Andrew Le

In response to the cultural internalization of overwork and burnout culture, Fika is a service where professionals can connect with others with similar and relevant life experiences to build a network of solidarity. Through guided post-Fika reflections, the service opens up discussion for valuable, outside perspectives on their relationship with their life and work—providing a structure to begin contemplating the cultural, technological, and political forces that permeate American work culture. Fika, like Siesta, is a historically observed tradition. Swedish in origin, it is a reflective, often social ritual meant to encourage workers to take routine breaks away from their desk.

I AM ~ AM I is an outdoor exhibit full of color, light, and texture for exploring the fluid and intersectional nature of identity. Identity is often viewed as fixed and innate rather than dynamic and situational. Although we have begun to accept certain identity markers as unfixed or non-binary such as gender and sexuality, we think it’s about time to start thought and conversation like this around a wider range of identity issues. Our work hopes to show that by seeing ourselves as more dynamic, intersectional, and fluid people we guard against bias, exclusion, and polarization.

Tête-à-tête (meaning "a heart to heart") is a response to the observations we made among the community around us and our belief that everyone has a story to tell that may inspire someone else. We approached this project by wanting to design an interactive structure that would engage the people around us by creating comfort, intimacy, and trust. The form of Tête-à-Tête invites two individuals to take a seat and open one's posture towards each other to begin. Once they've sat down, we've used an Arduino and micro-sensors to generate the questions (found in the center) by tracking the movement. This combination of both form and technology spark meaningful conversations that invite people to share personal experiences. It is from these shared moments that we broaden our perspectives.​​​​​​​

Piccadilly is a geometric sans-serif with a splash of British personality. Piccadilly was created by tracing an image of a handmade sign once used for a department store in Piccadilly Square, London in 1936. This typeface was developed over five weeks of drawing, re-drawing, and digitally refining each letter.  Credits also to Sofia Cababa-Wood.

Raising a child can be cause for a lot of anxiety in parents. From ages 0-5, it is imperative that children to be screened for any developmental delays so that they can be diagnosed early on. While parents understand the importance of documenting changes in their children’s development, they can be overwhelmed by many logistical challenges that come with child rearing. Bean is an app that alleviates the pressure of screening a child's developmental progress by enabling multiple caregivers to collaborate, engage with, and monitor a child's growth.

‘Objects Of’ is a story exchange network that asks us to reflect on the preconceived ideas we have about each other and serves to reframe empathy as something more humble. Additional Team Outside UW Design Nikita Kovalovs Saransh Solanki Mary Caroline Craig (Actress)