General thoughts on this project
From the beginning I felt that this project would be more challenging for us since our group has only three people. So this meant that we would have to work closer with each other comparing to the groups that have four members instead(6). And to be honest, my first thought was right. Even though fewer people mean fewer opinions, it means that all of us will have to decide and execute more. I’ve tried my very best to push the group (I am always the pusher within the group whenever I do group projects.) to really work together and try to accomplish one of the main learning outcome- collaboration. However, due to various reasons, we weren’t really able to do so. Maybe because of the communication barriers or the limited time we have. During the whole process I have to give extra effort to give out commands and at the same time finish the parts that I assigned myself. It may sound very dominant but in my observation sometimes it is necessary to do so. I never liked to do that but to make sure we reach the certain checkpoints I’ve figured sometimes in a group you will have to step out and take the lead.
I’ve also realized that how people’s difference in working styles can create synergy or more trouble. For me myself I am a very quick-tempered person- if the wait is too long I will just find out the best and quickest way myself to reach my goals. So I work better with the people that are impatient (just joking). In a designer’s mindset, I think the project helped me to develop the sense of the importance of meeting those “unforgiving deadlines”. Also, design is all about question solving. This project undoubtedly gave me a lot of questions to solve- no matter on collaborating or working the actual machine/map; it gave me a lot of chances to reinvent the wheel- sometimes together with my teammates, sometimes on my own(.
Although the whole process was very challenging for me, I would say it was worth all the time and effort since I’ve gained a lot. Refreshing what Anne told me at the middle of the project (in the deepest midst of miserable), she said I might have the hardest time among my classmates but I will always gain more than them since they might end up finishing a project smoothly but at the end of it I would have made a lot more interesting steps and observations than they did.
Conceptual learning from this project
Translation-wise, I think I’ve also learnt a lot since how this project pushed us to research and observe in such an unorthodox way. Still remember my own reaction when I heard Peter said I would be writing a five-page essay about Chinatown’s textures. And of course, making a Rube Goldberg machine for Chinatown. I never googled my way out throughout the whole project since I am pretty sure not even a handful of people would have done the same things. So I am forced to really dig deep and utilize my skillset (photo-taking, note-taking, visualizing ideas, etc.) to translate what I received with my senses(5). For example, how to show the elements of Chinatown when you are setting the goal of the machine. In order to have a good idea (like one that you are fond with and will use it as a finalized decision), you will be already have iterated a few dozens of times- to really rethink what you have received from your senses that excludes vision. Before the project I would often misinterpret design as a sudden “bling moment”, a flashing inspiration moment- instead of a tedious, constant inspired process. And of course the truth is not always that happy- it’s all about iteration, prototyping, and iteration and back to prototyping…until you get what you really want.(2)
For instance, the map we made was a great example of iteration. In the draft of the map, we made a like and dislike, rare and common graph that helped us represent the “emotional” ups and downs when we use our senses to explore Chinatown. We picked some of the interesting points (things that we got from our assigned sense) and categorized them into four different sections.
Move on to our final map, we decided to make something more, something that can further push the idea of likes and dislikes. At first I have thought of using a line graph that records our mental swings during the field trip- I modified a few versions of the graph but then I soon realized it might be a little bit too dull to read and it will then loose its playfulness. The next idea we got was from Bhavyaa. She suggested why don’t we extend the playfulness to another level and make the map into a game! We did some research and found out the game board of Ladders and snakes (a.k.a Picnic) fits our intention perfectly since it answered the few goals we want to achieve:(3)
- The map should emphasize the fact that everyone’s experience in Chinatown should be different.
- The map should help use organize the sequences of shops and places that caught our attention.
- The display of the like and dislike things (not just showing factual data we collected, in other words, translate into a more human experience)
Soon we grew tired of our first draft map and did a new one- but this time with the Monopoly game board since it is more recognized and fitted the commercial background of Chinatown more.
Success and failures of the project
Personally I am not a fan of putting things into an absolute success of failure. I think things often end up in a mixture of both- and this project was no exception. In some aspects our group is very strong, for example, I think we did a great job in conceptualizing things into something that is interesting and could be easily read to everyone (concepts can be hard to grasp since they are not tangible). But on the other side I would say that we could be more efficient when we carry out our plans- we wasted a lot of precious working hours that Anne gave us because of the lack of planning. So if there is really a next time (definitely will), I would first try to come up with a more detailed time map so the group can really work according to the planned speed and schedule. I would say that was the biggest challenge for our group in terms of challenges for the project.
Also, I think we should improve the time management. One thing about design, time constraint is always the biggest challenge within a project. If we can do this project all over again I will definitely try to push our group to work more at the earlier stages. Fewer time means fewer opportunities for exploring possibilities. And for the sake of iteration, time is much needed.
Societal and cultural aspects of the project
Speaking of Societal aspect, I am very sure that our group will experience the most since our assigned neighborhood itself is already about the cultural difference inside a city- we are actually studying how can a culture from the other side of the world survive (even thrive) within another cultured city. Thus, since we have two (out of three) groupmates that were from China (one from mainland one from Hong Kong), we both held our own perceptions towards Chinatown before this project. So count in the remaining Indian we have in our group, we actually have three “ideal” Chinatown in our minds(7). So the outcome is almost fun to see- we were are surprised (at certain aspects disappointed) after our visits to Chinatown.
Also, after the presentation, the judges gave us comments. She mentioned one thing about Chinatown when we talked about how we picked our machine’s goal- breaking a fortune cookie. She said as far as she know the traditional Chinese restaurants actually do not serve them to their customers. And that is very true. So this revealed how we can approach this neighborhood- we can do it either from the perspective from a tourist or a resident that knows the other side (more of a deeper, truer side) of Chinatown. I think that is extremely intriguing since other groups may not have the option to do so. From this point of view, I think it is very inspiring to look at a place in two different perspective.(4)
Some of the process
Is listed in the other post- “multiple perspectives additional info”(5)(8). It included a lot of details of our machine making project and we recorded a lot of iteration and prototyping in it.
note: numbering represents the different learning outcomes that we achieved during that step/ process. (According to the BRIDGE THREE_MULT PERP.pdf on Canvas)