Knotty
cracking open the taboo and encouraging open and honest conversations about sex & sexuality
My Role
Research, UX / UI Design, Brand & Visual Design and Design & Product Strategy
Team
Other Interaction Designers
Duration
10 weeks
Product Type
Website & Card Game
What is the problem?
Few of us are comfortable talking openly about sexuality and sex. So much so that often the act seems easier than a conversation, even with our partners.
There's a lot of shame, disgust and guilt around it. The taboo makes it challenging for adults to talk about sex and sexuality and often because of that we fail to equip children and teens with basic information that would keep them healthy and safe. The silence around sex, sexuality and sex education is responsible for decades of abuse, bullying and grave misinformation.
How might we tackle the taboo around sexuality and encourage adults to have open and honest conversations about sex?
Why is it a problem?
24
States out of 50 mandate sex-ed
25
States require abstinence sex-ed be stressed
8
States require consent be taught
30
states don’t require sex-ed to be accurate
When we fail to arm young people with accurate and inclusive information on these topics, they turn to other sources of information like mainstream media and porn for education, which often echo the problematic theories that already plague our society. To break this cyclic pattern we need to onboard adults and young adults
The Solution
A two-part solution to one problem by Knotty. Part one: a multiplayer card game that's meant to be played amongst friends, that's fun and informative and Part Two: an online quiz that helps you self reflect about sex and sexuality
Often introspection is a good start before we engage in conversation. The O. monster quiz provides a series of questions that helps you think about aspects of your relationship with sex and sexuality
O.Moster : Online Quiz
Part 01
Part 02
This game is all about positive conversations and inclusion. It respects the awkwardness and promotes curiosity amongst players
Talk Knotty : Card Game
Part 02
How did we get to the Solution?
We laddered our way to find problems that lie at the heart of this systemic issue. The diagram below is a summarised map of our research journey and how we arrived at a problem that seemed necessary to address.
Laddering to the root problem
Research & Synthesis
To get to the root of the problem we when through several rounds of research, before we started to talk/ interview people we also did some secondary research about how other means like media, fashion and porn inform the ideas of sex and sexuality in culture. We also looked into what sex education looks like for people with physical and mental disabilities. We quickly learnt numerous issues around many important topics like consent, anatomy and inclusivity were missing and people aren't even talking about it
Key Insights
Insight 01
Comfort & humour enable difficult conversations. Respect the awkwardness.
Insight 02
Anonymity is safe for self-reflection but reinforces the taboo
How can we have lasting change?
To approach this systemic issue we turned the Pace Layers thinking by Paul Saffo and Stewart Brand to contemplate how we can have a lasting impact. According to the Pace Layer model, the layers change frequently. Their effects then reflect in their adjacent layers.
In order to touch the core, we need to start from outside. We believe starting small and fast with conversations is the key to making slow and deep impact across our societies and cultures.
User Archetypes & Journey
Sex and sexuality is a spectrum and so is how people feel about it. Everyone has a different relationship with it. Our goal was to target a small part of that spectrum that's willing and curious to learn. We came up with three types of archetypes whom this intervention would be designed for and while the game and design are for everyone to engage with, we can't design that for everyone's need.
The Conflicted
Unsure but curious to understand it more sex and sexuality. Just begging to get comfortable with the idea of exploring them
Passive Explorer
Explores ideas of sex and sexuality in the safety of their private lives but isn't too expressive about any of ti with anyone
Curious Advocate
Self-aware of their sexual needs and likes. Always exploring and expressing openly. Encourages other's to do the same
The journey map above how their journey is impacted after they interact with the quiz and the game, both of which were specifically designed while keeping transformations in mind. The Curious advocate doesn't necessarily have a transformational journey but they are crucial for the game since they drive conversations and encourage openness.
Ideation, Concepts & User Testing
Iterative Ideation
We brainstormed a bunch of ideas and further developed the ones that got the most votes to test with users. We frankensteined some ideas and eliminated the ones that weren't very popular.
Museum of sex, Real talk bed, The o.moster world, Share a story, Consent bot and Draw your o.moster were some of our top ideas
The O.Moster
The O.Monster was by far more popular than any other idea. We to merged aspects from Real talk bed, Draw your o.moster and Share a story for this idea. It didn't just appeal to our user testing participants but also their friends. Word got out, and we had more volunteers come to us to fill out the o.monster form.
Final Concepts: A Game & Quiz
The O.monster concept was a hit so why didn't we just stick to this single solution?
Well, the elements of that activity worked, it helped people be vulnerable, feel validated, laugh, and accept the awkwardness of the moment. It was a desired experience but not a fitting interaction. These sessions were facilitated by us, we needed a better medium of interaction, something that allowed sharing and self-reflection without governance. So we ideated and iterated and concluded a game and an online quiz were the right way to go.
02 Conversations
Talk about it, it stops being strange
A lot of platforms allow people to talk openly about sex and sexuality, the veil of anonymity on the internet provides security but at the same time, it feeds the taboo. It's okay to talk about sex and sexuality without having to hide anything. A game sets up just the right kind of environment for weirdness: fun and casual
01 Self Reflection
Take a quiz when alone
Before we have conversations with others, we need to have a dialogue with ourselves. Introspection is important in this case because you have to understand yourself first. The o.monster quiz is designed to ask thought-provoking questions. It gets people thinking about things they haven't quite thought of before.
User Testing & Iterating
We tested with over 40 people and had multiple internal testing sessions. Our game evolved over 4 major versions and many small changes while our quiz went through 3 cycles or iterations.
The essence of the game stayed the same but game mechanics evolved to strike a balance between fun, learning and sharing
Final Product & Ecosystem
Knotty Website
A home for the O.monster Quiz & Get Knotty Game
When a person lands on the Knotty website, they have the option to buy the game or take the O.monster quiz. If you got the game first, you can scan the code at the back of the box to find the O.monster quiz online. The game and the quiz complement each other and are also great products individually.
Get Knotty
A game to normalise conversation about sex
Get Knotty is a fun, informative and cheeky game. It makes a great party game amount friends. A game about sex can seem a little intimidating so we ensured it's designed in a way that allows an individual to participate to a degree they feel comfortable. It is inclusive and non-discriminatory and encourages a safe sharing space. You can learn more about how to play it here.
O.monster Quiz
A quiz to speculate about sex and sexuality
A series of questions help people introspect about their relationship with sex and sexuality. At the end of the quiz, we tell them what kind of orgasm monster they are based on their questions. People can save or share their monsters. A month later we send quiz takers the link to an updated quiz to see if their monsters have leveled up.
Measuring Impact
How we know it's working
We had to measure if people actually felt more comfortable after engaging with Knotty products but we had no means to know. So we came up with a comfort index. It's a series of questions people answered before and after they played the game or took a quiz, they were the same question both times.
We noticed a 43% increase in positive responses after they interacted with Knotty Products.