Our gut comprises a world of microscopic beings known as the microbiome that shape our experience
of health and illness through our interactions in the physical world.
Diet is popularly recognized as a factor that affects our gut health.
However, beyond just food there are other major factors that influence our gut health
like mode of birth, early exposure to microbes, genetics, active lifestyle habits, human exposure
to the natural environment and even our emotions.
So it is important to learn about the nature of these influences so we can take gut-friendly
action.
Traditional sources of information on gut health like mainstream media often project
health in a serious manner with focus on disease and disease-causing aspects, often exaggerating
risks and perceived benefits.
On the other hand, science journals are jargon heavy, technical or way too specific thus
excluding its applicability to the larger population.
So as interaction designers we thought what if we could approach this challenge through
play.
Through our pictorial we present a board game we designed called Gooey Gut Trail which allows
players to engage with factors that affect human gut health through real-world scenarios
and contexts introduced through the game components like meeples, card decks, tokens and the game
board.
Each player plays with a set of two meeples: the warrior and the minion which is representative
of the "good" and the "bad" bacteria in the gut.
Players draw a persona card each at the start of the game which influences their game play
based on the attributes in the card.
The game creates a space for players to reflect on their real world activities and habits
and learn how they influence their gut health.
Players can also learn that the experience of gut health is often dependent on a range
of factors and pre-existing conditions or the lack thereof.
Additionally, through the information and the points on the cards as well as through
the interactions between each other players learn about the different factors like mode
of birth, early microbial exposure, genetics, lifestyle and so on and the scenarios through
which they influence us in the real world.
The points on the cards represent the effects on the warrior or minion meeple teaching the
player how certain activities affect the balance between the good and the bad bacteria in the
gut and thereby our gut health.
This encourages them to make gut-friendly decisions to win the game.
Players are tasked with the role of balancing the warrior and minion meeple by moving them
across a numbered trail on the game board from their start to finish points while also
accomplishing a set of winning conditions on their individual Persona cards.
The first player to achieve this wins the game.
The game utilizes physical elements from a dining setting to enable a contextual understanding
of gut health driven through diet-related practices.
Doing so, we aim to create a space for self-reflection in players with respect to their own practices
concerning their gut health and thus equip themselves with adequate information to take
gut-friendly action.
We present a list of design considerations for future designers to use while designing
for complex topics.
The use of personas, narratives and metaphors, prescriptive language over proscriptive language
and the use of tangible materials or digital assets may enable the user to build closer
connections to an otherwise inconceivable topic.
To conclude, gut health shapes our experiences in the world and we believe playful visualizations
can be of help in making your gut health a priority.
Thank you.