Molly & Gerry | Studio PSK

ALTERNATIVE EXPERIENCES
- Design is not just things. We experience the world around us in a myriad of forms, and design should be responsive to this, exploiting this fact to communicate ideas. By providing firsthand experiences, in the form of workshops, interactive installations and events, these projects aim to engage people in a ‘hands-on’ approach, bringing design to life, and as such combining a wide range of skills, ideas and opinions from all involved.

DIGITAL TOPOLOGY
- Knowingly or otherwise, we are immersed in a Digital Topology. We are surrounded by digital objects and electronics, and these have become an intrinsic, inescapable part of contemporary life at all levels. The projects in this category consider the current and future development of this landscape, and how digital technology can be used in a social, cultural and local way. Merging digital and non-digital elements, I aim to create subtle and creative alternatives for this technology, questioning (and breaking) the rules of the current digital paradigm.

FANTASTICAL
- These projects challenge the concept of what is (im)possible. Asking what we really know about reality, these designs are fantastical in their nature, but never frivolous or parodies. Taking design beyond its traditional role, I intend to show how it can be used to not only clarify, but to distort. Such speculative design can excite and stimulate, feeding our need for discovery and our imagination. The products in this category take us beyond our hopes for the future, making tangible our dreams of today.

This project asks what is ‘work’, and how can our ageing population play more of an active role in our society?

Molly, now 85, has enjoyed a long and gratifying career working in the BBC, both in London, and in Belfast. For almost 15 years, Molly was the sole Information Officer working in the BBC press office. Using only her knowledge, the typewriter, phone and a copy of the Radio Times, she was able to deal with members of the public’s complaints, queries and comments regarding BBC television and radio services.

Today, Molly’s passion is listening to the radio, in particular BBC Radio 4. Although her eyesight may have deteriorated throughout the years, she still has the same attitude, strong opinions and love of social interaction as she did back in her working days.

This concept challenges the perception of ‘work’ and explores how Molly could have a more active role in her community. The project gave Molly a role as a moderator of comment coming from a community of Radio 4 listeners. Information gained was relayed concisely to the BBC. To do this we developed two devices.

Named after my grandmother, ‘Molly’ allows her to act as a social moderator, collating complaints and opinions for the BBC about radio 4. Her role requires her to record both a message to the BBC and a message back to the community whenever she has a moment. The BBC message would be a summary of all comments received at that time, whereas the community message would be more personal to let the listeners know their comment had been considered and valued. This informality will allow people to be far more open.

‘Gerry’ (after my late grandfather) lets people express their opinions about Radio 4 in a simple way. This has been designed to be used by a community of 10-20 people who are local to Molly but the nature of the design allows it to be scalable to almost any radio 4 listeners.

The benefit to the BBC is that it provides them with feedback from a collective of people, the kind who would rather shout at the radio rather than actually get in touch. For Molly, it provides her with a new stance in her community, using the skills and knowledge that she has gathered throughout her life, and working in a very sociable manner, something which she has been missing since her retirement.

Commissioned By:

Microsoft