Youth x Smart Nation by Diploma in Experience & Product Design

YOUTH x SMART NATION 2015.

CONTENTS COMMUNICATION Respect | Concern | Responsibility

AWARENE$$ Altruism | Appreciation | Self-control

CONNECTION MAKING Sharing | Future | Network

04 30 52 3

Communication Communication is vital in building strong bonds with family members and between friends. We feel that the importance of face-to-face communication has dwindled and people have become distant from one another. Technology has made face-to-face communication very shallow and interactions rare. If communication does not exist within a family, the family members would exist just like strangers living under the same roof. If communication does not happen between friends, relationship weakens and misunderstandings may occur. Therefore, we feel that it is important for us to improve communications of youths and other parties through design interventions.â â

Student Projects Reduce Cyberbullying by Darren Chan

Creating Common Topics To Mend The Generation Gap by Gladys Toh

Dinner Time Communication by Syahirah

Youth X Family X Communication by Teo Jun Hui (Bernice)

Issue

From my deep research into the topic, Cyber-bullying, I found out that it is a very severe problem. Nearly Â˝ of the youths who got cyber-bullied, kept it to themselves, without letting their loved ones know. It is proven that 1/3 of the youths were bullied in the past. I have also found out, that there is an astounding amount of deaths, as many as 39 youths committed suicide due to cyber-bullying.

Reduce Cyberbullying by Darren Chan

#STOPCB2K15 is a campaign, where I spread awareness of

the severity caused by cyber-bullying. After much research has been done, I have concluded that by pasting stickers around hot spots in schools or even within the town area, it would be a great exposure for the campaign. An Instagram account is created specifically to post information related to cyber-bullying. This is to allow other Instagram users to better understand the causes of cyber-bullying and how to avoid it. Why Instagram? Simple, because there are currently millions of people using this platform and it is rather convenient to spread a message across to masses. The campaign is also accompanied with a YouTube video which consists of a short story about cyber-bullying and ways to prevent it.

Issue

During my initial stages of research, through all the surveys and interviews, I found out that there werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t many common topics between the youths and the silver generations. The interviewees mentioned that it was because of the generation gap. However, I believe that the interactions between the youths and the silver generations are beneficial for both parties. Therefore, I wanted to design an application to help create common topics and interactions, so that they could have a better understanding of one another. 19

Creating Common Topics To Mend The Generation Gap by Gladys Toh

Heirloom Recipes was first designed when several of the

youths, which I had interviewed mentioned that they would only seek help from their grandparents, when they are “In need of good food” or “When I want to learn recipes of my favourite dish”. Home cooked foods are not just enjoyment for your taste buds or stomach, it is a feeling of warmth, comfort and a memory evoker. That is the reason why they would like to learn the recipes and to preserve the dish. The only question was, “How and when do I start?”. Youths may find issues such as, not having the right equipment for recording at times when they felt like recording a recipe. There are a few applications available that helps users record recipes but those only allow them to take down the instructions. Heirloom Recipes is a visual recipe recording application. It allows youths to take photographs and video clips of the processes, on how their grandparents prepare their favourite dish. In between the recording processes, youths can take down notes in the app and at the end; they can take their time to edit the clips or to write down the story behind the dish. Whether it is just for sharing on any social media platforms or just to keep a part of their grandparents, Heirloom Recipes can help them to do so. Heirloom Recipes help make the recipe recording process much more convenient and spontaneous. Most importantly, this application will encourage youths to communicate and interact with their grandparents. The application is named Heirloom Recipes as it will help the current generation record down recipes, which will become memories and be passed down to future generations.

Issue

Nowadays, parents and youths might find it difficult to find common topics to talk about. They donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t spend a lot of time with one another, with most parents being busy with work and youths being busy with school. When the family gets together, sometimes both parents and youths might be too distracted by technology, such as their smart devices to hold a conversation with one another.

Dinner Time Communication by Syahirah

Talk Talk is a conversation starter app designed for family

conversations during dinner time, as that is the time of the day when the whole family is gathered together. Users invite their family members to play, by setting a duration for gameplay, then everyone takes turns to talk. During a player’s turn, a random topic would be generated and the player would have one minute to open up a conversation regarding the topic. The other players would then rate the speaker, according to the rating factors that they chose. The winner would be the person who gets the most number of stars, while the person who comes in last place, would have to carry out a penalty from the penalties list, that is chosen at random. The penalties are mostly household chores that need to be done. Things like languages, topics and rating factors can be adjusted in the settings feature. Family members can choose what topics they want or are comfortable talking about. They are also able to choose rating factors such as ‘Humour’ or ‘Insightfulness’. Penalties from the penalties list can be added or removed by users.

Issue

Based on interviews and surveys, both parents and youths agree that family communication is very important during the years of youth development. One insight gathered from the surveys conducted among the youths, was the lack of time spent with family members. While through interviews with parents, one common issue which they hope to change is the uneven division of household chores at home.

Youth X Family X Communication by Teo Jun Hui (Bernice)

Do.gather

is a family household chore division mobile application. It encourages family bonding time through the process of doing household chores together. Through the fair division of chores, everyone in the family, especially the youths will learn to be appreciative of what has been done for them. Most importantly, everyone in the family will learn to be more responsible to take ownership of their own and public spaces. The progress screen displays a visual chart which is colour coded for each family member, to indicate and to raise awareness of the amount of chores done by individuals. Tasks are accompanied with notifications, to either remind or to notify when a task has been completed. Users are encouraged to complete a task together as a family, creating interaction and allowing communication to take place. In addition, besides the progress function to motivate users, there are also points assigned for each completed task where it all adds up to a leaderboard, which is shared among the family to generate a reward system.

Awarene$$ Money holds great responsibility, especially in the context of Singapore. Majority of the youths find financial literacy a heavy topic that is too serious and profound for them to understand, many irregard the importance and relevance of financial literacy. Due to their lack of awareness in terms of financial management, there is no doubt that money is not well and wisely spent. For example, youths may spend money in pursuing famous people. By purchasing material goods, they may become materialistic. All in all, poor financial management negatively influences their future. Thus, it is important to find out the loopholes of poor financial management, and how we can help youths better manage their finances.

Student Projects Materialism by Bryan Ng

Youth Expenditure X Appreciation

by Li Cheng Cheng

Youth Debt by Violet Koh

Issue

Materialism is a widespread issue that very little discuss about. It is an ideology that materials and social status, are a greater priority over spiritual or altruistic values. It has been heavily emphasised by society and the media. People with materialistic values have a higher rate of developing mental issues, poor management of money and a lower quality of life. With nearly 50% of youths here describing themselves as materialistic, it is a dire issue that I see, needs to be addressed as soon as possible.

Materialism by Bryan Ng

Time Out Challenge, is an app that encourages youths to

cut down on their time spent on social media, while raising awareness about the issue of materialism. During my research, one of the top contributors of sending materialistic values to youths, is the social media. This is due to the frequent usage of social media, as a medium used by companies and socialite to advertise themselves. I found out by encouraging people to do intrinsic activities, such as volunteering, youths will be able to feel gratitude and strengthen their self esteem; it will make them less prone to being materialistic. The youth volunteering scene is hopeful with majority of youths being interested in participating in one, however 4/5 of them are unable to do so because of time constraint. From a survey I conducted, majority of the time is being spent on social media and they are not actively aware of it. Using this correlation, I came up with the Time Out Challenge, to encourage youths to cut down on their time spent on the social media, at the same time, raising awareness about materialism. The app suggests some meaningful activities that the users can do, as well as the chance of winning some attractive prizes for participants of the challenge.

Issue

My focus for this project is on youth expenditures. Through my research and surveys, most youths do not have a clear knowledge of their spendings, which normally leads to mindless spendings. Can you imagine having a lot of purchases but only using them once or not even once? Besides that, you keep buying similar things? Therefore I thought of creating a simple expenditure recording process, which enables youths to appreciate what they have, so that they will think twice before spending.

Youth Expenditure X Appreciation by Li Cheng Cheng

POP PAL is an app that makes the process of recording

expenditures simpler and allows youths to appreciate what they have, by enabling them to review their previous expenses. With the POP PAL, youths will be able to scan the items and are shown the detailed information of each item while they are shopping. They can then use these data to help them plan their expenses wisely. This app acts as a friend that will give users suggestions while they are shopping. The pop up tips are based on previous and past expenditures of each user and suggestions are given according to their usage comments. Hence, the reminders are personalised and based on their spendings. Based on my research, there are currently two advanced technologies supportive of my concept. One is Firefly, that extracts the detailed information directly when the item is scanned. Another technology is iBeacon, that uses Bluetooth as a media to broadcast tiny radio signals, so the smartphone can receive and interpret, unlocking micro-location and contextual awareness. Although it is still a concept, I believe that it will be made a reality in the near future. The POP PAL will automatically record expenses if users choose to buy the item after scanning it. A month later, the POP PAL will remind users to write usage comments for their purchased items, so they can have a reference for their next purchase. Meanwhile, users are able to share their monthly report, which are the usage comments with their friends. In addition, the POP PAL also reminds users to save, so as to spend on something that is more meaningful rather than just spending impulsively.

Issue

Youths tend to lose track on how much they spend and are not satisfied if they purchase only one item. Some of them suffer from compulsive shopping addiction and spend without thinking twice. They make use of credit/debit cards too often and besides that, they spend a lot on online shopping as well. Youths only realise they had overspent, after receiving the bill from the bank. Most spend money to feel good and to prove their self worth, they do not set monthly saving goals and tend to buy things on impulse. 49

Youth Debt by Violet Koh

iRemind is an app that will send notifications to remind

users, to help them keep track and to be aware of their spendings. It helps youths to set a good and healthy budget so that they will spend within their financial estimate. The app shows the amount and a pie graph on how much users have left to spend on within that month. Users are required to take a photo of the receipt and the app will highlight the name, date, place and price of the item. Users can then check back on things that they had purchased previously through this app. The iRemind will help record and categorise things that users have spent on. Graphs are provided for easier referencing and the app will send users a reminder, if they have overspent. The iRemind comes with a tracking function, so should the user visit a luxury area, it will send a reminder to remind the user not to spend too much. The app also informs users what items are worth saving on so that users wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t regret buying things that are not worth it. It also gives smart suggestions for users to decide where they want their savings to go, explaining why the item is worth spending on. This will help to cut out unnecessary expenses for users, helping them make smart choices to purchase items that are truly worth the money. Users can also record things that they wish to buy. The app generates a time frame, that informs users how far from their goals they are. A reminder is sent, when the due date of a goal is nearing. The app also provides free gifts to users that manages to save up to a certain amount, encouraging users to save more for the following month.

Connection Making Technology is a tool that can help us connect with one another, but at the same time isolate many individuals, especially the youths. How can we make use of this double edged sword to the best of itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability? We realised that networking is a very essential tool, be it in school or in the workforce. With a strong network, we will have more people and resources to tap on. Therefore we have decided to use technology, to help people network efficiently and effectively.

Student Projects Youth X Social Entreprenuership by Ho Li Min

Youth Networking X School by Seamus Chng

Issue Social entrepreneurship is a growing industry in Singapore and has started gaining the attention of potential start-ups. Looking at social entrepreneurship, there are a lot of governmental and non-governmental start-up funds available. However, majority of the youths are unsure of what social enterprises are about, leading them to develop an apathetic attitude towards it. How can I bring across the benefits of social entrepreneurship, to spark off an interest within the youth crowd?

Youth X Social Entrepreneurship by Ho Li Min

Planes To Inspire is an video advertisement that raises

awareness via the capturing of viewersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; attention, to spark off an interest within the youth crowd. The concept of the video is to bring across social entrepreneurship, a very heavy and mundane topic, to the youth crowd in a very light-hearted manner. The video would start off a series of activities and events to follow up. With technology being readily available, what could be a better way to spread a viral message than through the use of social media? The video clip would be able to reach out to a larger crowd at any time and any place. Paper planes symbolises the act of freedom, success and independence. The plane is also a symbolism of thoughts of meaningful doing good, which then takes flight and travels to many places. The intention is to show that, with these thoughts and dreams, you can turn them into a reality when you choose to take on social entrepreneurship. By using a paper plane, youths would be able to relate to the concept easily, as majority would have made and played with one when they were younger.

Issue Many students are unable to drive their projects to new levels, most of the time they end up being stuck. They are not creating networks with resources they have around them. This creates friction between education and themselves. Therefore, the main aim of this project was to find out how learning can be fun, but at the same time, aids the academics of students of the future. Getting students to be more outgoing and participative.

Youth Networking X School by Seamus Chng

AMASS+ is an app that acts as a portal to provide ac-

cessibility, to facilitate meet ups for students to network. It’s not all just fun and games though, I have included a quota set for students to target, just like Co-Curriculum Activities(CCA) being rewarded for leadership or commitment qualities. The app helps users keep track of the students they have helped, so that when they graduate they’ll have for themselves a diversed network and range of resources at their fingertips. The concept is to get people to form networks earlier in school, because of the wide range of resources they have now. Accumulative advantage, when they graduate because more than 3/4 of the job opportunities are found through a personal network. The more acquaintances they have, the more power and information they’ll have. I wanted to make education a little fun, like a game, with actual stats of people for credibility. With that, I wanted a different approach to the mundane Community Involvement Programme(CIP) or CCA points system. What if you could help more people and make more friends, that’s how networking is done. Who doesn’t want to make new friends with sixty percent of respondents agreeing, that learning becomes fun when meeting new people. All in all, I wanted to provide accessibility for networking. Allowing students to participate and enjoy to get the most out of their 3 years stay in the polytechnic, without worrying about the impending post graduation stress, which could be very scary to us as teenagers.

Studio Master Hunn Wai

Publication Team Studio Lead Ho Li Min

Secretary

Li Cheng Cheng

Studio Designers Darren Chan Gladys Toh Syahirah Teo Jun Hui (Bernice) Bryan Ng Li Cheng Cheng Violet Koh Ho Li Min Seamus Chng

Special Thanks To All who have helped out in the photography shoots