Fold it!

I tried to find directions around my life and I chose the laundry directions and recorded all the processes I had.

1. Prompt of the study

2. Insight

As a result of the experiment, I discovered two insights: 1. The actual laundromat instructions consisted of five steps, but in reality, there were more processes involved. 2. There is very little overlap between the purple section and the green section.

This indicates that clear directions and individual choices cannot coexist. This is because directions can result in people acting in similar ways and restrict their ability to act individually. Therefore, the insight I gained was that "direction can restrict people's behaviors." For the next step, I will find out the answer to the question: "How can directions either restrict or activate people's behaviors?”

3. How directions can either restrict or activate people’s behaviors?

I conducted 3 experiments to answer the question. Each experiment involved folding papers in different directions. I requested people to provide a brief thought or impression, a video showing the entire process, an unfolded paper of the origami, and a photo of the completed origami. I’ve got a total of 27 samples from people.

In this project, I focused on rules and directions, which tell users what the tasks are and how they can be performed. Therefore, the purpose of the study was finding and discovering rules and directions that generate performance, results, and process.

Pratt Institute work

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Pratt Institute work

Sep, 2023

Fold it!

I tried to find directions around my life and I chose the laundry directions and recorded all the processes I had.

1. Prompt of the study

This indicates that clear directions and individual choices cannot coexist. This is because directions can result in people acting in similar ways and restrict their ability to act individually. Therefore, the insight I gained was that "direction can restrict people's behaviors." For the next step, I will find out the answer to the question: "How can directions either restrict or activate people's behaviors?”

2. Insight

3. How directions can either restrict or

activate people’s behaviors?

4. Experiment 1+2

This 1, 2 experiment is to figure out how rules and directions limit a person’s behavior by comparing a group with directions and a group with no directions. The common direction for Fold A Fish! was “fold the paper to resemble the fish in the picture as closely as possible,” and the common direction for Fold A Shark! was “fold the paper to resemble the shark in the picture as closely as possible.” For the group that received additional directions, the extra instructions were: "Must use one sheet of paper to make the fish. Do not use glue. Do not tear the paper."

5. Experiment 3

This experiment is to figure out how much people would behave in the same pattern if directions were provided for all processes. The direction for Fold A Whale! was "follow directions to fold a whale.”

Prepare a square sheet of paper
Fold it in half to make a big triangle.
Unfold the paper.
Fold one side of the square to the center of the mark
Fold the opposite side of the square to the center of the mark
Fold the other side, which is not folded, in the same way as steps 4 and 5. This will create a diamond shape.
Spread the inside of the fold at step 6 slightly and make a pointed edge to form an elongated triangle.
Fold the other side just like you did in steps 6-7. The shape should still be a diamond.
Make sure the triangle you made in step 7-8 is on the right side and flip it upside down. The result should be a smooth diamond.
Fold the left corner in half towards the center.
Fold the bottom of the paper upwards to make it half.
Fold the whale's fins diagonally below.
Repeat step 12 for the other fin.
Fold the thin edge of the whale's body up by 5/1 to make the whale's tail.

Prepare a square sheet of paper
Fold it in half to make a big triangle.
Unfold the paper.
Fold one side of the square to the center of the mark
Fold the opposite side of the square to the center of the mark
Fold the other side, which is not folded, in the same way as steps 4 and 5. This will create a diamond shape.
Spread the inside of the fold at step 6 slightly and make a pointed edge to form an elongated triangle.
Fold the other side just like you did in steps 6-7. The shape should still be a diamond.
Make sure the triangle you made in step 7-8 is on the right side and flip it upside down. The result should be a smooth diamond.
Fold the left corner in half towards the center.
Fold the bottom of the paper upwards to make it half.
Fold the whale's fins diagonally below.
Repeat step 12 for the other fin.
Fold the thin edge of the whale's body up by 5/1 to make the whale's tail.

This 1, 2 experiment is to figure out how rules and directions limit a person’s behavior by comparing a group with directions and a group with no directions. The common direction for Fold A Fish! was “fold the paper to resemble the fish in the picture as closely as possible,” and the common direction for Fold A Shark! was “fold the paper to resemble the shark in the picture as closely as possible.” For the group that received additional directions, the extra instructions were: "Must use one sheet of paper to make the fish. Do not use glue. Do not tear the paper."

4. Experiment 1+2