whatisdesignanyway

[whatisdesignanyway]

Tony Fadell, the product designer behind the iPod and NEST Thermostat said in a TED Talk that the first secret of great design is noticing.

As humans, when we first use a product or learn a new skill, we often fumble around at first, are not the most adept, and are very aware of each and every step, process, and awkward movement. But over time and repetition, we get used to it and form things called habits.

While habits help us function and get through our days more efficiently, we get comfortable and stop noticing the small stuff. We get used to accepting things as they are, rather than how they could be!

To reverse engineer this, Tony shares 3 recommendations:

To look broader - can the larger picture or process be better?

To look smaller - can small changes improve the experience?

To think younger - think outside the status quo!

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So in the spirit of things, I took a few minutes to come up with a few ideas of thing that could be!  Here are some ideas and observations.

Smelling sense. Of my 5 senses, I feel like sight, hearing, touch, and taste are constantly engaged in everyday life and work, but more rarely do I have visceral or noticeably pleasant reactions to smells outside of food related situations. Could this be different?

Trouble waking up in the morning. Why doesn't the iPhone come with more interactive alarms that make it harder to snooze, instead of me setting 10 sequential alarms? Can Siri be programmed to read me my daily "To Do's" to remind me why I need to get out of bed? Can she automatically tell me the weather and local traffic while she's at it? I have no brain power to function in the morning.

Secuuurity. Is having a hard key, passcode, or a keycard the safest way to lock your house and other things?

Staying warm in winter. Why don't cold weather/winter jackets come with a button or system to warm you up? What if there were super thin, flexible, and laundry machine-safe in your jacket to keep you warm immediately? What if it can also cool you down when in hot, stuffy places like the subway?

Email SOS. What if Gmail or mail apps could provide a better way to clean up and help me organize my account. I have so many emails from old newsletters, spam, random things, with important things mixed in, that it’s a bit unwieldy. What if it could show me a list of unique emails in my inbox, and allow me to do bulk actions across them? Like select these 50 email addresses/domains and archive or delete all emails associated with them. 

Find people in crowded or large places with an AR compass, guided arrow, or map that shows you which direction your friend or family is and where to go. Like a digital compass, to give you a hint at least where to find your mom in Target or your friend in the crowd at a festival.

Never forget stuff. What if your phone could alert you when you’ve forgotten something.  Say, you could designate an item (laptop), set a time (8am - when you leave for work), and an alarm will go off if that item isn’t in your proximity (relative to your phone) at the specified time. For example, if you leave the house at 8am without your laptop, which is more than 20 ft away from you -- outside the max range that’s acceptable that you set -- you get an alert on your phone, “Hey, go back!” A long brainstorm post.  Read more and watch his video here.

[whatisdesignanyway]

Together, With You

I think the beauty is often in our struggle to figure out our reason.  It’s tough, this life thing, and it can make or break people.  But at its best, I think this constant journey of trial and error, of discovering and breaking down, and finding the courage to get back up again is what it’s all about.  

This is the most quintessential thing about being human.  

And everyone is living their own story, their own journey, which just so happens to interweave in and out with the unwritten narratives of others.  I don’t think people need an ultimate goal or reason for existing, for “figuring out your purpose in life” can be too intimidating a task to take on all at once.  If you know yours, that’s amazing and go for it!  But the majority of us are in a constant journey or battle every day to figure out who we are, why we’re here, and that’s completely okay. <3

I believe this life thing is a search for our own truths rife with ever-changing goals, motivations, and reasons for getting up each day.  I hope you know that you are beautiful, smart, and unique in your own way, and that you can be whoever you choose to be.  

It’s a journey, and it’s hard.  But we’re in in together.

[whatisdesignanyway]

Color Me Yellow

Does anyone else use their cursor to highlight text when reading a website?  While the normal blue color is cool and calm, I was pleasantly surprised by this yellow color, which I feel helps call out where I am better because I get lost or easily distracted often! 

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Thinking in terms of color psychology, “soft blues will calm the mind and aid concentration. Consequently it is serene and mentally calming. It is the colour of clear communication.”  

While yellow is emotional, stimulating, and the strongest color psychologically. “The right yellow will lift our spirits and our self-esteem; it is the colour of confidence and optimism.”

source: http://www.colour-affects.co.uk/psychological-properties-of-colours

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Perhaps I’ve become habituated to the typical, softer blue of my cursor so the impact is near invisible to me now, while the warmer yellow surprised and delighted me.  (It feels fresh and fun!)  Of course, people will respond differently to different colors, but it’ll be interesting to see if digital folks start incorporating other background colors for their cursor highlights to change up the reading experience!

[whatisdesignanyway]

Waking Up

I started today waking up at 7:15 AM to make a morning yoga class.  I felt so awake today, even before my class.  After the class, I still feel invigorated.  Despite going to bed a little later than intended, I feel good.  

This is significant because, normally, in the mornings i can barely open my eyes, my body and mind don’t feel normal until a few hours of warming up.  So, I only feel like I really get going around 10 - 11 AM.

Is the difference being more rested? Is it because I’m more so doing things I enjoy or am choosing to do now? Is it because I’m happier? Is this a factor of psychology and human behavior, or is this an uncommon anomaly?

Last night, I wrote “yoga class at 8:15am, leave by 7:40am” on a Post-it note” and stuck in on my phone screen.  

Maybe the trick is -- 

- having an inescapable way to remember your purpose for waking up when your brain is still in zombie-mode

- doing something you enjoy or love first thing in the morning

- and having an accountable deadline

[whatisdesignanyway]

GIRL -- A Moderne Tale.

More to come...

[whatisdesignanyway]

[whatisdesignanyway]

Interactive Seoul Travel Guide

Seoul Travel Guide

Seoul is one of the destinations on my bucketlist to explore, wander, and perhaps inhabit one day.

So for my third hand at editorial design--following my two issues of The Exhibit magazine--piecing together the online resources about the city from Visit Seoul (the official tourism website), Seoulistic, and others sites was both fun and educational!

Made for an InDesign class. Non-commercial. 100% Awesome. ;)

[whatisdesignanyway]

The Exhibit magazine, Spring Issue 2012

The second issue of The Exhibit, UC Irvine's Humanities-based undergraduate magazine started in 2009. (Cover design: Aileen Chu)

What is The Exhibit?

From the words of our founding Editor-in-Chief, Kelly Novahom:

"Combining the autobiographical with the academic and theoretical, we bring you The Exhibit: a collection of narratives that stretch beyond the telling of an event, the creating of fiction, or the recounting of past experiences, while also building connections within the work, understanding them, questioning them, and also interacting with our readers on the personal level as well as the intellectual."

It's a collaborative effort, a collection of voices, of UC Irvine's storytellers, writers, poets, photographers, international students, historians, humanitarians, and artists. A fresh voice of the students. An alternative media.

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San Francisco’s Japantown.

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The Exhibit magazine, Winter Issue 2011

The baby we raised--the very first issue of The Exhibit, UC Irvine's Humanities-based undergraduate magazine started in 2009, and the very first thing I designed. (Cover design: Aileen Chu)

What is The Exhibit?

From the words of our founding Editor-in-Chief, Kelly Novahom:

"Combining the autobiographical with the academic and theoretical, we bring you The Exhibit: a collection of narratives that stretch beyond the telling of an event, the creating of fiction, or the recounting of past experiences, while also building connections within the work, understanding them, questioning them, and also interacting with our readers on the personal level as well as the intellectual."

It's a collaborative effort, a collection of voices, of UC Irvine's storytellers, writers, poets, photographers, international students, historians, humanitarians, and artists. A fresh voice of the students. An alternative media.

[whatisdesignanyway]

Yuyuan Tourist Mart, Shanghai, China 2011.

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HuanPu River, Shanghai, China. August 2011.

via my blog post Pictures--What Are They For?

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Cute gradient meshed kid - Illustrator.

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Nickinickinicki Minaaaaaaaaj.