Friday Five with our Design Researcher: Chen
1/ What attracted you to a career in anthropology — and now Design Research? Tell us about your journey so far.
I was attracted to anthropology because of the method used to discover the diversity of the world. Ethnography and participant research has enabled me to immerse myself in villages in Southwestern China, museums in Oxford in the UK and minimalist households in Singapore. I followed a Catholic Priest who delivered mobile masses for the villagers living among the Gaoligong Mountains and saw how the local Naxi people practice a ‘western’ religion with local cultural traits. I also immersed myself in the community in Dali, a newly constructed Utopia in China, where I had the chance to observe how new immigrants search for meaning by adopting alternative lifestyles. The diverse people I encountered revealed a world full of wonders — their pains, struggles, courage, fortunes, resilience, wisdom — which fuels my curiosity to observe and understand different people.
2/ How do you think your background in anthropology can help design better solutions and experiences?
My background in anthropology can contribute to two perspectives: one is the methodology and the other is the ability of empathy and reflexivity. Anthropologists conduct fieldwork and long-term participant observation because they doubt the existing structures and status quo. As such, they believe in the power of everyday life when it comes to developing mindsets and practices. This is what we know as ‘culture’. Anthropologists serve as the bridge between users and engineers and introduce users to participate in the process of design.
3/ If you treat Singapore as the ‘field’, can you share something that fascinates you?
I have interviewed and conducted home immersions for my side project about an app that teaches people how to declutter, which enables me to talk to a few minimalists in Singapore. I was fascinated by some families’ dedication in embracing a strict minimalist life and some techniques they use for helping them cultivate the awareness of what they possess. I am also fascinated by the orchid and seed bank in the Singapore Botanic Garden. Orchid is a species that has the greatest variations. Because of this ontological feature, orchid turns out to have various patterns, colours and shapes. In Singapore, the varied orchid flowers have been endowed with the name of celebrities and ambassadors, impersonating the orchid characteristics from the human world. This interaction between plants and humans fascinated me.
4/ Who or what inspires you?
Inspirations come from different encounters and reflexivity in silence. Every new encounter, no matter with a person, an event or a new place, will trigger something different from within. No matter what the reaction is, such as surprise, fear, anger, or confusion, it is a revelation of myself. I appreciate encounters and I consider it as a tool for self-reclamation. Recently, I watched a Japanese film called “Everyday is a Good Day”, which is a story about a girl’s journey in learning tea ceremony. From learning tea ceremony, the girl learned that every day, because of different seasons, weather, emotions and thoughts, is a unique day that is worth to appreciate. If it snows, then we can see the white world. Even though it has a thunderstorm, we can still enjoy the peace at home contrasted by the external dramatic world. The philosophy in the film matches my fondness to encounters.
Another important element of inspiration is reflexivity. Everything happens and goes by so fast and we, at the moment, only react with our habitual mindset or behaviour pattern. Reflexivity is a process that helps to slow down the happenings in my heart and ask myself some key questions. “Why do I have this reaction to that thing?” “What does that mean to me?” “What if the taken-for-granted is wrong?”…Inspirations are fleeting and I need a mechanism to catch it and build a connection with them.
5/ Is there a particular design challenge or problem you’re passionate about helping solve?
I want to contribute to a design that can enhance human communication. From my fieldwork, I have witnessed how people cultivate misunderstandings and stereotypes towards others because of the lack of communication. Because of those biases, more fears are produced and push away one from the other. The lack of communication exists not only between countries or religious groups but also among family members — the most familiar ‘stranger’. I hope to help with designing a solution to counter this phenomenon.
Another design I want to help with is a solution to enhance self-care/self-understanding and benefit mental health. ‘Know thyself’ is an everlasting philosophical topic and the development of the discipline of psychology is a continuation to explore the tool for the questions. In this age of design, I believe we have more tools at hand to come up with a solution for a better understanding of self, which is the first step to acknowledge one’s own uniqueness. Perhaps if people were able to gain a deeper understanding of their own selves, they would struggle less with the feelings of loneliness or alienation.
