I decided to reflect

by Yashovardhan

As another year is coming to a close, I thought I’d take sometime out and reflect on a few things I learnt. I’m doing this as I stumbled upon this vague thought which spoke to me while I was walking back to my work station with a cup of coffee during a draining pre-presentation week. It said

"An experience/product designer, trying to be a service designer- has no time to sit and reflect on his own experiences to decide what future path he wants to choose??"

In retrospect, the answer to this could be an entire book but I have tried my best to carve it into an article limiting the discussed learnings to a top five and I hope you find it to be a good read. Also, I hope it inspires you to reflect, learn and grow from the experience you’ve had. I say so because writing makes you think. Thinking is questioning. Now, writing about yourself makes you question your actions and in them you find the answers you seek. Simple math.?

Ah! 2021. Is over. We’re all beginning to talk about the how 2022 also sounds like 2020-too but I hope it doesn’t. If you think that’s lame, we’re on the same page. Though there were good things about 2020, like the waters clearing up, birds visiting our cities and me settling in a job for more than a year! It was task for me, trust me. Even though I love what I do, it’s difficult for me stay in one place for too long. This is the 1st of my reflective learnings.?

I am not trying to sound artsy or vagabond-ish but maybe that’s just who I am. I like to tell myself “my job here is done,” and once that’s said, I find myself some place else to be. So here I am writing from the city of London as I pursue my masters in Service Design aspiring to land a job that’ll make me stay. To know how this links to me moving around, feel free to get linkedIn to send me a notification about my profile being viewed. Oh go on! I’m asking you to see what I did; do; and read ahead to know what I might.?

Over the past two years I have discovered a muse to my poetry- history; in it people and the objects that defined them. Now I find myself fortunate that I was born in a family of rug makers in India and have grown up playing on my inherited heritage- rugs. It’s a legacy the two generations prior two me wove literally from yarn, and I like to do my best to embrace it.

So here’s learning 2, I guess- I like making rugs and creating a sense of human attachment for everyone who cares. That’s literally everyone. Even batman cares, man. If you think doing what Bat does is not cool, you’ve gotta be kidding me.?

Anyway, this leads me to my 3rd learning. I like to think about a person’s interaction with the touch point which is a product, at an emotional level. I’m a product design graduate, pursuing Service design and I can’t help it. Now it’s only elementary to do that as a designer and a lot of people reading this will say “well that’s your job!” But the same people will be the first one’s to omit this in reality because they also say “oh! That’s the first thought, let’s look beyond.” I can do a whole paper right now on this thought but let’s stick to the reflective learnings. To sum up the 3rd one, there is a serious block in a designer’s head (mine too) when they’re ideating which I feel, arises due to over use of prescribed methodologies and this needs to be checked. As a designer I need to think about the rudimentary things. The basics. For realising this I need to give a shoutout to my term1 team at MASD22 LCC UAL (that’s what my course is called) that was assigned by our course professor Veron L. Kai. Guys! Sofia Kallimasioti, Anushka Joshi and Lu Xanduxan, thanks for being a part of my journey of learning the importance of root level ways of thinking. Interesting how the module was called Ways of Working.?

The 4th one is also thanks to the same module and is based on my academic?submission mentored by Male E. which focused on “introspection-thinking within teams,” to create a healthy work environment allowing flow of thoughts. This in-turn fuels productivity which is key for effective and efficient decision making through projects. Could be a quote you know. Maybe?

Lastly, I love story telling and presenting. Thats why I wrote this reflective article. Kidding. The 5th one is not underestimating myself. It’s a tough one for people who like to be the smartest one’s in the room. I have subtly admitted to be a part of that group. So, I have come to terms with something that kept bothering me through 2021 when I got to know that most people in my masters course have more work experience and years on their feather than I do. That was intimidating in the beginning and I like to embrace it. Had I underestimated myself, which I did for a little while, I would not have been reflecting so pleasantly here. Would have been a rant, trust me.

That said, these points of reflection are not the only points I thought of but I fell like they influenced my decisions and life over the past two years. Woo! That’s the fastest 1011 words I’ve ever managed to write.?

If you’re here, I’ve also managed to make you read them. Kudos to me and cheers to you! Let me know what you think in the comments section, or reach out to me via text or email. If you want to to hire me, please don’t hesitate.?

Hope you had a happy Christmas and wishing you the best for the coming year.