Berta - bachelors thesis (2014)
is a communication infrastructure realised through 5 co-design workshops with members of “Fontana”. Fontana is day center for 18-25 years old with various mental disorders including schizophrenia , bi-polar, depression, severe anxiety , etc. Communication can be a difficult thing when you are unsure of yourself and your surroundings. Berta is created for exactly that problem: to strengthen and make communication easier between members in Fontana. Berta is a platform and different infrastructure for communication. It is an open design with option of adding and replacing and opens to a different - and perhaps more - communication between members .
The design aims into another space - a space of the members which suggests expressing oneself through the content made available and through generating their own material. At the same time “Berta” embraces the differences between the members and lets the resourceful support the less fortunate resourceful. Finally Berta opens the possibility of stretching the communication in time - and important feature since the members are not very stable in showing up and often miss out out on each other.
Berta has 3 core functionalities:
1) Check in/out
2) Mood barometer
3) Share stuff with other members
1) Check in/out:
Each active member in Fontana has its own tray with an associated color. With the tray the members check in by hanging their personal drawer on the wall and check out by putting it back in the rack when leaving. .
2) Mood barometer:
With the mood barometer members state their mood and energy levels when they arrive. This is a simple way to let the staff and other members know youre state of mind with no further explanations required...
3) Share stuff with other members:
The bottom of the tray acts as a kind of profile wall. Here you can hang pictures with magnets and tell a little about yourself. You can also hang things up on each other's walls and indicate with a personal colored magnet who the sender is. With the colored wooden blocks you can send short audio messages.
