For my thesis, I want to have a project where I can incorporate my enthusiasm for designing new user interactions and user experiences. One of possible directions is to utilize projects that I have been working on, such as BeeMe and ITPGuestbook, as case studies. The other path is to come up with a new product proposal, and specifically focus on designing the user interaction with user scenario for it. I will make a decision in a few days!
I had the first thesis class with Kathy Wilson. She asked a class questions, which were all good and straightforward, making all of us think deeply about ideas for the thesis.
Questions:
- Who are you?
- Why are you here at ITP?
- What have you gotten out of ITP?
- What do you hope to get out of the thesis class?
- What are your concerns regarding the thesis?
- What do you want to do after ITP?
- (Thesis specific) What is your focus? – what are you exploring? or what do you want to do? or what problems are you solving?
- (Thesis specific) What is your direction? – how do you plan to do this? or what will you build? or what tools will you use?
I think the most practical and impressive feedback came out when we were discussing about time management. We were all concerned about how little time we have (14 weeks!). Kathy told us that Red Burns decided to give only one semester to thesis projects, unlike other art grad schools that usually allocate 1.5 years for thesis projects, because she believes that “thesis is about the scope and time management”. No one expects us to finish projects in 14 weeks. For Red, thesis is about big ideas with execution of the most core components. Kathy also told us that when she had her thesis back in a grad school, her professor told her that “the most important thing is the fact that it’s done.” I totally agree with Red and Kathy’s professor. I’m very looking forward to what comes out of this wonderful class & ITP.
juridesign.com version 2.0
I’m in the process of re-designing my portfolio site at www.juridesign.com. I’ve released the first version today. I will be tweaking and retouching the pages from now. I wanted to release it before things start getting crazy with a thesis project, classes and an internship.
Now it’s time to debug…
Comments are welcome.
Which way?
I’ve been thinking about my post-ITP career path. I’ve looked up some jobs of interest, including interaction designer, user interface designer and front end web developer, to find the criteria and expected roles, while researching the overall job market in Japan and the US to assess the market demand for a kind of work I would love to do. The search for the perfect match isn’t over yet, but I have a feeling that my Mr. Right Job is just steps away.
To marshal my thoughts, I decided to post quick notes. I will be posting more as I continue clarifying my thinking and further explore the future career.
Eventually, I want to answer a question I often get: “Are you a designer or a programmer?”
One of my new year’s resolutions is to improve my poor circulation, a common problem for Japanese females, by eating well. I started reading many blogs and cooking sites about recommended ingredients and recipes for warming the body. On Sunday I cooked a Japanized Korean Samgyetang (蔘鷄湯 or 삼계탕) for dinner with chicken, ginger, garlic and vegetables. It turned out pretty nicely and I enjoyed the leftover for lunch next day. Another thing I did on Sunday was to try FreshDirect for the first time. I was always interested in using their convenient service, but never had a chance or a particular reason to do so. Luckily they have a campaign for new customers that whoever register gets 25% discount on the first two purchases with no delivery fees. Why not give it a try? So I decided to order a little bit of everything to see how they are. Here are the items I’ve ordered:
- Cheese: formaffio fresh salted mozzarella
- Dairy: Dannon Activia (for a special price of 4pks for $3!)
- Organic: broccolette and Silk Soymilk 1qt
- Veggies: green bell pepper, hass avocados and a bag of yellow onions
- Meat: Boneless chicken tenders 12 pieces and wild flounder fillet
All for a total of only $24 with the discount.
The box was delivered to me this morning at 8am.
freshdirect delivered fresh to my door
I think it’s extremely convenient to have your groceries delivered especially if you have heavy stuff including a bag of onions and milk, things I usually do not want to carry.
So far so good, freshdirect
All veggies and meat look fresh. I already opened one Activia yogurt for breakfast. I will freeze the chicken for a later usage, and will probably cook the flounder for lunch or dinner.
I may purchase items from the FreshDirect again since I still get the discount as the newly registered user!
I’m very looking forward to the improvement of my circulation by the end of the semester 