Research on the Design Strategy of Healing Products for Anxious Users during COVID-19

Abstract

With the spread of COVID-19 worldwide, various travel restrictions are becoming a significant trigger for anxiety. Although healing products could relieve anxiety, few scholars have proposed a practical design strategy. Therefore, we offer a design strategy for healing products that includes three phases: preparation, analysis, and verification. In Phase 1, 20 people with moderate or high anxiety are invited to rate 100 samples. Then, FCM is used to obtain representative samples. In Phase 2, a three-layer diagram (incl. the upper, middle, and lower layers) of healing products is obtained using the evaluation grid method. Subsequently, the middle layer is considered evaluation criteria. Additionally, 18 items in the lower layer are considered design guidelines. In Phase 3, we invite two teams to develop innovative designs based on design guidelines and personal experience, generating four alternatives. Finally, four alternatives and four healing commodities are evaluated using grey relation analysis and perceptual questionnaires. The consistency of both evaluations could confirm the validity of the evaluation criteria. The alternatives generated based on the design guidelines are better than other alternatives, demonstrating the effectiveness of the design guidelines. The design strategy is beneficial for developing and evaluating healing products to alleviate people’s anxiety during COVID-19.