Problem
The Alpha team was making technical progress on mood detection from mobile sensor data. The product question was separate: how should a person interact with real-time information about their own emotional state in a way that is ambient and natural rather than intrusive and screen-mediated? This was a research question, not a product brief — the goal was to generate testable hypotheses about a future interaction model.
My role
I led the concept development, interaction design, and user testing. Working with the research team on the mood detection model, I designed the interaction model for the tattoo display and facilitated the testing sessions.
Approach
TATU imagined interactive skin-surface displays that reflected detected mood state — visible to the wearer and, optionally, to others nearby. The concept was about peripheral, ambient awareness rather than broadcasting. Since actual interactive tattoos are not a current technology, we used a Wizard of Oz prototype: a researcher manually controlled the display in real time. Testing was done with couples, where mutual emotional awareness was most relevant.
Outcome
- Testing surfaced a genuine tension between transparency and privacy that any ambient mood communication system would need to resolve
- Participants valued the idea of greater mutual understanding but were uncomfortable with continuous, involuntary visibility of emotional state
- Opt-in/opt-out design was identified as essential to any viable version
- Findings contributed to Telefonica Alpha's body of work on passive mood monitoring and informed how subsequent products (Fluid, Perspectives) handled emotional data sensitivity
