Alex Economopoulos

ThoughtCounter 12 Week Plan

Written by

Alex Economopoulos

in

,

March 24 – June 19

WEEKS 1-2

Focus: Data analysis & product research foundations

Stage: Post-experience / Insight

  • Summarise all 80 responses in a structured table.
  • Take averages of predicted vs actual thought counts.
  • Note recurring themes, surprising answers, anything that challenges assumptions about what people experience during counting.
  • Create analysis report – key findings only
  • Blog post: Data sheet, analysis report and summary of findings and any other observations
  • Blog post: 5 artists who work with portable, temporary, and socially-engaged structures.
  • Blog post: Mood-board and initial ideas for pop up structure
  • Define questions to ask in product development interviews
  • Interview 8–10 people split between those who have never meditated and those who have tried and stopped.
    • Table documenting responses

WEEKS 3-4

Focus: Questionnaire redesign & longitudinal infrastructure

Stage: Experience / Post-experience

Material research

  • Research materials for pop up, understanding what’s technically possible before fixing the concept.
    • Create spreadsheet with supplier/website/overview
    • Email 2-3 suppliers for technical guidance (incl. visual references)
    • Initial project brief PDF
  • Blog post: Radical Architecture
  • Blog post: Deep dive into Annabelle Schneider & Miranda/Bolson’s work.
  • Blog post: Summarise material research including the main considerations to resolve.

Product interviews

  • 6 more product interviews re meditation.
  • Blog post: Summarise first 10 product interview learnings – what problems are people actually describing.

Questionnaire

  • Blog post: Renata’s comments on questionnaire and method.
  • Update questions & add email capture field.

Research

  • Re-read key chapters of Letting Go, Untethered Soul & Atomic Habits & highlight.
  • Research key articles and scientific findings on meditation, why people lapse, how long it takes to see results etc.
  • Blog post: Summarise Letting Go, Untethered Soul book notes.
  • Blog post: Summarise Atomic Habits book notes.
  • Blog post: Summarise research articles & key stats.

Longitudinal sequence

  • Draft sequence structure & content overview
    • Short email series linking to daily practice guides, interviews, videos etc.
    • Creating a platform & formula to host guided meditations, interviews and teachings.
  • Feedback on sequence overview
    • Zoom call with Renata to review & feedback
    • Zoom call with Saeed to review & feedback
  • Revisit the responses and quotes from questionnaires in detail – highlighting any that can be used in longitudinal sequences or marketing materials.
  • Comp structure draft for ongoing monthly advice and/or guided meditations
  • Update study statement: Write a more honest statement of intent for the project – what it is trying to do and what it is not; make the tension between design as critique/desire explicit.
    • Define what meaningful change / success looks like in measurable terms. How will I track/measure?
    • How big can it be? Market size stats.

WEEKS 5–6

Focus: Physical form & workshop preparation

Stage: Pre-experience / Entry

  • Continue prototyping the pop up structure.
  • Speak to Aiyana re: day retreat – ThoughtCounter (5 mins) + Meditation Into The Space (45 mins)
  • Hackney Art Week / Anya re Audio toilet installation in local pubs – pursue this as a parallel standalone piece.
  • Blog post: 5 artists/installations that use sensory entry points before cognitive framing.
  • Begin sketching how sensory elements (smell, sound, texture) could be introduced before the participant engages cognitively with the task.
  • Plan and prepare Workshop 1 in detail: format, invite list (curated group for longitudinal tracking), art materials to provide, and how to document the session.
  • Discuss with Nitesh re: OM Being collab – Meditation X ThoughtCounter X Art materials.
    • Ref: Concrete Poetry workshop (words to represent feelings and recreate the perception)
  • Document the design development process visually – this feeds directly into the research paper.
    • Pim interview notes & v/n: Bio-geometry & Negative Green

WEEKS 7-8

Focus: Workshop 1 & first pop up activations

Stage: Pre-experience / Entry / Experience / Post-experience / Insight

  • Run Workshop 1:
    • ThoughtCounter experience
    • 20-minute guided meditation
    • Art materials to visualise thoughts.
    • Test the new questionnaire variants within this format.
    • Capture email addresses from all participants and add to the longitudinal sequence.
  • Notice what the art-making phase surfaces that the questionnaire can’t – note anything that suggests new directions for the questions or the installation format.
  • Continue developing the pop-up prototype – refine the structure based on material research from Weeks 5–6, build a working version that can be erected and taken down by one or two people.
  • Refine the experience, potentially offering guided instructions using headphones.
    • Ref: WakingUp app (Joseph Goldstein) – wait for the thoughts to arise.
  • Decide on the format and sensory entry point for the first public activation – what does the experience begin with, and how does the structure communicate that?
  • Sound ideas for booth/headphones
    • Music (ie. Concentration; Dark Loop)
    • Script/voice-over for the intro & counting guidance
  • Set up a simple database or mailing list (ie. Mailchimp).

WEEKS 9–10

Focus: Workshop 2, website & accessibility

Stage: Pre-experience / Entry / Experience / Online

  • Run Workshop 2 incorporating learnings from Workshop 1 – refine the format, adjust the questionnaire, experiment further with the sensory entry point.
  • Send the first longitudinal follow-up touchpoint to all participants captured across workshops and activations.
  • Line up research paper interviews: Mark Farid, Lucy Orta (Betty recommendation), Guy Sherwin (Man with Mirror), Sarah Sze, Chiharu Shiota, Kaz etc.

WEEKS 11–12+

Focus: Research paper, synthesis & end of term review

Stage: Longitudinal / Beyond

  • Write up the research paper outline: nomadic and temporary spiritual structures across cultures, and the inversion – what a contemporary version appealing to younger audiences could look like; use the material and form development from weeks 5–8.
  • Analyse data from both workshops and all public activations – compare questionnaire variants, identify the strongest version.
  • Send the second longitudinal follow-up touchpoint; begin assessing whether any patterns are emerging in sustained engagement.
  • Begin marketing groundwork – once I have activation footage, workshop documentation and data summary.
    • Reverse engineer how other artists have approached marketing, PR etc (Mark Farid, Candy Chang).

Running throughout

  • Study statement: refer to aims and objective continuously and refine as the tensions in the work become clearer.
  • Documentation: photograph and film every activation, prototype iteration, and workshop.
  • Marketing: build gradually using footage, data, workshop output.
  • Website: Develop in Term 3 and review against WCAG accessibility guidelines; test with at least one person with low vision, one with dyslexia, and one on an older or basic device.

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