Reflection:

Throughout this semester with the module of "Embedded Systems," I really have plenty of thoughts and a lot of things to say. Challenges I met along this journey are mostly about doing research. As a designer, doing research sounds like something strange as most people will believe that what designers do are just drawing and coloring. But research is such an important thing to us because the first stage of design thinking is to empathize. Without doing research, no matter what methodology we use, we can't empathize with the stakeholders and can't know the problems they face from their perspective. However, doing research is not an easy thing; it is time and energy consuming. Only after gaining insights can we define the problems to be addressed and continue with our process, while ideating, doing more research. The workload is quite a lot in order to get desired outcomes, but without doing this, I might not be able to come out with the right or useful solution. Just like when I was researching for my Assignment 2 and Final Project, without digging deeper, I don't even know that there's already some kind of physical smart remote for smart homes in the market. With diving deeper, I found out the benefits and the flaws about that specific product and did further ideations to design my remote, which caters to the needs of my target users.

I've delved into quite some different topics about this module, first one for the tutorial activity is the smart doorbell, then followed by the automated doors in trains and in malls for my Assignment 2, and finally the smart remote for elderly wheelchair users for my final project. Each embedded system I have studied about gave me plenty of useful takeaways. The "aha" moments I had were quite a few. Main ones were when I'm trying to define or trying to set my topic, like when I'm shilly-shally about what to do for my Assignment 1, but soon found plenty of fun things to explore about automated doors. Daily chit-chatting with friends or family members can be inspiring too. I truly gained many useful pieces of information and insights from our conversations. These gave me a lot of "aha!" moments.

Another moment I had a deep impression on is where I was having a discussion with Mr. Yusri and realized that solutions to target users from different age groups should be not the same. Sir pointed out that older age groups will prefer physical technology comparing to smart and touch screen solutions. That moment I was basically like, "Oh wow, it's really like this!" I've learned a lot from this and affirmed my idea that humanized designs should cater to the needs of different target groups, and this makes defining their problems and difficulties very crucial. Of course, designers can willfully design with all of their peculiar design ideas, making good use of the technology we already have or not yet have, but maybe not all techy solutions are suitable for all target users; some will even burden them. So, in order to come out with a user-friendly and user-centered design, we should not neglect all sorts of needs.

The main thought that troubles me and lingers in my head for such a long time is about the technology invented but not implemented. I've also included this section in my final project reflection. We can't really blame the government for all of this because it is the low awareness that causes this to happen in our beloved country. People really don't "care" about those with physical or mental disabilities, and we consider them to not have the ability to live independently, despite having all sorts of beneficial solutions already on the market. Another issue might be the price that is not persuasive enough, causing those with low income to give up despite already knowing the presence of those solutions. I'm sad to find out that, the gap between rich and poor really distinguishes the lifestyle they can enjoy. It's not fair, but what can we do about it, there is nothing which is truly fair in this world. As a student and a designer all I can do is cry while doing my assignments and FYP, and at the same time finding a way out from this chaotic world.