Hau Yuan

What if we save our dying phone like rescuing a patient? What if we commemorate our deprecated phone when we no longer need them? Ultimate “Mobile-First” Design is a whimsical product suite that exaggerates how smartphones have shaped our behavior and mental model.

Description

After the paradigm shift of “Mobile-First” design a decade ago, smartphones have gradually become integrated into every facet of our daily life. Our reliance on smartphones has incorporated them as the extensions of our bodies. They empower us to complete the tasks that our bodies are not capable of. Also, they are affecting us physically, perceptually and mentally. We are losing natural wayfinding abilities because of robust GPS navigation. We have more awkwardness in small talk because of our dependency on our phones. Posting Instagram stories is usually prior than having delicious dishes.

In Ultimate “Mobile-First” Design, I created a series of whimsical products playfully to remind people about our entrenched habits and mental models of getting along with those tiny glowing screens. The product suite consists of Smartphone First Aid Kit, Smartphone Heat Stroke Treatment Kit, and i-Coffin. Each of the products talks about one specific behavior regarding the way we use our smartphones.

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Thesis