The Singaporean designer who’s helping dementia patients with her award-winning ‘memory tool’

When I managed to graduate, what made me different was that I was a car lift of all trades. Furthermore, the exposure I gained helps myself to be critical associated with my future tasks and be more open-minded with how I observe things. Lastly, the things i liked about the style course was how it allowed me personally to translate the imagination into an actual product.

YOU DESCRIBE YOUR SELF AS A SOCIAL PRODUCT DESIGNER. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? HOW ARE YOU DIFFERENT FROM VARIOUS OTHER PRODUCT DESIGNERS?  

The “social” here means discussion with people. I’ve continually believed that style should be inclusive plus inclusive design, to me, extends to creating a system that enables just about anyone in order to easily contribute. In my opinion, design is to include, involve and link people. By doing so, they will become empowered to create a change themselves.

Via my designs, I really hope that more individuals will realise just how easily they can link and contribute to enhancing the lives more around them.

With regards to my project Rewind, an element of inclusivity was introduced in a system that allows anyone to lead content, so that the older from different social backgrounds can connect with better.

TELL US ABOUT THE CATALYST PLUS INSPIRATION FOR REWIND

It all started after i was searching for a thesis topic to work upon. It was a valuable opportunity to delve much deeper into understanding dementia patients better, a topic that is undeniably near to my heart.

In spite of having a family member who also suffered from dementia, I used to be never truly capable to comprehend the nature of the actions. Sometimes, it seemed as though these people acted out to seek our attention; quite often, there were no warnings for their emotional breakdowns.

And while it is almost impossible to understand nor tackle all the issues regarding dementia patients’ situations, I began developing in the hope which i could improve their standard of living, even by a little.

WHAT WAS THE INVESTIGATION PHASE OF REWIND LIKE?

This task began with primary online research as well as participating in seminars and sessions at daycare centres and nursing homes to comprehend dementia patients’ situations and key problems. It was closely followed by first-hand observations, photographic ethnography and informal interviews with seniors and healthcare professionals.  

A problem-solving, co-design framework has been applied throughout the entire process. By actively engaging both the elderly and therapists in user-testing and comments sessions, these insights enabled the development of more realistic prototypes after every design iteration.