Hi, My Name is Micah
….and I might be a designer
I fancy myself a writer-learner — someone who learns through writing. That is the reason for making this text-heavy Medium article, my Portfolio. I have been writing small poems for a decade now and this is what I am good at, so forgive me for making designers read. I hope you make it to the end, see you on the other side.
Currently, I am studying Design Led Innovation at Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology. The term has a lot to unpack, this (from the website) is a very good summary of what we try to do and learn-
“The vision of this program is to create innovators who will explore and apply the understanding of human behavior, context, business strategy and technology towards the creation of innovative and sustainable products and services with the potential to drive positive change individually as well as at a larger social level.”
Things that are Important to Me
I hold on to different interests from music, movies, video essays, etymology, psychology, philosophies, fantasy, science-fiction to many more. I would like to find a career that helps me borrow from all these places.
My dream is to be a great generalist, who keeps a team together, navigates complex situations and co-creates and co-realizes visions for an equitable and sustainable future.
Getting into design was a difficult thing to do since I had no art background. I was really scared of not being good enough. But I also had a clear idea of what I wanted from a design education- a mishmash of philosophy, psychology, social work, business and technology. I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to find a space like that in any course.
However, those anxieties have kept me alive and helped me moved beyond the starting line and reach wherever I am today (even if its 5 steps from the starting line).
My Projects
Please follow the listed links, they contain more information
1. Designer’s Ace:
A set of cards to build design thinking in young aspirants.
This was a project from a team of people that were all aspiring to be a part of a design school someday, somewhere.
The problem we were trying to solve was to break the notion that only “creative” people (who been drawing and sketching for all their life) can become designers, we worked with a few designers to see the traits that were most effective in designers and then we planned tasks to build up those traits.
My contribution: Design tasks, Qualitative Research, Prototyping, Model of play and competition
2. An educational tool to build aspiration in Children from vulnerable communities
While studying the Paniya community in Kerala, I was first introduced to the severity of caste issues in India. I have covered all my research about the tribe in this two-part series- part 1 talks about their current socio-economic and physical conditions and part 2 delves deeper and tries to find ties between their past oppressive histories and their current conditions. This project has changed me as a person and has shifted my view on things completely.
With this project in particular, I have also written a complimentary piece that fills up a lot of the gaps in the linked Behance project. This complimentary article reflects on how easy it was for me to simplify the problems that I was investigating and arrive at a solution that may never work. It also shows how complex systems need more than just linear/monocycle designs.
My contribution: Research, story writing, storyboarding, and system design
3. Community-based Carpool
We explore how communities are formed, why carpooling hasn’t seen commercial success in India yet? In doing so, we design a community-based carpooling solution that uses events to bring these communities together.
My contribution: System design, research, making questionnaires, market research
Prior Experience:
I am an Electronics Engineer, with some experience with basic coding and kits like the Arduino. I have also worked as an Editor for over two years. For 4 years, I have been a volunteer teacher with a non-governmental organization that teaches English to government school students using a 3- month program. Last year, I was given charge of a school with 200 students and 40 volunteers.
Well, that is me. If any of my work resonates with you or piques your interest, let’s talk. You can email me at themicahalex@gmail.com. I am also looking for internships for the summer, please do think of me if you come across an available opportunity.
