One of the major goals of technology is to ‘free’ us from the necessity of relating to, submitting to depending upon, or controlling other people”

“I feel like it [digital tech] makes me feel less lonely, mainly as it’s a distraction from my thoughts.” Vector4264

Comparison is also a major factor causing the high levels of loneliness in Dublin’s younger population. By comparing their lives to unrealistic idealised online representations of other’s lives young people create an expectation for their social lives which cannot be met by reality.
They compare their lives online

They hide from their emotionsYoung people use digital media to distract themselves from their thoughts & emotions. Instead of processing & understanding their strenuous emotions young adults hide from them & simply prolong them. This is known as avoidant coping. Often it can make things worse because they compare their social situation to others online.

Young people aren’t interacting with the people and the world immediately around them because they are engrossed by their phones. Because of this, they have less social interaction and a reduced chance of developing social connections.They are distracted by their phones