Design Studio¶
Session 1¶
Reflections¶
During class, we had a sharing session on each other’s project. For this design studio, we had a discussion on what we wanted to do and how we wanted to progress from what we had last time. As a team, we agree that we will be trying to improve our product and test it out with local school children.
For my personal work, I came out with a list of things that I will be doing and wrapping up for this term.
- Innerbot (Done)
- Perception Board (In progress)
- Food Connect (Done)
- App with Jimena (TBD)
- Forrest Walk (In progress)
- RoMi UXR
Since everything starting to look clearer in my perspective, I updated my design space. I will no longer be using the old mapping method and will be building on the current format.
As a conclusion, I will keep working on both personal and team project. I have drafed out a whole three month proposal for RoMi UXR and will be talking to Jonathan about it. For our team, we have also drafted a plan and will execute it accordingly.
Updated Design Space
Session 2¶
Reflections¶
Deliverable: Update your alternative present including a description of the roles you would like to have in it.
Task: Update your bio section in your website with an adaptation of your alternative present and your roles in it. Continue developing your interventions.
My Alternative Present:
Wen started to find opportunities by looking around what is available to her. Instead of focusing on things that she cannot change, she starts to actively engage and look for signals around her cohort. Even though she failed a few times during interviews to get a UX design intern position, she is still able to use it as a practice ground so that she is able to be more confident in future opportunities.
Roles:
As a designer, I am aware that my decision could have a lasting impact on the user and the environment. I hope to be able to contribute my talent thinking about the planetary well-being. I will take an ethics-first approach to design when considering a product’s accessibility and ease of use. It is important for me to know that my work will have a positive impact on people and the environment.
Interventions Update: Ariel, Jime and I started to attend weekly meetings to wrap up everything we have about perception board. We started a file and divided tasks so that we can successfully deliver the project during the festival. We already have a schedule with a work plan to ensure we are efficient and intentional.
Session 3¶
Reflections¶
Make a list of your interventions and see how they relate to the ways of drifting and look for connections.
The two main interventions that I will be analyzing today are Innerbot and Big Little Futures. These are the two projects that have made a lasting impact during my master’s studies.
When I worked on the InnerBot project with Jimena, my experience was more comparative (acknowledging complexity) and serial (systemic local knowledge). This is because during that time, we were first trying out chatGPT before it got viral. There is something profound and unfamiliar about this new tool. There are a lot of layers of complexion to consider as we are trying to build an “inner child”. To do this, we tried many research methods, learning about how someone could learn themselves better, at the same time we need to be aware of the nuances that might change the direction of the research. Also, since we are trying to design Innerbot through a UXR method, it goes through a serial process. We gather data and slowly study the data to come out with the final proposal.
On the other hand, Big Little Futures has both serial (systematic local knowledge) and accumulative (depth, stacking) ways of drifting. In the beginning, Ariel, Jime and I were not entirely sure what we wanted to do, but we are certain that it will be some sort of short workshop and events. Thus, the series of collective intervention that we did is accumulative and serial. We learn from every activity that we work on, and slowly improve it, learning the positive and negative feedback that we get from the participants. Eventually, we were able to design a product: The Perception Board. This is a result of the previous activity, and also a way to incorporate it into our future workshops. In the meantime, we also tried to explore potentials for this product to work beyond workshops, potentially to be an open source tool that can be accessed by teachers, or even a start up project.
For these two projects, the connection that I see is that both started with endless chances of opportunity, but somehow there is a direction. For instance, for innerbot, when we were in the design process, we were not exactly sure what the output looks like, but we were certain that it would be an AI chatbot. For Little Big Future, we are not sure what we will actually end up designing, but we are sure that we will be working on small projects with local schools in barcelona.
In conclusion, I think it is important to accept the uncertainty and at the same time, be hopeful and continue to work on what you believe in. Even though things might seem unclear while you are in the moment, as long as you stick to your path, eventually, you will be able to find what you want as long as you are working towards the right direction.
Session 4¶
Reflections¶
For today’s design class, we are mainly wrapping up what we did the entire year.
First, we started with a fight, then we have new extended workspaces, understanding yourself within the network. Then we also learn about weak signals to open up new routes for ourselves. We also learn about different communication strategies for the open design process. We learn to reflect on roles and formats of communication that would open up opportunities to communicate.
Then for the design studio, our experience is more about making and hands on. It is important to reverse engineer the ideas so that we can sit down and test the assumptions. I think for me, my intervention is about the autoethnography approach, using documentation as a tool to understand how the strategies can become a means for academic, scientific or peer-to-peer sharing and validation of 1PP Design Research Experiences.
Also in general, I think it is important to reflect on how we are drifting and the scalability of our design. You can only connect the dots backward. It is a structure to offer emergence to happen. We also learn about other projects from previous year students. It was a really helpful session as we learn about the examples of alumni’s life after MDEF.
It was a enriching session and it opens up my perspective.
Deliverable: Visualize the socio-technical system of your project (updated Design Space). Show possible paths of growth with new or existing actors.
Task: Create a scalability roadmap for decentralization using the strategies presented in class.
Final Design Space
Scalability Roadmap for Decentralization
For my scalability strategy and future plannings, I am planning to keep working on my project after my masters. For my personal project with ROMI, I will continue to collect data on the ROMI project that I have been working on with Jonathan. I have intention to carry on the project to the second year. As this is a speculative work, I will continue to put effort in it as it is something that I am interested in.
For my collective project with Jime and Ariel, we are planning to get more visibility through attending fairs and competition. A couple things that we have in mind to participate are Vienna Design Week, Dutch Design Week, and the Dubai competition.
Also, we designed a landing page for presentation purposes so that people can understand our project better. As a team, we present ourselves together and we think it would help us in getting people to trust us and understand our drive.
We are also trying to build a business model to sustain ourselves with our Big Little Futures project. I think one of our strengths is that Jime, Ariel and I are involved in other things professionally so we could support ourselves when working on our projects. We are thinking of keeping this project on the side, reaching out to potential opportunities and continuing to keep in touch after the MDEF ends.
The 5W’s of scaling
Why?
Create a distributed network of teachers and/or designers interested in implementing our Perception Board, collage workshop or other education tools to help children design future solutions for the world’s most pressing problems. To reimagine future tools of education creating alternative ways for children and teenagers to talk about difficult topics and improve the dialogue skills in the society
What?
Digital assets and databases including all the materials, documentation and files to set up or run workshops with schools in Barcelona and elsewhere. Perception Board and Tools, both physical and digital.
Who?
Network of private and public schools in Barcelona, teachers working on climate change and innovation, designers collaborating with children
Where?
Schools in Barcelona (pilot in Sant Andreu in Baladona), schools in Latin America and/or Asia, after school spaces / parks / public spaces. Could also happen online.
When?
In the short term, activities in school in Badalona, long term activities are replicated by external participants. Potentials to share our projects on a wider platform.
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