Week 1
Realignment

Going into the new semester, I spent some time reflecting on how the project has been developing so far. This week became less about producing and more about stepping back, reassessing, and figuring out how I want to move forward.

Looking Back

Time has really flown by, and I still can’t believe I’m already in the second half of Year 3. Over the break, I did quite a bit of reflection and realignment. There are many things that could have gone smoother, but I don’t regret approaching things the way I did last semester.

I explored ideas like digital forms of expression, emojis, faces, tamagotchis. At the time, they felt important. But the more I looked into them, the more I felt like I was straying. While they were somewhat related, it became very difficult to see how they fit into a cohesive narrative.

This was what really bothered me. I had all these elements, but they weren’t saying anything. It became harder and harder to see where the project was actually going.

Over the break, I decided it was time to properly realign my goals and address these issues before coming back to school.

My Biggest Problems

The part I felt most unsettled with was my overall approach. The topic itself was fine, but the way I was framing it made it feel like I was using design probes to collect answers and data in order to prove something.

When I think back to the start of this project, my goal was never to prove anything. It was to get people to reflect and discuss how AI usage is shaping them.

It didn’t feel grounded. Even though I had done a lot of research and gathered references to support my work, it felt forced. Almost like I was including them for the sake of it.

It also didn’t feel very inspired or creative. I struggled to visualise where this project was heading, which became quite demotivating. I think this was largely due to how technically I was approaching everything.

Shifting My Approach

Moving forward, I decided to shift away from design probes as the main approach. Instead, I want to take on a more discursive direction.

By doing this, I’m hoping to evoke reflection rather than extract answers. I want the work to feel more open, more interpretive, and less like an experiment.

I’m also aiming to take on a more metaphorical outlook. Building a narrative around the work I created last semester feels like a way to tie everything together.

Ideally, this narrative will help ground the project while still being supported by the research from my dissertation.

Dissertation Consultation

During my consultation, I brought up my intention to move away from design probes. Previously, it felt like I was running experiments just to collect data, which made it difficult to translate into something visual.

This became even more challenging because my focus is on emotions and sentiments towards AI. Things like forming relationships with AI or dependency are highly subjective, and not easily embodied through small, measurable interactions.

Looking back, I can clearly see the points raised during my formative feedback last semester. A lot of it highlighted the lack of creativity and how my making didn’t fully support the claims I was trying to make.

The outputs felt disconnected and didn’t really strengthen what I was trying to explore.

Moving forward, I’m still including design probes within my dissertation research, but the main artefact will shift towards a discursive approach that encourages reflection instead of producing findings.

Concerns & Moving Forward

Andreas suggested that I should still keep design probes as part of my process, as they can still be useful. He also mentioned Bill Gaver, noting that some of his work sits closer to speculative design.

He did express some concern about this shift in direction, especially since it’s a new idea that developed over the break. I haven’t fully encountered the problems that might come with it yet.

This is something I’ve also been thinking about. Is it too risky to make such a big change at this stage?

At the same time, I don’t feel like I would be progressing if I continued as I was. To me, this feels like a step in the right direction.

In terms of writing, I feel quite comfortable moving this way. What I need to focus on now is continuing my making so I have enough material to support my discussion later on.