March Picks: 🖤 One-year pandemonium, a personal note.

Anniversaries are usually not my forte. I brush them off, tuck them in my mental closet, only celebrate it out of obligation. In other words, it never held any sentimental value. It was not something that I am proud of, however, it all took a turn when March creeped in and a few ‘memories’ from last year popped up in my Facebook or Instagram feed.

Looking back, I started to reflect upon the achievements I made last year. Usually these reflections became encouragements to push harder and aim higher. Alas, 2020 was a redefining moment for each and every one of us. It is where we restart the ways of working again from ground zero. It is to my belief that each person will set personal/career milestones – whether big or small. However, the spirit of celebrating small victories became despicably mundane. Even though my economical consumption was at its lowest point, it was slowly substituted by online content consumption which could be detrimental for my mental state. The risks or adventurous decisions I made were far lesser than it could’ve been. That said, it becomes easy to become discouraged by our present state and feel like we aren’t making significant progress.

Moving forward, I’ve picked up a few things that could possibly move me back to my groove.

1. Reconnecting the social ties I have taken for granted: With the many zoom calls and the fatigue it has created, reach out to friends and families where there is no agenda planned, just pure conversation. We usually have these sessions as spur of the moments when we meet in person, but with physical distancing, we need to make sure we break out of our caves to reconnect. It is a continuous learning for me to lean in to the people around you.
2. Practicing that gratitude attitude consciously: At most times easier said than done. Even though life seems to be going haywire right now, we get caught up with all the bad stuff and go down a blackhole of low mental states. I force myself to continue to be grateful and that force may push you even further.
3. Break routines to celebrate the spirit of spontaneity: Trying new things takes discomfort and risk. Getting too caught up with routines will hinder you from living life to the fullest. Find fulfilment in the unplanned.

Enough on the sharing, let’s get right into the long overdue picks for March.

Introducing, Project Lima!

This month, we’ve launched our internal initiative called Project Lima. Project Lima is an initiative by Sixty Two to find innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing issues. We challenge ourselves to go beyond the convention by utilizing research & design principles to prototype & develop ideas into meaningful products or services. Guided by commitment to create future-oriented solutions with positive impacts, Project Lima seeks to collaborate with thought leaders and industry experts.

For our launch, we’ve identified positive shifts of digital products in the coming years. Read up on the report here and don’t forget to follow us on Instagram to stay updated with our initiative.

As part of our internal launch party, we’ve created a Figma launch party. The team customized their avatars to match their personality, devoured conversations over open-ended questions in a long bar, brought some of their party starters, and also took a group picture and cut the ribbon to officiate the launch. Here’s a preview of the ribbon cutting experience.

File sharing for multiple platforms

Snapdrop
Apple users, you are definitely aware of the most loved Airdrop. But things can get overly complicated when you introduce a new platform into your gadget ecosystem. Snapdrop is a great way for you to share files between operating systems. Using the same mechanism as Airdrop, you can drop your files to the browser and receive it on the other end.

Link to Snapdrop

Debunking UX Myths

UX Myths
UX Myths highlights user experience misconceptions and counters it with research, articles, and insights from usability masters. I was really intrigued by “Myth #5: Accessibility is expensive and difficult.” Go ahead and check em out. Quite the short read and they have posters as well!

Google’s (v.1-Kawaii)

Umami Land
Indulge on the Japanese delicacies you have been ultimately craving for. Google helps you find the nearest Japanese food through a virtual adventure in Umami Land! My favourite is the Gyoza! Besides helping you find the food you love from Tsukemen, Omurice, to Nato, Umami Land takes you on a quest to unlock cool freebies as you collect badges in each of the world.

Visit umamiland.withgoogle.com

Explore with Floom

Floom
Another one of Google’s experiments with WebAR. A tunnel that lets you see the other part of the world. Super cool however, it only works on Chrome on Android — hopefully they make it available for iOS users soon ;)

What’s cookin’ at Sixty Two?

Digital Groceries: The Global Perspective

Our team member, Debby had just launched her first ever case study on digital groceries. Read up on how contextual behaviour, culture, and lifestyle could impact how you purchase groceries.

A Look Into Digital Groceries — North American and SEA Perspective

Food Estate Watch web launch

World Resource Institute Indonesia has been our long-term partner and we’re happy to be launching another web campaign on The Food Estate Program happening in Indonesia. Read up on how the story unfolds with background context, critiques from experts on the initiative, and rich content and research findings. Kudos as well to our development partner Catalyze Communications on actualizing all our design along with the smooth transitions and micro-animations.

View the site here

What’s your pick? We’re curious to know what you’re seeing, reading, listening, and doing. Drop us a line or those claps to see more of these content in the future!