Fidgets

A collection of objects, videos and texts researching the act of
“fidgeting”.

September 2022 – October 2023

Almost everyone fidgets, but some more than others. I am a born
fidgeter and researched the what, how and why. For months I designed fidget items, trying to find the perfect form, feel and function. Moving from Tamagotchi-like objects that need to be fiddled with to stay alive to an impressive collection of rings with buttons to touch, springs to bend, balls to swirl or surfaces to rotate. To analyse the repetitive unconscious behaviour that lies at the basis of these must-touch designs, I started recording everyday life on film, observing myself and others performing both fun and boring tasks. My objects, videos and written analyses form a refreshing take on fidgeting through the eyes of a fidgety designer.

Fidget Pets

Inspired by Tamagotchi, you must fidget to keep your fidget-pet alive. A colored light indicates your fidget’s health: green signifies happiness and good health, while orange/red indicates that your fidget needs attention. Having a fidget-pet to care for encourages you to take short breaks throughout the day.

With this project, I paid particular attention to researching user interaction, focusing on the shape, material, and tactile experience of the fidget and aiming to make it feel alive.

The room as a fidget

How can unconventional things be used as a fidget I wondered, an entire room for example. For this experiment I recorded my self working, every 20 minutes I went for a small little walk. I then layered all the frames of the video on top of each other to show where in the room I had walked. In the image you can see the results of these layered frames.
You can see that I (wearing red clothes) almost covered the entire room in the course of a day.

Fidget rings

Lorum ipsum

Audio visual fidgets

Touch designer

unity

audio.

Body as a fidget

Lorum ipsum

Fidget research

Fidget behavior,Doodleing, activity timelapses, sweater, Fidget nail, delaied grativicaton, on bed, as an activity, legos and talking, nail polish, on scateboard,