Author: nadine.lowden

In this public radio show from WBUR, listeners call in and share their third places and what they mean to them. After that, the host discusses the history of the third place, the state of third places in The United States post-pandemic, why we should rebuild third places, and how to make that possible. Professor Danielle C. Rhubart, assistant professor of biobehavioral health and demography at Penn State University, explains the importance of third places:

“When the people who coined the term first described it, these places where places of sociality and now we look at coffee shops and they can also be places where you get work done. Right? And you’re not actually engaging with other people. And there’s evidence to suggest that even when we go in a more passive way and are on our laptops, there’s still some benefits in sort of building senses of belonging and identity.

But when we actually engage with people and have conversations that can also yield benefits along measures of mental health and wellbeing as well.”

Below are some excerpts from listeners who called in to the podcast:

ELIZABETH: I would say my third place is the dog park. It’s a great place to meet other people from other neighborhoods, economic situations, jobs, races, religions. It just brings everyone together. And I find myself spending a lot of time there, especially at the start of the pandemic, it seemed like that was the only place where I could see people and life seemed to be normal.

DAVID: My third place is one of four or five local taverns that I tend to frequent. That’s where everybody knows my name. I’m greeted with a smile. They know the drink I want, and sometimes engage in terrific conversation, either with regulars or entirely new faces.

SUSANNA: It’s a cold water swimming group, and it really took me by surprise to find how engaged I was because I love these people so much and it is a head clearing oasis. At the start of my day, three times a week.

SULE: I’m a percussionist, and most Sundays there’s a group of five to 10, sometime up to 15 drummers and musicians out in Piedmont Park. That’s where I go to make friends and absorb good energy and music from other people.

Citations

Chang, Jonathan, and Anthony Brooks. “‘third Places’ Strengthen Community. Here’s How We Can Rebuild Them.” On Point, July 26, 2023. https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2023/07/26/third-places-strengthen-community-heres-how-we-can-rebuild-them.

In Mina Le’s video essay, “third places, stanley cup mania, and the epidemic of loneliness”, she discusses isolation, loneliness, friendship, and community in our modern, technological age. Le dedicates a large portion of the video to the “third place”. First described in the 1980s by American sociologist Ray Oldenburg, a third place is a space for informal, free social interaction, essential to democracy. Exemplified most clearly by the coffeehouse, a third place is neutral ground where friends and neighbours are regulars, but strangers are just as welcome. Third places are inexpensive, unstructured, and local. Conversation is the main activity. In this video, Le speaks specifically to the American condition, where third places have all but disappeared. Although the situation isn’t quite the same in Europe, the digital space has largely replaced the physical third place, and we still don’t yet know what the consequences of that might be. Le ends the video by discussing the importance of communities and in-person friendships/relationships. She notes that, over the phone, we completely miss the facial cues from others’ expressions. We feel less of a communal responsibility, and we lose the culture of generosity without expectation of reciprocation or compensation.

Citations

Le, Mina. “Third Places, Stanley Cup Mania, and the Epidemic of Loneliness.” YouTube, January 22, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqjpuUJQFcM&t=1632s.

Oldenburg, Ray, and Karen Christensen. “Third Places, True Citizen Spaces.” The UNESCO Courier,
March 22, 2023. https://courier.unesco.org/en/articles/third-places-true-citizen-spaces.
the third place

Ontology:

Reflect on the nature of reality as it pertains to your research topic. Consider:

What assumptions are you making about the reality of the phenomena or issues you are researching?

I am assuming that in-person connections are more important/impactful than online connections. I’m assuming that being part of a healthy community positively affects your wellbeing. I’m assuming that many people feel they don’t spend their free time in a meaningful way, and would like to change that.

Do you view these as objective facts (existing independently of individuals’ perceptions) or as subjective constructs (shaped by personal experiences and cultural influences)?

I view these assumptions mostly as subjective constructs, however I have heard many of these constructs echoed back to me. In the research phase it will be important to objectively investigate the existing evidence both for and against these claims.

Epistemology:

Reflect on your study of knowledge, particularly how knowledge is created, its scope, and its limitations:

What are the primary sources from which you will or have derived knowledge about your research topic (e.g., empirical data, theoretical frameworks, personal experiences, cultural narratives)?

The primary sources for my research will be empirical data such as that gathered through interviews, experimentation (designing, prototyping and testing), and observation. Theoretical frameworks, such as sociological concepts, will form the framework of my research and guide my problem statement and research questions.

Consider if your understanding is mainly theoretical (based on concepts) or empirical (based on observations or data).

My understanding will be shaped by both theoretical and empirical knowledge, but skew heavily towards empirical research in the latter half of the process, due to an emphasis on participatory design.

Identify any potential limitations in your understanding or approach. Reflect on how your background or perspective might influence your interpretation of the research.

A potential limitation in my understanding and approach might come from the assumptions that I have, listed above. It will be important to discover a complete picture of the actual reality of things, rather than to merely confirm my own biases. Additionally, in researching the concept of free time and meaningful free time activities, I have to acknowledge that to have free time is a privilege, and that when assessing free time activities I should include both free and paid activities. I should also be open to redefining what free time means, and having my research change direction in response to that feedback.

Continuing my journey of reading through the most popular design literature (previously read: Hooked by Nir Eyal and The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman), I looked at 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People by Susan Weinschenk.

I found this book to be rather an amalgamation of many other design resources. In that way, it’s a quick, very visual guide to many design basics. However, I felt this repetitiveness made it less useful for anyone even a little familiar with design. The 100 things ranged from the very familiar (ex. 9. “People believe that things that are close together belong together”) to the less familiar, and more nuanced (ex. 74. “Stories and anecdotes persuade more than data alone”). I still found this book to be a good refresher on some basic points, offering food for thought and helpful data points to return to.

For this impulse, I read the first chapter of The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman. This book is considered by many to be the bible of interaction and industrial design, and although I have read bits and pieces over the years, I can’t say I have ever read it cover to cover. In an earlier post, I wrote about my desire to keep one foot behind me, reaching back to the basics of design to build strong theoretical and methodological foundations as I work on my thesis. Reading this book is a big part of that. I am planning on reading the entire book, but for this post I will highlight the first chapter, entitled “The Psychopathy of Everyday Things”.

This chapter first introduces “Norman doors”, or doors without clear signifiers on how to open them. From there, Norman continues with an analysis of all the ways the objects in our life do and do not work for us, and why this happens. Norman touches on his past as an engineer, noting the tendency of engineers to be overly logical and fail to understand and anticipate human behaviour as it actually is, rather than how it would be in an idealized world. Similarly, designers can fail to anticipate the response to their designs by believing that every user has the same conceptual model as they do. Norman also laments the rising complexities in our technologies, citing watches with too many buttons whose functions are not obvious and his own fridge with incredibly misleading hardware. At the end of the chapter, Norman imagines how technology will only become more powerful, and if not designed well, more frustrating to use.

As my revised thesis topic focuses on encouraging the practice of hobbies and learning of new skills for personal and recreational reasons, I thought I would complete the “What is this?” exercise in relation to one of my own hobbies, painting, and namely on the above painting.

What is this?

• A painting
• Oil paint on canvas paper
• An image
• A drawing
• An imagined depiction
• An expression

How did it get here?

• I created it, then took a picture of it and uploaded it
• The paints and paper came from my hometown in Canada, I brought them with me last Christmas from Winnipeg to Montreal to Vienna and then to Graz. Before that, the paints came from an online supplier that ships from Ontario to Winnipeg. The paper came from my local art store. Before that it came from a paper supplier, before that a paper mill, and before that it was trees.

Who uses it?

• Art doesn’t have a particular “use” but you could say that everyone who views it “uses” it, in a way. Everyone who looks at it will have some reaction, from indifference to enjoyment. As the artist, I also “use” it when I look at it and consider if I achieved the expression I wanted to, and how it makes me approach future paintings.

What does it do?

• It’s purpose is just to exist
• It expresses something – a feeling, a moment in time, etc.
• It can (hopefully) inspire, cause someone to think and reflect

When is it used?

• It’s used whenever someone is looking at it or thinking about it

What is it made of?

• Paint, paper, brush hairs that get lost, water, painting solvents & creativity (;

Who made it?

• I did!
• I used a reference photo that I took of flowers I got from the farmer’s market at Kaiser-Josef-Platz in Graz

Why does it exist?

• It exists because I created it, for myself, to express something
• It exists to communicate a moment, a feeling, a message
• It exists just because
• It exists because art is important and humans have an innate need to express ourselves

We all want to use our time well. We want to feel that we are getting the most out of our time outside of work, enjoying ourselves, experiencing new things, and spending time with loved ones. One way to make the most of your time is to have dedicated time for hobbies and leisure activities, such as a weekly pottery or foreign language class, a recreational sports team, or volunteering in a local museum. There are plenty of options for online learning, but in our post-COVID world, face-to-face connection is particularly important. But how do you find such a thing? What if you don’t know exactly what you want to do, just that you’re searching for a little something extra in your week? Getting started with something is often the most difficult part. When looking for a class or other weekly activity, we immediately face a lot of decisions and option, and this can be paralyzing. If these barriers were removed, would we be more likely to engage with the communities around us, learning new things and creating connections?

How important is connection with one’s community? What is the value of face-to-face connection, as opposed to online? How might we make it easy to build a full and fulfilling life through life-enriching activities? How do we make finding these life-enriching activities equitable and accessible?

These questions are the basis of a new direction for research that I will pursue during the thesis semester. The thesis will include both research and a practical output. I will first address the current state of research. Then, I will conduct field trips and include a series of interviews with relevant experts (transcripts and reflections). Building on both the research and interviews, I will begin the design process and focus heavily on user testing, which will lead me through prototypes and onto the final design. The current idea for a practical output is as follows:

Passion Project addresses the previously stated problem by offering a service to support you from start to finish. Through the Passion Project website or app, the user is onboarded with a series of questions to get to know their location, age, priorities, interests, availability, needs and wants. Following this, the algorithm can offer personalized recommendations. For each class, the sign-up process is the same and is hosted directly on Passion Project, never on a third-party website. Additionally, Passion Project stores important information such as class times, location, and supplies lists, and sends email/push notification reminders at appropriate times.

The preliminary structure is as follows:

Introduction (problem statement, state of research, goal, hypothesis, research question, concept & approach)

Research (tbd)

Expert Interviews & Field Trips (interview transcripts & analysis)

Practical Work (design process & outcome)Conclusion (applications, thoughts & reflections)

My personal theory is that regular, in-person activities that aren’t related to work or other obligations can be extremely important for creating a healthy, balanced life. Theory references, although yet unexplored, will likely include psychological journals to explore the impact of isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the comparable benefits of in-person connection and community. I will also explore social design, or the practice of designing for a better society.

Some questions I have

What are your thoughts on the potential of this topic? Should the scope be broadened or narrowed at this point? Do you have any recommendations for potential site visits/field trips and/or interviewees? What are your thoughts on the practical input piece? Having never done a thesis before, one of my biggest concerns is having enough to work with to fill the timeline of the thesis – how do I really dig in to this topic over such a long period of time?

For this semester’s Master’s Seminar course, we were asked to find a master’s thesis from our own research area submitted to a foreign or Austrian university/university of applied sciences. I chose to evaluate “Curious Cuisine: Bringing culinary creativity home” by Júlia Nacsa at Umeå University’s Faculty of Science and Technology, Institute of Design.

Nacsa’s work takes a close look at the cooking and eating habits in the home – how these rituals could be modified to enrich the joy and explorative tendencies of the hobby home cook. Following in-depth research on past, current, and potential future practices, Nacsa proposes a highly tactile intervention.

In my own thesis journey, I am currently at a crossroads. I am sharply deviating from what I researched last semester (AI in UX Design), and diving into social design, potentially focusing on continued education, or another topic that combines my personal interests with a sociological approach to research and innovation. “Curious Cuisine: Bringing culinary creativity home” has the feeling of a highly emotional, intimate work. Food and eating culture is something we all share, making it at once communal and deeply personal. I found myself touched by that complexity, and intrigued at the methods used to dive into these spaces that are typically difficult to access.

Nacsa’s research questions are as follows:

New Rituals: How might new food technologies fit in with our old traditions? What are the new cultural practices that might emerge?

New Aesthetics: How might our multi-sensory experiences and food acceptance change? How might we make everyday meals more exciting, and nutritious choices more enticing?

New Skills: How might we adapt our skills to new culinary techniques? What forms of embodied knowledge do we need to integrate into the ‘cooking’ process?

Level of design

This thesis is presented in clean, careful order. Nacsa uses beautiful imagery to support her points, while keeping the focus on the text.

Degree of innovation

This thesis is, in my opinion, highly original. The author digs into a subject that most people would consider too ingrained to accept innovation.

Independence

Nacsa credits a team of advisors and examiners at the start of the thesis for their guidance and support. It is clear, however, that Nacsa completed this work with a high degree of motivation and drive. I was particularly inspired by her field work – In the research portion of the thesis, Nacsa conducted 10 interviews, and details trips she made to visit, experience, and speak with experts in the food industry.

Outline and structure

Nacsa’s chapter titles are as follows:

Introduction; Foundational Research; Primary Research; Ideation; Concept Development; Final Result; Discussion; Reflection; Acknowledgements; References; Appendix

Degree of communication

This thesis was beautifully communicated. Nacsa’s writing is clear and concise, the thesis has excellent and logical structure, and I also found myself caring deeply about the work, feeling invested and touched by the results, particularly the discussions around the social value of food and eating together.

Scope of the work

This thesis explores the topic of food culture through personal reflection, research, interviews, field work, workshops, and prototyping.

Orthography and accuracy

As previously mentioned, this thesis is very well-written and clearly communicated. The research and end results are rather more subjective than objective, and thus a statement on accuracy wouldn’t be the most helpful metric. However, the author utilizes quotes and data to back up her research questions and claims.

Literature

At the conclusion of the work, Nacsa lists works cited. These include a great many texts on culinary innovation, which makes sense as this thesis dives into speculative design in the field of food culture.

Nacsa, Júlia. “Curious Cuisine: Bringing Culinary Creativity Home,” 2016.