What does it do?
Features Description
A user can use the Reflection Space (hereafter 'the Space) to:
Set up a relationship with themselves (Self-relationship)
Create Relationships with time and feeling estimation
Accept Relationships by invitations
See the Relationship map
Create activities, or accept invitations
See the Activity log
See a colorful radius that reflects the current time and mental state
Create a calendar of Feeling and Relationships
Receive Burnout Notices when they have too little time for themselves
When a new user joins ReUnion Network, the system will first ask how does the user would like to call themselves, and then create their first relationship, which is the relationship with themselves (Self-relationship, CS-1). In the Relationship, the user can write a description about the relationship (as contract content), use a color to describe how they feel about the relationship, estimate the types of time they have been spending on it, and set up a Checkpoint in which allow them to revisit the all the mentioned details.
After created the Self-Relationship, they can add Activity under this Relationship, which they can place under tasks to be done. As an Activity is created, the user receives a Personal Token that the system uniquely generates for them. The user can add other Relationships (CS-1) and Activities (CS-1) in the same way, without necessarily connecting other associated people, and receive non-monetary PTs accordingly. As the user enters a new Relationship, a personal mesh of colors based on their inputs (color of each relationship, the amount of time and types of time in each relationship, etc.) will be rendered into a three-layered concentric rings that are presented in the dashboard ‘How are you?’
The Self-Relationship is important for users to be aware of their personal well-being. Not only the Self-Relationship asks the user’s attention to themselves as a default and non-dissolvable contract, but it also triggers burnout notice when it receives too little time. When a user might slip into a burnout situation, the system then will suggest the user reorganize their time, which may imply reorganizing other Relationships and adding new Relationships with which they can share works and tasks.
Most of the communication in the Reflection Space is unilateral and self-reflective unless the user explicitly chooses to invite the other person to the Relationship. When a user decided to do so, the system will strongly suggest a proactive personal communication before the user sends the invitation.
Three types of time
There are three ways to describe the way a user spends their time in the relationship and in activities: Undivided Attention (a block of time spent on concentrated work); Routine (such as repeated labor for maintaining a relationship); and In The Mind (such as the time for thinking, feeling, and generally emotional labor)[19]. Three types of time are symbolically illustrated as the three layers of the concentric rings, without having a proper mathematical definition of how the data is considered and visualized, because the concept is still largely experimental and needs substantial research and test to support its feasibility. For this reason, the three types of time are not considered to contribute to the value of PT and CC at this development phase.
Color-marking Feeling
The system asks users to describe in color how they feel about each of their relationships and to describe in one of the three styles (see above) how they spend their time in it. The color is defined by the users' intuition at that moment. The system does not label the meaning of the color, and it does not ask the user to label or define the color. Instead, we create an interface that consists of a colorful and fluctuating wave-like emotional sphere and three layers of time that orbit around the sphere. The waves mark the intensity of the feelings and the color mix of the sphere represents the user's current state of mind. The system records only the RGB value that the user selects. The color does not need to be meaningful or comprehensible to anyone but the person themselves, most likely also only within the proximity of that moment. The color of a Relationship, however, can be visible when PT owner who marked the color is willing to share it with the other PT owner. People that are outside of a Relationship cannot see any information, including the colors, about the Relationship.
The color directly contributes to the mesh of the color of the concentric rings. The rings are shown in the Relationship views in which the user can have an intuitive feeling towards their status. Similar to the three types of time approach, the color marking is still a conceptual attempt that lacks proper research on its ways of visualization and feasibility. Therefore, it does contribute to the value of PT and CC but remains important in contextualizing the conversation between two PT owners.
Burnout Notice
Following our design principle, the system provides very limited guidance for users to view their statuses. The way we structure the data aims to make an intuitive/intimate connection between the user and the data they produce, for which no one else can make an authentic judgment about the meaning of the data. Therefore, we offer very limited instruction for users to understand their statuses.
Burnout notice is a very limited guidance for the user’s personal well-being. Currently, two kinds of situations will trigger a burnout notice:
When the user spends minimal time[20] on the Self-Relationship;
When one’s overall time becomes too fragmented (that is, if all the relationships have too little time)[21].
The notification relating to burnout risk provides its specific reason(s) to the user for them to consider and to share with their partners via their interpersonal agreements. This can become the context from which they reorganize their way of living together if the user wants to.
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