history

Interesting and useful

 

My first foray into design was with my undergraduate degree in Innovative Product Design (IPD) here in Dundee with. In my final years i specialized in areas which are prevalent in current design theory, user research and interaction design.

My work from these years can be found (abridged) on this website. Projects have ranged from community building events, design workshops, communication printers, remote controls, cameras and other small digital objects.

These products were not the focus of my undergraduate degree. My work focused on user research and new methods to understand more about the people we were designing for. This interest has continued up until present day and is one of the reasons why I am here on the PG design ethnography course.

My professional interests fall into a few key themes:

community: understanding the importance of community within modern social structures.

Interaction: how people interact with other people, particularly focusing on interaction through products.

Method: all designers are interested in method and process. How things are done and how these things can be done better is an important question to both ask and answer.

I identified teaching as being one way that would allowed me to influence many people's lives without relying on sources of funding. Teaching is important because (ideally) you are in an environment where people are hoping to change.

I have spent some time in Indonesia teaching design principles as well as English and IT for Yakita, an NGO which focuses on the serious drugs culture which was largely ignored in Indonesia until the last few decades.

 

My interest in community and other social aspects of life are seeded in my work from my philosophy and psychology.

I hope this information provides a brief insight into my background and will give you some information to help you understand my history.