Professional Identity
I am a designer who cares; I care about making a difference in the lives of people and the planet, allowing them both to thrive. In design, this means noticing the struggles of others and finding clever solutions to ameliorate their problems. My way of doing this is by employing design to make daily life easier, improve well-being, or reduce negative impacts on the environment. My caring personality often leads me to societal challenges, and I also feel great responsibility as a designer to alleviate these challenges, as I believe design is a powerful tool to shape reality.
My sensitivity to people's needs is also reflected in my role in a team. It allows me to notice the shortcomings of the team and adapt to what the team requires. As I have worn many hats in numerous team compositions, I have been able to discover what suits my strengths and preferences best; when I can generate ideas and solutions through sketching and prototyping, and refine the aesthetics of a design. Although I have a strong natural sense of what is visually pleasing, for me, aesthetics go beyond appearance. Aesthetics encompasses the full range of sensory and emotional experiences and interactions with a design. I believe aesthetics influence how people perceive a product, which, in turn, influences their attitude towards it; whether they will keep it, care for it, and use it long-term.
I am also a curious designer with a strong interest in psychology and behaviour. I am deeply fascinated with the human brain’s inner workings and how design influences behaviour and emotions. Through courses and projects, I gained knowledge on topics such as cognitive psychology, biopsychology, and emotion and motivation. I aim to become a designer who understands why and how behaviour arises, which makes it possible to change the behaviour with a designed intervention.
All in all, I am a designer who approaches challenges with empathy and understanding and focuses on creating solutions through aesthetics and behavioural insights that foster a meaningful impact on people and the planet.
Vision
I envision design as an impactful catalyst of change towards a future where both people and the planet can thrive together.
I was always taught to repair broken things before discarding and replacing them. I also never just threw away material scraps, like fabric or paper, as I perceived them as usable and valuable if you try to be resourceful. This was normal for me, but in reality, people are much more wasteful, and, as a person who cares, I hated seeing harmful behaviour towards the environment. With this realisation, I knew I wanted to design artefacts that could aid people in living sustainably.
Nowadays, sustainability is an essential part of the design career, but my vision of a sustainable future focuses specifically on people. By integrating psychological insights into design, behaviour can be changed towards more sustainable practices, such as conscious consumption and waste reduction. This is a solution at the user's end, however, sustainable responsibility should also be at the designer's and manufacturer's end. This calls for circular design and sustainable materials.
Both of these envisioned sustainability practices – behavioural nudges and circularity – can be combined in emotionally durable design, which I would like to explore. Here, the product is designed to emotionally connect the user to the product; therefore, the user will delay product replacement. I believe this future benefits from incorporating storytelling in design, for example, through narrative data visualisation, as stories are compelling to everyone. This method could also be a strong tool in designing behaviour change for well-being and vitality.
My vision also includes the well-being of people. Since I was younger, I have seen people struggle with physical and mental health due to unhealthy behaviours. As I am a caring person, I always wanted to help, but couldn't. As a result, it sparked my curiosity, and I started to learn more about physical health and gather insights through the use of wearable trackers. To me, living healthily is about taking care of your physical, mental, and social well-being.
I realised many people lack knowledge about what a healthy lifestyle entails and what the negative effects of unhealthy behaviours are, as they usually develop later. Ultimately, it became my mission to design ways to make health easy, fun, and accessible in everyday life.
Overall, my vision taps into behavioural principles, such as habit formation, emotional durability, and narrative psychology, to create designs that last longer and positively influence the way people live.
View my Personal Development Plan from my FBP semester here: