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November 2022

Topic 2 Final

Project

The Phytometer is a product that you can put on your desk that helps to maintain your inbox and offset your carbon footprint. The Phytometer Planter connected to your inbox, and when you receive junk mail, the UV light that keeps the plant alive is turned off. The only way to turn the light back on is to unsubscribe from the newsletters that are flooding your inbox. The main intention of the project is to encourage people to unsubscribe to the unwanted emails in their inbox. It isn’t enough to just delete them, we should unsubscribe from the lists to make sure they’re never sent. It is intended to be ironic and sarcastic, since corporations should not being sending so many email regularly. It is also looking at corporations critically who put the onus on individuals for the cause of climate change, when the biggest carbon footprint are caused by large corporations and out of our control.

Link to the Figma prototype

I-A-E

Ideas

  • Climate change is bad
  • Everyone should try to reduce their carbon footprint

Arrangements

  • Hard arrangement: people are required to use their computers/email for work and life
  • Soft arrangement: businesses target customers using a “free” and quick tool — email

Effects

  • People think sending emails are free of physical repercussions
  • People receive lots of emails a day that they ignore
  • People are unaware of the things done behind-the-scenes to send/receive email

Systems Maps

These systems maps are to look at the types of emails sent to our inboxes, and determining what are essential and what are not. This was the basis of the project, which helped me to determine that marketing emails are the most prominent type of email in my inbox, and the ones I ignore the most.

Janky Prototypes

Interview

I interviewed my colleague, Aneesha Desai, who is a climate activist and engineer.

Q: Can you give us a quick description about who you are and the work you do?

A: I’m Aneesha, and currently I work on a team at Google that does research on climate change. We analyzes data to see where products source their materials from, and help companies to use the data to figure out how to reduce their carbon footprint. I also created an app called Planet Possible, which educates people on climate change and encourages them to take action.

Q: Can you tell us how you initially became interested in working on climate change?

A: A few years ago, I initially became conscious of my non-environment friendly habits, and started to try and offset my carbon footprint by changing my daily habits, like becoming vegan. It wasn’t until the wildfires in Australia in 2020 which made me realize that I wanted to make a bigger impact and decided to join my team at Google.

Q: What are your thoughts on the general public and their idea of climate change?

A: Typically, I see people react in three different ways. The first group are hardcore climate activists, and are very passionate and knowledgable about climate change. The second group are climate change deniers, who don’t believe climate change will impact their lives. And lastly and more commonly, I see people who are aware of climate change, but don’t know where to start making an impact. We found that about 85% of the people make up the last group. Many people care about the problem and want to take action, but lack knowledge about the topic and can’t find ways to participate in the cause. This is what led me to build my app Planet Possible, which educates people on all the industries that contribute to climate change, and gives them ways to reach out to key people to enact change.

Q: What do you think is the most effective way to motivate people to change?

A: Through building Plant Possible, we’ve found that people are most inclined to participate in a rewards-based system, where they are given rewards for their actions. We found that just providing facts and statistics on your carbon footprint does not enact change, and people need more to be motivated to change. This is why we’re pivoting the Planet Possible app to a more rewards-based platform, where people attain points when they offset their carbon footprint.

UX Docs

The storyboard of the intended flow the Phytometer product.

The user flow diagram of the Phytometer app.

 

A user journey diagram for the intended audience.

User Testing

User Testing 1 video

User Testing 2 video

User Testing 3 video 

The main thing I learned from the user testing was that there was a need to show people how to unsubscribe from their unwanted junk mail, so I added the tutorial after connecting the planter to guide users on how unsubscribe from a typical marketing email. Another thing I learned was that users were most likely not going to read the text on the app, so I minimized the amount of text there was on each screen. And lastly, there was feedback on equating the statistics to something relatable, for instance, comparing the amount of CO2 emitted from your inbox to miles while driving, so that people can get a better idea of their carbon footprint.

Rubric/Goal Assessing

Totally fulfilled: My project becomes real, and helps many people reduce their junk mail. 

Somewhat fulfilled: People remember the presentation when looking at their inbox and are more conscious about what emails are sent to them.

Not fulfilled at all: My intended audience do not believe their inbox makes an impact on climate change.

How might you measure the success of your fully realized project? 

I would measure the success of my fully realized project by comparing inbox sizes before and after using the product over a long period of time. 

What are some “key performance indicators”? Indulge your wildest dreams!

In 2 years, corporations are banned from automatically subscribing users to newsletters. They are also required to make the process to unsubscribe more obvious.

Bibliography

Armstrong, Martin, and Felix Richter. “Infographic: The Carbon Footprint of ‘Thank You’ Emails.” Statista Infographics, 4 Dec. 2019, https://www.statista.com/chart/20189/the-carbon-footprint-of-thank-you-emails/.

Dirty Messages: The Unseen Carbon Footprint of Communication. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/358277360_DIRTY_MESSAGES_The_Unseen_Carbon_Footprint_of_Communication.

“’Think before You Thank’.” ‘Think Before You Thank’ | OVO Energy, https://www.ovoenergy.com/ovo-newsroom/press-releases/2019/november/think-before-you-thank-if-every-brit-sent-one-less-thank-you-email-a-day-we-would-save-16433-tonnes-of-carbon-a-year-the-same-as-81152-flights-to-madrid.

“Why Your Internet Habits Are Not as Clean as You Think.” BBC Future, BBC, https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200305-why-your-internet-habits-are-not-as-clean-as-you-think.

S. D. U. Mageswari, P. Suganthi and M. Meena, “Carbon Footprint of Information and Communication Technologies,” 2022 International Conference on Edge Computing and Applications (ICECAA), 2022, pp. 338-342, doi: 10.1109/ICECAA55415.2022.9936485.

Topic 2 Final Reflection

What did you learn?

I  learned how both research and experimentation could help me develop the project, especially for daily practice. Also, the research process is something I’ve got a deep understanding of. In the beginning, I was still confused about what a critical lens is. For now, I know that it can be a point that I want to audience to see through and see what I see.

What feedback did you receive? Any reflections on the critique itself?

The user’s main experience is not clear, and the instruction is too much. Interestingly, I believe that part of the reason I got this feedback is that due to the time limitation, I didn’t show what my project was well. I agree that the project might need some simplification or a more readable instruction to reduce the study cost. Besides this, the project has a clear experience for my target audience.  However, as a physical project designed for Mandarin speakers, I face difficulties presenting online to non-Mandarin speakers.

What might you do differently in terms of process or content?

I would set my audiences differently and include my classmates. I would struggle less to balance the content and focus more on the project. Also, I can get more feedback during discussions.

What was inspiring? What parts?

As I mentioned above, daily practice and janky prototypes are super inspiring.  They pushed me to try different directions and forms and bring out other possibilities under the same topic.

How did you balance research and experimentation? Which is easier for you? How can you focus more on the areas that you shy away from

Research is easy to start but hard to get helpful information when narrowing it down. Experimentation is hard to find a beginning point, but once I begin to test something, it always gives me a surprise. I would say the experiment is more straightforward for me, and I need more practice in research. I believe doing some long-term projects with deep research required can help me improve my research skill.

Daily Practice (6 in 1)

  • by

Original post link:  https://www.notion.so/daily-practice-d194d0ef870f432095e69c026a99fd81

Intention & Form of Daily Practice

My research direction for the final project is the Chinese quarantine policy for residents during this current Covid pandemic. I decided to use the diary as my practice form, which records topic-related conversations that happened on that day and research conducted afterward.

Diary1. 10/21/2022.

We went for a dinner hotpot today after a dance competition we all participated in.

There was this guy my friend Chris brought with us, we call him Guazi (which translates to sunflower seeds). He is from Taiwan and came to the mainland on February 2020 for a work opportunity and stayed ever since. He is a very passionate guy and actively engages in telling us about his “adventures” in Shanghai.

Guazi was introduced by a creative agency and was asked to come to Shanghai to work for a commercial production company at the beginning of 2020, the beginning year of the virus breakout. The agency kindly asked him to come on board on the exact date of 02/18/2020. So he did, arriving with his Mainland Travel Permit for Taiwan Residents and luggage. Everything went on well at the beginning, he was picked up by the department‘s colleagues and went straight to the short-term leased apartment the company got for him. Their taxi approached (it was an older residential area so no security guard nor objective entrance was placed for the buildings) and neighbors noticed the luggage.

Some older neighbors approached them and asked “I’ve never seen you around before, are you moving in? ”

Guazi’s colleague took the question and said “Our company had some apartments here for a long time, we just re-locating our colleagues from other areas. ”

”So he is moving in. He can’t move in, our area is not taking newcomers. We are under special time.” The neighbor responds.

”It was 8 pm.” Guazi said “And it was cold. All I’m thinking is let me get my luggage in and let’s talk about this tomorrow…”

The battle ended with his female colleague arguing into tears and Guazi was relocated to a hotel nearby. The community committee people didn’t show up because they weren’t in the office.

Some research afterward:

1/ Starting from February 6, 2020, China (including Hong Kong, and Macau) is to be listed as Level 2 Area or above; Chinese residents are to be prohibited from entering Taiwan. (Taiwan Center for Disease Control)

On October 13, Taiwan lifted all its COVID-19 entry restrictions, allowing tourists unfettered access to the self-ruled island after more than 2 1/2 years of border controls.

2/ January 31, 2020, National Immigration Administration posted: “The exit and entry administration departments of the public security organs are operating normally at the port. Taiwan residents who have not completed the 5-year Mainland Travel Permit in advance due to emergencies may apply to the port visa agency for a single entry valid for Taiwan after arriving at the port a Mainland Travel Permit Card, which is valid for 3 months when entering and leaving the mainland and staying or residing in the mainland.”

Diary2. 10/22/2022

Had a conversation today with friends about mask mandates, and I couldn’t help but recall Texas in 2021 when governor Greg Abbott decided to lift the statewide face mask mandate. We suggested the political attention the action draws and irrelevance concerning the removal of the mandate on public health, though we don’t know much about the power structure between parties in the states. So I did look up some of the relevant information afterward.

1/ CDC’s January 29, 2021 Order requiring masks on public transportation conveyances and at transportation hubs.

2/ On MARCH 2, 2021, Gov. Greg Abbott announced his decision to lift the statewide face mask mandate next week. In addition to lifting the mask mandate next week, Abbott will allow businesses to operate at full capacity. Texas’ local officials blast Gov. Greg Abbott for “irresponsible action” of lifting coronavirus restrictions, saying it contradicts health official’s advice as infections continue to spread throughout the state, which averaged over 200 reported deaths a day over the last week.

3/ As a result of a court order, as of April 18, 2022, CDC will not enforce the Order. CDC continues to recommend that people wear masks in indoor public transportation settings at this time.

Diary3. 10/23/2022

中国出行政策 德国欧洲美国等，对于中国大陆居民，对等原则（reciprocity）的入境限令

In order to participate in the third semester of the graduate program in German, as a Chinese citizen, I am required to obtain a Schengen visa. I have resided back in mainland China and ever since then, I became aware of practicing travel restrictions’ effects on individuals. Based on the principle of reciprocity, many nations no longer provide travel visas for Chinese citizens and only take visa appointment for people who has a study, job offer, or for family visiting purposes. So after sending out the appointment application to German Embassy in Beijing, I looked up online what is the “principle of reciprocity” and how it is applied.

1/ What is “reciprocity”?

“Reciprocity relates to relationships in which people or states support each other for a particular shorter long-term advantage. This is enshrined in the principles of the International Law Commission (ILC), which recognizes that when one state benefits from a right, others must share the same right. ”

Fard, Shahrad Nasrolahi. Reciprocity in International Law: Its Impact and Function, Taylor & Francis Group, 2015.ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nyulibrary-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4218118.

2/ How does the principle takes effect?

“As for enforcement, the ICJ is empowered by the UN Charter 22 to hear disputes between states, but only when both parties have agreed to accept the jurisdiction of the Court. Further, the ICJ cannot ensure that its judgments are obeyed. 23 In cases of noncompliance, the responsibility for responsive action falls to other states.”

Diary4. 10/24/2022

// Website that forges health code

My friend came across a website and thought it was related to my topic, so he shared the link for me to check out.

The website has a title written “Ilovexjp”. “xjp”, the acronym for current president of the Republic of China, with initials taken from his first and last name. The title is used sarcastically rather than out of respect and appreciation and the reason for that is related to the website’s functionality. The website itself allows visitors (do not require registration) to generate live “heath QR codes” that are specialized and mandated in every province of China mainland for each individual.

Some side notes for people who have no context about “heath QR codes”, the code monitoring system has been deployed in China since early 2020. It was designed for the purpose of monitoring individual geographical itineraries in order to get the spread of covid virus under control. Not too long after the first deployment, the monitoring system added a new feature to cover covid test results and automatically calculate interval time between covid test results, collectively national-wide. The system has been implied through Wechat apps, an indispensable chatting app for people lives in China (It includes online payment methods, social posting, and all sorts of personal and social functionalities. You can think of Wechat as a virtual phone installed within smartphones)

Beyond using the code as proof of “covid negative”, the code is also used as a form of “passport” that define whether the code owner can or can not enter/exit a province/city, a building, and even their own place. The QR is color coded and individuals would always want to keep it green rather than yellow or red.

The critical aspect of this website is that it forges the health code perfectly. By selecting the province format and giving the user’s name, the website creates the perfect green code in no time!

I have not used the “forged” green code in public space yet because I was worried about getting in trouble. Far as I know, forging or intentionally hiding one’s own geographical itinerary these days is regarded as committing a crime in China nowadays.

Some research afterward:

Concealing one’s true health status, itinerary, and travel trajectory may be punished by public security organs in accordance with the “Public Security Administration Punishment Law”, a warning, a fine of less than 500 yuan, and detention for 5-10 days. If it causes the spread of the epidemic or there is a serious risk of spread, it will also hinder the spread of the epidemic in accordance with the “Criminal Law”. –https://www.tj.gov.cn

Diary5. 11/28/2022

// Shanghai parade responding to fire accident in Xinjiang

On the evening of November 24, 2022, a fire broke out in a high-rise residential building in Urumqi, killing 10 people and injuring 9.

Many people believe that the epidemic lockdown caused by the “zero-covid” policy has hindered fire rescue, and trapped people cannot escape in time. The next day, a large number of people in Urumqi broke through the quarantine blockade, holding the national flag and singing the national anthem for protest, demanding an immediate end to the lockdown.

On the evening of November 27, 2022, a group of around 500 citizens met at Urumqi road in downtown, Shanghai, for a self-organized protest for hours. According to people at the scene, the police force had interrupted the parade and had arrested about 8 people, mainly women. Later that day, people arrived near-by the police station demanding police station set the protestors free.

I did not go to the protest myself, however, I have been browsing much protest-related content on We-chat. Many of those posts were blocked hours later by the We-chat backend and were tagged as “inappropriate content”.

Diary6. 11/29/2022

// blank paper protest

On November 26, 2022, the peaceful protest at Nanjing Media College set off a series of political protests across the People’s Republic of China.

In addition to protesting the “Zero Covid” policy, the movement also calls on the Chinese people to start protesting against various unreasonable Epidemic prevention measures.

The protest is not only a response message to the fire accident that happened on November 24, 2022, in Urumqi, but also to extreme measures that were taken across the nation in the past 3 years including months of city lockdown, shortage of necessities, and disappearing freedom of the press and speech.

It is also people’s response message to The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China that just finished in Beijing.

It is generally believed that “holding a blank paper” originated from a famous Soviet political joke, which is usually expressed as a person holding up a blank paper in Moscow Square, and the police want to arrest him. The former asks “I didn’t write anything!” The latter scolds “You don’t think I know what you want to write?”. Relevant arrests also occurred during the Russian protest against the Russo-Ukrainian war. Some people held up a blank paper and wrote “this is a piece of paper” and were arrested by the police. – https://zh.m.wikipedia.org/zh-sg/反對動態清零政策運動

Poet Suit Final Post

Presentation and Project:

Link to the slides with pics and more links inside:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1AP0EMOc_WBaUL26TeJAsf2UIhs_z2B3nj3EHAjcMFMs/edit?usp=share_link

Poet Suit is a physical suit that allows the user to become a poet and play with different styles of ancient Chinese poems. The poet suit is divided into four parts: intelligent glasses, Metrical Clothing (Left: Qiyan Tang uniform; Right: Zayan ancient clothing ), Rhythm Lenses, and Poet Instrumen. The question I want to discuss is how to avoid cultural loss while the evolution of language is unstoppable since language is the record of history, but the pronunciation of ancient Chinese has already been lost. This Poet Suit is the solution I bring out, turning writing a poem into entertainment. 

The target audiences are Mandarin speakers and learners with basic knowledge of ancient Chinese poems. The primary experience I want to bring out is interacting with or experiencing the poem. I did not choose to let the audience simply read or listen to a poem because most Mandarin speakers have a terrible memory of reading and memorizing ancient Chinese poems to pass the exam. As a result, I decide to link the poem with the music to create a new experience. However, reading or listening to Chinese poetry can be the future core experience for non-Mandarin speakers.

Trail of Research

Topic choose

I’m pretty sure I want to discuss the policy of deleting the pronunciation of some characters in Mandarin. However, my intention is not clear at the very beginning. I know that I can’t entirely agree with this policy, but I didn’t think deeply enough about why I object to this policy. In the first half of the progress, I was trying to ask my audience to be against this policy together while personally, I hate influencing other people’s opinions. Then I realized I just wanted my audience to see or experience what is happening now and what questions we were facing. I want to let them decide whether this policy is reasonable and whether it would lead to some harmful effects. As a result, my intention changed to discuss the relationship between the development of the language and the heritage of the culture in a restrained way.

Daily Practice

During my one-week daily practice, I choose to try to play 水调歌头（Prelude to Water Melody)  with ~6 different instruments. Prelude to Water Melody is an ancient Chinese poem. It has been set to music, and the song is popular in different generations of China.

By doing so, I realize that music can shorten the distance between people and poetry and make poetry less severe. This discovery led me to make the instrument in the suit.

System map

Link to system maps:  https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVPI0fKpY=/?share_link_id=466501556636

Two maps are made to figure out the history and structure of the ancient Chinese poem. During the research, I also found a website for generating ancient Chinese poems with AI. This website inspired me that although it might be hard for normal people to create poetry, they can finish this task with the help of AI.

Janky Prototypes

Janky prototypes show three potential directions I have. The rhythmic beauty evaluator is trying to question what decides a poem’s ” beauty “: the content, the structure, or the sound. The poetry printer tries to arouse the discussion of whether AI can replace writers in literary creation. The poet suit is more about “who you are” and what makes you a poet. The poetry printer and the poet suit later become parts of my final project.

After finishing three prototypes, I realize I am pessimistic about these questions. However, I still want to make something more positive and convey a positive attitude. I ensured that I wanted to share that people and technology complement each other, not that artificial intelligence/rules limit humans.

User Journey Map and User Testing

The user journey map is the “predecessor” of the instruction book. In the beginning, the map is only for me to reverse my project, but during the user testing, I found some problems.

I invite my parents (55 years old), my friend (25 years old), and my former colleague(34 years old) to the test. The general process of the test is as follows. First, I introduce the project’s background; second, I show them the suit. The next step was a bit different; I played a 1min30s instruction video to my friend but explained how the project worked and what they needed to do to my parents and my former colleague. Then I let them interact with the project and ask questions. 

User testing is not going well. They all start to ask questions like “what should I do now？”, “then?“, “am I right?” and so on. My friends have the fewest questions, but he also says that the video did not help much. As a result, I added an instructions book for the project and asked the audience to finish it before interacting with it.

Also, I realize the importance of figuring out the age range of my target audience, and the project might need some simplification in the future.

Bibliography

Publics/Counter Publics

Analyze an existing artwork/project/piece of media (TV show, game, etc) and the systems within which it operates.

Project: MSCHF, Eat the Rich Popsicles

Who created it? For whom?

MSCHF is a collective whose creations appear online every two weeks as “drops.” Many of those drops are viral pranks. The Eat the Rich Popsicle project is a play on the radical saying initially attributed to philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau in response to  the starvation in the French Revolution, from the larger quote; “When the people shall have nothing more to eat, they will eat the rich.”

In present times, this slogan has been used in response to tech billionaires such as Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg, who are criticized for how they wield power and money for personal greed rather than the public good.

With what materials and metaphors?

MSCHF applied the famous quote by creating ice cream bars with the likeness of these modern-day villians, so people could almost literally eat the rich. Eat the Rich Popsicles were available in NYC & LA via MSCHF ice cream trucks this past July.

With what intention?

This was a satirical metaphor in response to the recent tensions around these men based on multiple scandals and questionable practices, most notably at this time in the summer, the “space race” between companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin was at the forefront of controversy and conversation.

What impact? On whom? How? Did the artist identify a public or create a counterpublic?

This was a social commentary on the role of billionaires in our current society. The public in this situation would be supporters of their products, services, and practices, and the counter-public identified are those who disagree with their leadership and impacts on our present-day culture and society. Through highlighting these counterpublic ideas, I’m sure it raised awareness to those who may not be as familiar to the disparities and problematic nature of some of these companies and their CEOs.

Topic 2 : Final Reflection

Reflection for my project Memory vs. History

Final Project Documentation 

What did you learn?

I learned the process of historical revisionism and how it is impacted by societal systems such as economic, cultural, and political, and the criteria of what makes a historical narrative different than a memory/story/journal entry.

What feedback did you receive? Any reflections on the critique itself?

I received feedback to have led with the form and flip the order of my presentation to allow for more direct engagement with the project form, as well as provide more clarity in the intention of the work.

What might you do differently in terms of process or content?

I would have further fleshed out how the journal could be used as a larger institutional initiative and parameters around how outreach and timeline would be managed to ensure diverse populations and communities are included and that the timeline for how long they should journal/document their experiences.

Revisit the assignment prompts: how did your project relate to the original prompts in terms of critical lens, audience, tone, etc… 

I had followed the project prompts to set up my presentation on process and research to ensure my presentation was concise and incorporated the necessary project information. I believe if I flipped the order of presentation per the feedback, it would’ve given more opportunity to discuss the critical lens via walking through the work itself.

How did you balance research and experimentation? Which is easier for you? How can you focus more on the areas that you shy away from?

I believe I balanced both research and experimentation. I really dove into the Janky Prototype exercises, creating prototypes with cardboard. While I shied away from executing the prototypes and sketches created in those exercises, the ideation process led to the lower-tech guided journal, which informed the research not only on the topic but how similar guided/prompt-type forms were set up, and what was most effective.

What did you find inspiring?

Working through the publics/counter publics and IAE exercises felt like a cross between social justice design thinking. I enjoyed the process of identifying these groups and how they intertwine with each other. Additionally, when I decided to shift to a guided journal, I found that to be an empowering stance, giving authorship to the user both from their personal narratives but also the power to revise so it would be considered s historical account that would be legitimized and catalogued through a library or historical society.

Sunscreen: Reflection

Research and Perception

I began the my research into sunscreen with the anticipation that it would help clear up some of my uncertainties about how sunscreen works, and that I would continue to be very pro-sunscreen. I even hoped that I could create a compelling argument to convince the people in my life who don’t wear sunscreen to reconsider. I was surprised to find out that sunscreen isn’t so cut-and-dry as a topic. The systems that sunscreen effect are far more varied than I had realized. They include:

  • The physics of how UV rays break down and damage cells, from human skin to the sunscreen blockers themselves.
  • The efficacy of the chemical blockers that are used in sunscreens and their potential negative health and environmental impacts.
  • The efficacy of the physical blockers that are used in sunscreens, and the fact that they are potentially uncomfortable and leave a white-cast on the wearer’s skin. This white-cast has different implications depending on skin color.
  • How different governments and/or regulating bodies handle research, ratings, marketing, etc.
  • How people of varying skin tones are included or excluded in sunscreen research. And what products are created and widely available for people of color.
  • Why people wear sunscreen in different cultures, and how those reasons could be tied to colonialism, which is a varied and complex system itself.

My investigation helped me to realize how much I had centered myself and my experiences when I first started to explore this topic. It was enlightening to realize how something as seemingly simple as sunscreen could be viewed at with such bias. As a white person who has had issues with skin damage, sun screen has always felt like a must. I considered the potential health risks due to the chemicals in the sunscreen as secondary and less dangerous than the high risk (for me) of getting skin cancer. And with that mindset, I went into the investigation with a lens of morality – seeing as those that wear sunscreen as “better” or “more responsible” to some extent.

After interviewing my boyfriend, who doesn’t need to wear sunscreen like I do, I started to see how my point of view was very self-centered. I am trying to come at this realization without much self-judgement, because it makes sense to understand the world through the lens of our own experiences. But I think it’s also essential to do work to understand experiences of others as well. A couple of questions that came that made me rethink my previous point of view were:

  • For people who don’t have a high risk for skin cancer – is it worth the risk of using chemical sunscreen, when we don’t fully know how some of the chemicals effect humans?
  • Is there any element of classism related to sunscreen use?

This is when I came to the realization that colonialism is really at the heart of a lot of what I know about sunscreen:

  • Historically: Like I mentioned in my presentation, wikipedia says that an Australian chemist, H.A. Milton Blake, invented sunscreen in 1932, yet contradictorily the article then later goes on to describe how sun protection has been used by civilizations for thousands of year.
  • Clinical research: People of color are missing from a lot of sunscreen efficacy research. In addition, there are also scientists that are questioning how dangerous UV rays are to people who have more melanin in their skin – since there is little to no research about this topic, it’s hard to understand how dermatologists can recommend people of color to put potentially harmful chemicals on their skin so readily without more information.
  • Product development: Sunscreens on the market specifically developed for people of color are relatively new.
  • Product usage: I found several accounts of people who’s primary use of sunscreen is to keep their skin from getting darker, rather than being specifically worried about skin damage. The main motivation for sunscreen use was to keep skin lighter, presumably a product of white-focused beauty standards.

Form and Process

In terms of the forms that I considered, I had initially wanted to do some sort of performance of myself putting on increasingly absurd amounts of sunscreen. But as I started to aim my investigation more toward colonialism, it felt inappropriate to focus on my own skin in this instance. I opted to go for a virtual reality sort of experience instead, because not only did that feel a bit more appropriate but it was also more interactive. I chose to represent the different sunscreens as purple and green, to kind of get the user out of their normal skin color, and see how the experience felt. To further add to the experience, to bring the user to the beach, I added a beach video as the background, background audio, and subtly changed the brightness of the page to elicit different feelings, or to make the user feel like the sun was becoming brighter.

During my process, I really enjoyed the combination of making, researching and exploring during the daily practice. Since I again chose a topic that felt like it had some science to understand before I moved forward (though I’m not sure if that was necessarily true), I did feel myself getting stuck on completely understanding the research before beginning to brainstorm a critical lens. Creation helped with this, and allowed for me to get out of my analytical brain some, so that I could more creatively look at my topic. This daily practice is a tool that I would like to try again for future projects.

Another note about the process that I feel is worth noting is that during this project, I often worked in figma while documenting my research. I felt it gave me a central place to store my resource links, while also being able to pull out quotes and personal thoughts/ideas, and then physically group things together by theme. Once I came to this technique, I realized that it really works for my brain, and was a great way to organize the chaos!

Future Plans

In the future, I think that I’d like to try this technique of capturing the organized chaos in my brain again. But perhaps it would be helpful to limit the resources that I consult at first, so that I’m able to start creating even if it’s with limited knowledge. I again found that research was easier for me to fall into, and experimentation felt a bit more uncomfortable.

I really want my projects to be well researched, and to consider different points of views. However, I’m realizing now, that by having a wide view of a topic, it has felt more difficult to find a critical point of view since I begin to feel more empathy and understanding to differing view points. I think that this could be incredible useful and powerful, but is also a bit of a challenge to overcome as well.

Topic 2: User Tests

I tested with two friends (the same ones I interviewed). There feedback was great, but since I had to switch from the dictionary to the dice it was ultimately not as useful.

This was my first iteration of the dictionary:

They both agreed that it was not intuitive. One said that the interface was overwhelming since there were so many emoji symbols. They are weren’t sure what the purpose of the site was.

This was my second iteration of the dictionary:

One said that it looked a bit boring, and they wouldn’t use it. The other said that it should be and feel more than just a directory. They suggested making it more urban dictionary-esque and allowing people to add their own emoji definitions since it would help to see not only the intended definition but also the way people actually use it.

Topic 2: Interviews

For my interviews, I talked to two of my friends who are active texters, social media users, and emoji users. One is Natalie. She’s in her late twenties and is a talent manager for TikTok stars. The other is Victoria. She’s in her mid twenties and operates her own small business.

Q1: How frequently do you use emojis?
V: I use a lot of emojis, mostly just with friends though.
N: For me it really depends on who I’m talking to. Like if there’s a serious conversation, I’m not using them. But if it’s informal or just messing around in group chats I use them pretty often not a ton. And I I use different emojis with different friends. I use a lot of gifs too though.

Q2: Do you use emojis in text differently than in social media?
V: Yes! I use emojis so much more on social.
N: Same. I think social media is definitely the emoji hub. Like comments are all emojis and captions are all emojis. I know a lot of my talent take a long time trying to pick the right emoji for their posts.

Q3: Do you feel like everyone thinks emojis mean the same thing?
V: Yes and no. I feel like the context really matters. Like crying laughing could be super mean or like I’m dying laughing that was so funny.
N: Half the time I’m not sure what the emoji I’m using even means. Like the one with the hands I thought was like spreading happiness but it’s actually a hug? I think? I still don’t know.

Q4: Did you know a lot of emojis have hidden/alternative meanings?
V: Basically every emoji has some sex/drug secondary meaning, and I don’t even know all of them. One time I was posting something on TikTok and a friend texted me to be like why did you use the corn emoji? You know that means porn right? You tagged your post as TikTok porn? And I was mortified.
N: Yeah I feel like I know a few. A lot of times though I just hear about them from someone else who’s like did you know that emoji also means this? I honestly don’t know where people come up with this stuff.

Q5: Are you ever worried you’re using an emoji wrong or someone will take it the wrong way?
V: Yes! I feel like I can’t use the eggplant emoji for anything other than a dick or people will just assume that anyway. Can you imagine if I texted someone that I’m going out to buy some eggplant emoji? They will all think I’m talking about buying sex or something.
N: Someone told me that No one uses the thumbs up emoji anymore and if you use it you’re considered old, so I stay away from that one now.

Project 2 Final Reflection

For my second project, here are links to the google slides that I shared, and my blog post with updates.

I thoroughly enjoyed digging deeper into the topic of “rewilding” and continuing to research some of the things that I had started in the first project, because the topic was so deep, complicated, and generative for me. It was helpful for me to start thinking about the plants in more of a systems way — something that I don’t think I fully dug into the first time around. I found it really fruitful to think about the communities that surround the plants — who their stakeholders are, who and what they influence, and the roles that they play. It is so interesting to me how deeply layered this topic became.

A big unlocker for me was finally figuring out a metaphor that worked with what I was researching. Again, I don’t think I fully got to the metaphor stage the first time around, so having the chance to think about this again from a metaphor perspective was validating. I had been thinking about the ways in which different plants are valued by people, and that eventually led me to thinking about the different ways that labor and work are valued in society. If I were to continue working on this topic, I would want to dig more deeply into the valuation of labor, “invisible” labor, essential work, women’s work, emotional labor, etc, as I think that is an area where even more parallels could be made. I am honestly still very poorly versed in some of these categories.

The other place I didn’t quite get to in some of the research I was doing is what we do about it. How we turn the corner from noticing it to how we can respond to it. What are other artists doing? What are entire governments doing? Where is the problem handled the best — or the worst? These are things that I want to dig into as they relate both to the plant world and the human world.

All of that said, I did a much better job this time around of balancing the research and the making, starting with the making much sooner. Creating the prototypes was fun, even though they were very different from where I ended up.

One realization that dawned on me too late in the process is that the direction I was going — objects made from nature that call attention to thier labor — was more generative for me as a process than as an outcome. I would have very much liked to run a workshop or hosted an event where people made things out of leaves or plants, as I think that would have been a much more experiential outcome. I had hoped that interacting with the objects themselves would be enough. But I think for me, the most generative part is the materiality of the plants and the process of working with them. That is something that helps me think, and I would like to share that experience with others. I tried t address that with the guided walk that I added, but I wish that I had been able to do one in person.

I was grateful for Monica and Marina’s feedback. Both were insightful and accurately articulated that I am still very much at the beginning of this journey and not so much at the end. Most of all, I appreciated Marina’s push around how I can connect these ideas to the IMA program. I think that is fair, and I don’t have a clear vision. Some of the artists that are working with sensors in order to “communicate” with plants are really resonant with me, and are something I’m thinking about. I also wonder how we might learn from plants and apply the best of what they do to how we can do things. How might we support each other the way that plants support bees? How might we communicate with each other to warn of danger in similar ways that plants warn others in their species? There is a lot to think about, and I don’t have a clear path at present.