Design Philosophy

Design is to Serve, Give and Love

As a designer myself, I always remind myself to stay humble, loving and mindful. I believe design should be mindful and compassionate, and I seek to make meaningful changes in the most creative way possible for people.

My Design Philosophy

Growing up, my family placed great emphasis on the virtue of reciprocation and selfless love for others. However, the teaching of being in service to our community can be easily forgotten and brushed aside in the pursuit of individual dreams amidst the rapid pace of societal and cultural change. Working in the field of human-centered design has reminded me to reclaim the virtues of empathy, care, and love, and urges me to use my work as a means to express and share kindness with others.

The world is interconnected and multistable

I have pondered the idea many times that my entire existence depends on others. My physical body was given by my parents, the language I speak was created by my ancestors, my identity as a daughter and a student relies on the existence of my parents and teachers, and the professional title - UX Designer - I hold so strongly was invented in recent decades. This interconnectedness of people and things makes me believe that all beings in this world, including myself, other people, and other creatures, are a unified entity, and we are all equal and valuable.

Sometimes we struggle to relate to others because we see them as different from us. We may have different looks, beliefs, and worldviews. However, I have come to realize that reality is not always black and white. Everyone and everything possesses multiple truths and states of being. Reality changes depending on time and perception. Understanding this has helped me avoid separating my problems from others'. After all, I depend on other living creatures in this world. We are a unified entity; we are simply experiencing slightly different realities. All we need is a little more empathy.

I am always careful not to take my own accomplishments for granted because I know that I do not own anything without the existence of others. This thought reminds me to remain humble and appreciative towards the lives around me. It is my responsibility and purpose to contribute and serve other lives.

Design is an act of service

Design entered my life four years ago, but I did not know how to use it to help the greater community until I started doing research in ethics and technology with Dr. Gray at Purdue University, UXP2 Lab. The research on everyday ethics exposed me to the challenge of acting ethically while surviving in today’s economy. I heard many stories from sociotechnical practitioners about instances where they needed to choose between keeping their job versus following their own moral compass. I see this paradox where most companies state that they want to create joy and happiness for communities, yet in reality, underserved people are often ignored, and employees struggle every day. Animals and other living organisms also suffer to satisfy our need for entertainment. The more people chase after happiness, the more suffering it seems to cause along the way, as the hyper-focus on self can blind us to those around us.

The nature of humans is about joy, compassion, and love, and design should represent these qualities. How do we use design to create joy, compassion, and love? I believe it is to have a kind heart that genuinely wishes other living creatures to be happy through design. As Nelson & Stolterman (2012) defined "design" in the book The Design Way, "design is, by definition, a service relationship [...] designers are not self-serving, but other-serving" (p.61). I was excited to find out that the nature of design intersects with my belief and purpose. Design is the tool to "create intentional change" (Nelson & Stolterman, 2012) for the greater entity we all belong to. Design is consequential because it leaves unerasable traces on the interconnected world that can affect every living creature. Therefore, the designer's intention determines what kind of traces they leave behind.

Designer Principles: Navigating a Changing World

I believe that design intention determines design outcomes. As a designer, I strive to stay humble, observant, and compassionate while navigating a changing world. The nature of our reality is interdependent, interconnected, and multistable. When dealing with real problems, I have come to realize that there is no absolute dualistic truth; everyone and everything possess multiple truths and states of being. The reality changes depending on time and perception, as described by Verbeek (2015), who explains that “this phenomenon is what Ihde calls ‘multistability’: a technology can have several stabilities, depending on the way it is embedded in a use context” (p. 365). It is dangerous to believe that we have exhausted all the possible dimensions of a situation because there is always more to learn. As a designer, I feel the need to be humble and learn from the people we are designing for because I know that, no matter how similar our lives may seem, our experiences of reality are still different but valid.

Designers should remain observant and care enough to discover problems that are hidden in the dark. Staying observant means observing both introspectively and extrospectively, which has allowed me to trace the connections among events and actors and search a level deeper. From experience, I have come to realize that many of the real sufferings are hidden in the dark and are in need of attention. The most natural ability humans have is caregiving, but it has become selective and conditional. The majority of today's technology design gives low priority to underserved populations because of money or pure ignorance. My philosophy when it comes to design is that there is no “us” or “them”; we belong to one unified entity, and care should be unconditionally given to everyone who will be impacted by the design. As Nelson and Stolterman discuss in the book The Design Way, “...we are pulled into design because it allows us to initiate intentional action out of strength, hope, passion, desire, and love” (p. 18).

To echo the three principles I stand by as a designer, my philosophy toward design output is that designs should be ethical, compassionate, and creative. Compassion is about building empathy with the people we are designing for, ensuring that we are inserting the right change that adds value and contributes to the common good. Lastly, the change would not have been made possible without the dare to dream.

References 

Harold G. Nelson and Erik Stolterman (2012). The design way: Intentional change in an unpredictable world (2nd edition). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Ihde, D. 1990. Technology and the lifeworld. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Verbeek P-P. Materializing Morality: Design Ethics and Technological Mediation. Science, Technology, & Human Values. 2006;31(3):361-380. doi:10.1177/0162243905285847