Known for her experimental infographics, Kelli Anderson was chosen by Adobe to create “something interesting” for designers attending AIGA’s annual event. Her invention? An amazing paper calculation wheel which aims to solve that conundrum of a career question “Should I Take That Job?”.
Faced with an audience of designers Kelli decided it would be fun to create a tool that “solves” a problem which haunts most creative workers at some time or another: indecision about work. The field of design covers a vast range of activities—offering a lot of freedom… and therefore a lot of choices (make a zine? illustrate a book? design a typeface? create an object? code? improve public transportation routes? what to do today?!)
Arming herself with the latest neuroscientific research on employee happiness (Research / More Research) Kelli, in her words, undertook “a quixotic pursuit to make a calculator that could assist designers by being more objective than the human mind in assessing whether or not the user should take that job?”
“Calculation wheels were “pretty much the apps of the last century, a type of volvelle which converts user inputs into answers via the magic of die cuts. It’s part paper-wheel-calculator, part infographic, part mood ring, and part logic-exercise to help “see the future without all the waiting.”
How it works
1. The user is invited to think about the job on offer.
2. Then assess the attributes of the job by turning the wheels/rating “fit”, pay, working conditions, and ethics. In real life, there are a multitude of other factors to consider, but these seem to be the big/universal ones.
3. As they turn each wheel, the color in the answer window shifts to fit their unique circumstance and the colour of their future (there are 72 unique circumstances available), flip the wheel to reveal the key on the back.
4.On the back the user finds their fortune-color. Start in the center and travel outwards to reveal where the future of this job will lead.
