A&D ANNUAL 2021

Jingyan Chen (Baelora)

Jingyan Chen (Baelora)’s project ‘Automate, Homemate’ aims to assist people to have easier and more efficient technological automations in daily life. In recent decades, people are gradually relying on technology to assist and support their daily lives—all kinds of smart devices have been used at home. Baelora’s research addresses problems that have emerged in relationships between people and technology, specifically in the smart home system market. This project researches and develops methods on how to help people and technologies work better together. The methodology consists of instructional system designs that analyse similar existing projects, and follows Don Ihde’s theory of four human-technology relations. The design project aims to help users manage their smart home devices more easily, creating a sense that “we are controlling technology” rather than “technology is controlling us”. The outcome of this project is a smart home mobile phone app. The app design instils a feeling of home by utilising a ‘sunset’ theme, and connects to a diverse range of smart home devices in just one app. ‘Automate, Homemate’ aims to maximise user satisfaction through human-centred design.