For some context: the final project for Busi 220 in Japan was to explore the feeling provided by a third space and try to capture that feeling by prototyping an experience. We started by interviewing some employees of the Fab Cafe – a super cool fabrication cafe with 3D printers, laser cutter and other tools to help them become a third space revolving around projects – to understand what kinds of third spaces they often interacted with. One of the most interesting interviews was with a woman named Kaoru who said her third space was entirely online. She had joined a discord community through X and had played video games with a group until they all ended up as a friend group. They then started to meet up at game centers where they could play together in person, and finally they started going out for meals together.
Our team’s goal was to capture the feeling of courageous recklessness she felt when playing anonymously online that allowed her to put herself out there without any social anxiety and make her friends. No one on our team had ever prototyped an experience before so we dove into it completely blind. However it turned out to be a blast!
The most challenging part was scoping down our original idea. The thirty minutes we had initially thought we had to demo our prototype turned out to be more like ten minutes. There was simply no way our overcomplicated prototype would fit into ten minutes. So, we had to break it down again. Focusing on what we wanted out of it, we narrowed the key parts down to i) being anonymous and ii) an exchange of information. With these two things in mind we created a new experience where people revealed sensitive information about themselves, more willingly because they were anonymous.
One thing that really worked well though was building our prototype. All we had to do was run to Daiso, a local convenience store, buy the preset list of items we had come up with, then put it all together back at the hotel lobby.
One unique thing about the design challenge was that the internet as a third space was widely used and accepted. Kaoru was not the only person I interviewed who referenced the gaming community or the larger online community as a third place. This is purely speculation, but I think because Japan is such a subdued culture in person – there is a lot of emphasis placed on being quiet in public spaces and being respectful of everyone – that leaves more room for people to turn to the internet to express themselves. In turn, creating an incredibly active online community where people can quickly reach out and fulfill their social needs and connections quickly and easily.
I struggled a lot in the brainstorming process when it came to generating original ideas. There were so many ways to technically experience anonymity, and a lot of times when we were given constraints to help generate ideas I’d get too caught up in coming up with ideas that were feasible and would work off the bat. Instead, I should have just come up with completely unrealistic ideas because ultimately, the solution we settled on was based on a concept we had pulled from an idea that we never could have actually brought to fruition.
I have two favorite parts of Tokyo so far. First and foremost is the food. I’m not sure I’ve had a bad meal since stepping foot in Japan. Everytime I go and wander somewhere new and step into a random restaurant it feels like I am finding a hidden gem but in reality I think the food is just good. I have also taken to randomly waiting in long restaurant lines on the weekends when I have time because those turn out to be some of the best restaurants for the best prices.