Project description:
The Fluffy Diary is a research project that explores the development of the dog-human relationship, focusing on helping user building more understanding of their dog.
The project included two major outcomes. First:a guidance method created based on observation and first-hand experience. Second:an online reflective diary website.
The project is presented as an online reflective diary website where users can observe, record, imitate through dog's perspective and rethink what their dog might be feeling and needing by following the guidance method given in the diary, while at the same time，user can browsing the reflective diary in the website library for further inspiration and engagement.
Project’s theoretical framework：
“We are gradually becoming aware that man is not the center of the universe, and that we need to expand our understanding of what it means to be human today.”
As we develop a more nuanced understanding of the relationships between technology, society, and non- human worlds, we become acutely aware of our all- too-human nature. So would it be a surprise to discover if we stepped outside of humanistic thinking to re-understand our dogs?At the same time, the project extended the development of the idea of an online reflective diary website through workshops.
Guidance method：
Final high-fidelity demo:
The video shows dozens of participants' reflective diaries and a demonstration of the main features of the website.
Collaboration:
In this project, Between Siyu and I, we get along well, communicate effectively, and have complementary skills. We worked on many parts of the project together, but also used our strengths differently throughout the project. In the research phase, I focused on analyzing the information we had and tying them back to the proposal, as well as conducting secondary research around the human-dog relationship . Siyu contributed with her conceptual thinking and model making experience in the ideation and prototyping phases.
For prototyping, we made the models together but divided certain tasks. For example, Siyu charged for make stuff at 3d workshop and i mainly charge for picking materials and then we do test together. As we started creating our visual mockups, we used sketch and principle, both of which were completely new to both of us, so we spent a week learning to use them together and collaborating on the web design.When making the final presentation video cut, Siyu was more proficient with Premiere. This gave me a chance to learn from Siyu some new skills while also practicing my film editing and manipulation skills.
Reflection：
Overall, for me, this project was a journey of experiential learning. I especially loved the abstract conceptualization and aggressive exploration process because, as detailed in my blog, it presented me with several realistic lessons. I found that the way I contribute to brainstorming sessions and use my conceptual thought skills has changed. In a shared sense, I am now more secure in sharing my thoughts and their relevance.
Given the limited time for this project, gaining experience in critical thinking was a top learning outcome for me which allowed me to view problems from a different angle. After many conversations with my tutors, I gradually realised how shallow my previous ideas had been. How to think independently and deeply, how to look at things dialectically from different perspectives and gain my own experience and experience. So in the middle and later stages of the project we refined our ideas and reversed the perspective from toy design to improve the quality of time spent with dogs to how to provide people a new opportunity to experience our world anew and build more understand about their dogs.
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