Niki Marathia
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UX of slowness Week 1 of 2
Term 1 week 9
Team

Slowness is not just delay, it is difference. It can be a strategy, a symptom, a burden, or a gift. Slowness challenges the myths of efficiency, productivity and constant progress. It makes space for process, reflection, friction and care. Design an encounter that values patience, presence, or pause.

Research methods:
Behavioural mapping, speed dating
Amita Tulpule
Ayesha Saleem
Eryue Wan
Evander Wang
Niki Marathia
Vanashree Chowdhury
Yifei Huang


The brief
We started the project by brainstorming on what an encounter is to us based on our personal experiences.

Figure 1. Personal examples of encounters.


We then did the same for the 3 p’s: patience, presence, and pause.

Figure 2. What patience, presence, and pause mean to us.


These exercises helped us feel like we had a better grasp of the brief. To us, an encounter was a short meeting that happened by chance. Patience, presense, and pause were about tuning in to our senses and surroundings, accepting delay, and taking things slow.

Figure 3. Relating our thoughts from the readings to the brief.


Having gathered these ideas, we each did some reading about slowness to expand our thinking. The readings that stuck with us the most were Tricia Hersey’s (2024) blog entries framing rest as resistance and Jenny Odell’s (2021) How to Do Nothing. Both discuss the role of capitalism in pushing people towards productivity in order to have value. They both also propose slowing down as a way of resisting the systems that create this pressure.

Figure 4. Thinking through our areas of interest. Drawn by Ayesha Saleem.


Our readings made us think about where we could observe slowness and why. Odell (2021) discusses rituals like walking, observing nature, and disengaging from technology as ways to slow down. We connected to the idea of rituals because we try to incorporate them in our lives in small ways.
Behav. mapping
Figure 5a. Amita taking down observations at CSM.
Figure 5b. Niki taking down observations at CSM.
Figure 5c. Vanashree taking down observations at CSM.
Figure 5d. The workshop area.
Figure 5e. Close-up of Niki’s notes.
Figure 5f. Close-up of Vanashree’s notes.
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Figure 6. Niki’s observations.


Figure 7a. Evander’s observations.
Figure 7b. Wan’s observations.
Figure 7c. Amita’s observations.
Figure 7d. Yifei’s observations.
Figure 7e. Vanashree’s observations.
Figure 7f. Ayesha’s observations.
Figure 8. Our final behavioural map.


Figure 9. Our thoughts after behavioural mapping.


Figure 10. Themes that emerged after behavioural mapping.



Sources
Harvey, T. (2024) ‘WE WILL REST! The Art of Escape’ The nap ministry, 9 November. Available at: https://thenapministry.wordpress.com/ (Accessed: 3 January 2026).

Odell, J. (2021) How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy. Melville House Publishing.