Mingyi Lu
Covid-19 works like a magnifier to the world, it amplifies many issues that were already existed before the pandemic. This phenomenon heavily impacts my practice and perspective both as a designer and as a human being. Since last year, I have been applying critical design thinkings to revisit some of the solidified culture or notions and seeks an alternative future. As I believe that design can and should be used as a tool that leads to the reflection for our fast-paced society, and ultimately builds the mutual communication bridge between people.
UNCOMFORTABLE CONVERSATION
“A person’s success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have.” -Timothy Ferriss, entrepreneur, investor, author, and lifestyle guru.
Many people in the world seem to be at war with each other. We see families split through disagreements, racist attacks, politicians arguing, whole civilizations and religions constantly battling. Conflicts are unavoidable in our world. But is there a way for us to embrace conflicts, and have positive and substantive changes out of conflicts? The “Uncomfortable Conversation” pub quiz is a special event in the “Colloquy Pub” that promotes uncomfortable (yet very important) conversations between those who believe differently.
The glasses holder that I designed works for creating an alternative interaction of glasses clicking for marking understanding. The game will count the number of understanding marks that participants achieve through interactive conversations with each other, and whoever has the most marks is the winner.
Project Links
XAVIER
The treatment of cancer can often inhibit the capacity and desire to participate in sporting activity. People who are particularly interested in sports will think that they can no longer exercise in the way that they used to.
In order to refresh this image of cancer, I created Xavier as an online medical test platform, keen to discover the relationship between cancer care & treatment and exercise. It promotes a patient/data-driven medical trial model where inspirations are led by the patient’s experience on exercise. As patients or even healthy individuals share their stories about exercise on the platform, professional researchers or medical staff from different countries and institutions can access the information, thereby increasing their understanding of the link between exercise and ongoing patient well-being as a result of this Collective Intelligence.
