At the beginning of the semester, I was overwhelmed to be sitting in a Parsons class on the 12th floor of a 5th Ave New York City building. I felt like I wasn’t talented or accomplished enough to sit beside my peers and truly belong (a strong case of imposter syndrome) until I realised that almost everyone around me felt that way.

Now, the crazy work that I see my classmates and the second years doing inspires me to keep pushing forward, experimenting and learning.

Where did you challenge yourself the most as a researcher, classmate, designer this semester?

While in the past, as an art history student, I relied primarily on secondary research, MS1 gave me the opportunity to find things out myself and prioritise primary research. It was amazing to discover things on my own by just walking around, observing and asking questions. I learnt so much about my research inquiry and the city in the process. Analysing and documenting my design process, feedback and insights through photos, videos, index cards and blog posts periodically was a life saver. It was so convenient to rely on this bank to refer or cross check something.

The semester has shown that learning and sharing creates a unique bond among peers. What I love most about the DT community is that everyone comes from a different background, each with a key to unlock a different problem. There is always someone to help or troubleshoot a problem, be it a friend, a second year or DT study. While in the past, I preferred to work alone as I preferred to just to do it myself (I am terrible at delegating, or my group mates would just assume that I’d do all the work), DT has taught me to just ask for help when I need it.

Working on a design manifesto for Design for this Century alongside the MS1 final project really helped me determine what sort of designer I want to be. It was interesting to see how these two long assignments fed off each other over the course of the semester, a nice balance between ‘what I want to do’ and ‘what I am doing’.

As someone with a pure design background, I entered DT seeking the ‘technology’. What I am proudest about at the end of the MS1 project is that the plant interface taught me two alien, important skills  – physical computing and coding. I didn’t even know what an Arduino was at the start of the semester so online tutorials helped me massively. I was able to program the LEDs using the coding skills I had developed in CC Lab.

This semester got pretty intense towards the latter half. I realised that I get more work done on campus and I would just succumb to sleep on my very inviting bed if I were at home. The last week saw me pulling two all-nighters on D12, and I actually got a lot of work done! Moreover, I saw D12 from a new perspective. The endless bright white hall with black flooring reminded me of a brain that I could wander around in (or was it just the lack of sleep that was making me think these things?) It was also great to see the lights turning on as I walked around, like I was exercising different parts of the said brain.

2) What design capacities do you think could still use further attention or development? Formal or informal research, documentation, asking questions, capturing feedback, creating simple prototypes, presenting orally, etc.

• writing more concisely: I have always had the problem of writing over limit. In the past, I’ve spent more time cutting or editing my work than I’ve spent writing it. Everything seems important or essential to my process that I often think I must include it. This was the case even when I was writing my research paper. At the end, I needed a third person, unfamiliar with my project, to read it and give me their opinion on what wasn’t necessary.
• thinking bigger, crazier: I realised that the 7-in-7 was the most vital stage during the MS1 project. What we did over the course of that one week actually determined the course of the project and the kind of prototype we were developing. Feedback during my final critique included that I could ave been crazier at this stage and thought of wackier ideas. Although it is too late to go back, I can experiment over the holidays to think big, bold and crazy.
• being unafraid of what people will think: I’ve often been too conscious of what others would think of me, sometimes even restricting me from pursuing the wacky ideas. After the first user test session, I got conflicting feedback and tried addressing them all, in some way or other. I need to think for myself next time by also focusing on what I want out of it. This was also feedback that I received during my final critique.
• documenting feedback: During the user test sessions, though I had guiding questions, I preferred talking to the testers one-on-one to gather their thoughts and feedback, almost like an interview. I felt that people said more than they wrote. In the long run, this would not work as I wouldn’t always be present when my work is presented. I would also need to devise a survey or work on some other form of documenting feedback.
• taking breaks/time for myself: This, I find, is the hardest to follow. I need to eat regularly without skipping meals and ensure I get good sleep. Managing my time might have been tougher probably because this was my first time in a new place, taking care of myself, cleaning, cooking and the laundry.

3) What maxims might assist you in future work?

• “Show, don’t tell” (Chekov):  Actually doing or creating something to test whether it is viable or not is such an important step in the design process. Further, It is always more effective to show and let others interact with your work than simply describing it. When I was talking about my work with students of other MS1 sections in the Design for this Century Recitation class, they didn’t really get what my project was about or what the plant interface actually entailed. When I was working on my prototypes on D12, they saw me fix, program and test the lights. Only when they saw and experienced first-hand did they fully understand what I was talking about earlier. There is no comparison to making and showing, another reason why I wanted to have an interactive prototype during the final critique.
• “Forget about good” (Mau): Funnily, this was what was going through my head during the final critique. When the guests were giving their feedback, it felt like a ‘lot’ of information coming my way. I realised that the proof of concept that I was showing them was just a prototype, a stepping stone into DT, and to think more widely – into the world. I didn’t need to seek the good, but I needed to seek growth. I needed to learn from every project and implement these learning in the next, to be better. As Mau said, real growth is exploration and needn’t always be good.

I have written about my experience with trusting the process in an earlier post:

• “Trust the process” (Hinke): Before we began the 7-in-7 exercise, ‘trust the process’ was one of of our class maxims. Looking at peers from other MS1 sections stressing over their prototypes was intimidating so initially I did not actually trust the saying ‘trust the process’. It seemed too easy or good to be true just as we were heading into an extremely busy week. Fortunately, our section started the exercise a few days after everyone which allowed for some planning and preparation. I then just decided to go with the flow of executing one idea per day and before I knew it I was was done with 7 prototypes and I had a little time on my hands to work on an eighth: a kaleidoscope using dried leaves and other parts fo plants. The maxim actually worked out for me and now I tell myself and friends who are under pressure to just trust the process.