“The Worry Cloud”: A design with a tangible and embodied approach to reduce stress among university students

Abstract: A common problem among students is stress which usually correlates to bad sleeping habits. As the stress levels among students are rapidly increasing year by year, the importance of relieving that stress increases as well. One could assume that a suitable aid for stress relief targeted for students would be used during school work, which findings showed to not be the appropriate solution. Findings in this thesis determine the home environment to be where students are the most stress, notably at bedtime where they tend to think and worry. The thinking and worrying were found to be a key issue to stress among students. The proposed solution called The Worry Cloud aims to relieve the students of their worries in order to help them to wind down, reduce the stress and help them sleep better.