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Bear Communication Platform by Kansaranat Pear Nerngchamnong |
Home > Winners > Design #67325 >Interview |
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FS: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?
KN: Death is an unavoidable issue due to our natural life cycle. Mortality causes a further problem among society due to the effect of grief among family members of the person who passed away. Bear was created as a student project at Parsons School of Design, with the goals of raising awareness of the need for end-of-life conversations and providing a way for people to have something that represents their loved one to help ease the emotional struggle of bereavement. As a person with first-hand experience of the loss of a loved one, I design my research with an intention to seek unbiased information outside my circles while at the same time using my personal loss experience as a guide to be mindful when addressing sensitive subjects with each participant during interview sessions.
FS: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?
KN: My main focus in designing this work is to find a way to help ease the emotional struggle during bereavement. Hoping that Bear can be a tool to increase awareness of the importance of conversations around End-of-Life, and help users find a new perspective on appreciating life and the people around them.
FS: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?
KN: The total time spent on research, design, strategy, and concept testing was about seven months.
FS: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?
KN: This concept was an independent passion project that I did during my second year at graduate school.
FS: What made you design this particular type of work?
KN: As a person who has experienced losing my loved ones, I want to find a way to tackle the issue of End-of-Life conversations using the Design Thinking methodology.
FS: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?
KN: The project was done during my second year at graduate school, and I received support and guidance from my classmates and my professor.
FS: Who is the target customer for his design?
KN: The early adopters of this concept are predicted to be people that have experienced the loss of loved ones before.
FS: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?
KN: There are a lot of designs and businesses that aim to tackle the End-of-Life issue, but in a different form of service. The core of Bear is focusing more on relationship and memory preservation.
FS: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?
KN: I have to give credit to the name of the concept to my boyfriend who came up with the name Bear. After his suggestion, we looked up the meaning of the word Bear, and it means “To accept something painful or unpleasant with determination and strength.”, “to hold or support something.” which I found that it really represents the concept and its goal to serve the users.
FS: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?
KN: Apart from pencil and paper, I used Adobe Creative Suite and InVision.
FS: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?
KN: During the design research phase, I interviewed experts in the field of grief and End-of-Life ranging from a psychologist and experts in hospice care to a documentary filmmaker.
FS: What is the role of technology in this particular design?
KN: InVision and Adobe software really helped me bring the concept to life, from designing the visuals to the functionality of the platform.
FS: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?
KN: I did both qualitative and quantitative research, but the main methodology I used was ethnographic research.
FS: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?
KN: The main challenges were during the design research phase, specifically during interviews because the End-of-Life conversation was a difficult topic to approach with people. I had to be extra mindful when interviewing individuals that lost someone they love in the past, because the conversation could trigger their personal emotions.
FS: Thank you for providing us with this opportunity to interview you.
A' Design Award and Competitions grants rights to press members and bloggers to use parts of this interview. This interview is provided as it is; DesignPRWire and A' Design Award and Competitions cannot be held responsible for the answers given by participating designers.
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