
2 minute read
Aha/Eureka moment Pag
2.2 Aha/Eureka moment
We all know the term. Aha/Eureka moments. Translation: “a cry of joy or satisfaction when one finds or discovers something”, according to the first Google research. But an eureka or aha moment is more. I’m always trying to find challenging solutions. Some call that creativity, and the feeling of finding a solution is lovely. It boosts your motivation and causes that the developing of new ideas come easier. This is how I experience the aha moments on a daily life. Within my works I try to establish interaction with the user, which is a key component. I believe that if one does a certain interaction and discovers what it does to themselves, they can experience an eureka moment. According to the research of Christian Windischberger who did research about what happens in the brain when there is an Aha moment.
Advertisement
In his research he discovered that an Aha moment facilitates long term memory storage. (Tik et al. 3247) Knowing that Aha moments trigger a long-term memory means this provides room to create a good conversation piece. Using interaction and a good translation of what you want to tell.
To create an interaction first you need one to become curious. Curiosity is the internal motivation to learn. (Peeters) What makes you curious? Ollafur Elliason during his interview The Shape of an Idea explains: “Before an idea you might experience a feeling or instinct.” (Marc-Christoph Wagner) This makes me curious; this feeling or instinct feels common to me as a designer. To get one curious Roland van der Vorst wrote a book on how we get tempted every day. He describes that there are several strategies within curiosity to trigger someone. (Vorst 54)
Strategy one is called: withhold something. This is a way to let one feel like a treasure hunter. The goal is to create a question at the participant. What is going to happen? What did happen? Using this method, you can let one think about the experience to hopefully figure the question out. Other methods are to disrupt a moment. Imagine, you are at a party and suddenly all the lights go on because someone accidently pushed the light switch. Where is the attention in the room? The way I see this is a little similar as the aha moment. Something happens. Your instinct pulls you to the action. There is a reason why I didn’t answer the question, because leaving something in the experience open, is the last method I implemented in this research. (Vorst 54) The attention in the room is were someone is thinking of. As Elliason mentions about this work; “you are feeling the same but experiencing something different.” (MarcChristoph Wagner)
Curiosity