Lecture Industry Event – ‘Design to change the world’
“Carry on …message through different platforms.. to try to reach different people” (Christoper, Offshore Design)
“Getting the right people together for collaboration” (Morag Myerscough)
“Take people to places where things already exist… to show staff an example of nicely designed…” (Morag Myerscough)
“Press is important to a project, so that it is seen an not only seen as a social project or community project but as an important one” (Morag Myerscough)
“Design that engages communities through creative play, through development of digital tools and co-creative frameworks empower people to see things differently and create informed communities” (Ken Kirton, Hato Studio)
Sebastian White from Kellenberger & White mentions Bruno Menari and his book Design as Art: Bruno Munari and how he uses inquiry and curiosity to look at things and their multiple design elements (instead of product elements). Also how somebody when he/she interacts with something becomes part of the design (like a chair that can be used in various ways).
Tutorial with Frauke (26.06)
In this module, I had my second tutorial with Frauke. She liked my progress and the idea of integrating the cat café into my business. I was a bit ambivalent about the cat cafe as we had previously talked about the existing ones (in Japan) and how they are not very animal friendly and more consumer orientated (from my point of view). Nevertheless, a cat cafe can be an option for people who can’t adopt cats for various reasons.
She said it would be good to show some case studies of existing cat cafes and compare them (negative/positive aspects). She also mentioned the Swedish designers Front who have designed ‘Resting animals’ as decorative room elements with a calming effect on people. Another idea from Frauke was to perhaps consider other possibilities instead of touching the cats in the cafe. She came up with the proposition of drawing the cats instead. This sounds to me almost like a therapeutic intervention/prevention that could perhaps be part of a workshop that the cafe offers.
She said I could bring in the cafe as an idea for a service (Studio Practice PDF Brief). But she said she would expect something more interesting than a T-shirt (my original idea) as an artefact. As an example, she mentioned scarves for cats. In this context, she said that one could also think about participatory design possibilities, e.g. a collaboration with a local designer.
In terms of the overall business idea, she said it would be great if the UCP of why I chose this business idea and how it came about (adoption difficulties) was added somewhere. Regarding the platform, she said it could also have an app. And on that note, she said it would be great to recognise the difficulties people have in the adoption process and perhaps consider an ‘emotional support platform’.
Webinar (26.06)
I mentioned that I wanted a platform that was less marketplace-like. Grace mentioned the idea of a ‘dating-match-to-a-pool’ app where cats are matched with people based on their (the cats) personalities. She said she preferred to focus on the cats’ personalities, and then I asked her if she wouldn’t put pictures of the cats on the platform. I argued that I liked the idea, but that I also wanted to simplify the user experience, and if there were no pictures, how would that make things easier for the user.
Design thinking – Storytelling
Frauke added that she would not have pictures at the beginning or not as an entry point and then show them in the next step. But yes, the goal has to be to make the experience easier for the people and the cats. Also, it would be great to meet the cats in person.
Melusine has extended the idea of the find-your-match app (also known as Tinder for cats) to compare the habits of people and animals.
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