Design Student of the Month – Jin Fan
There are a lot of creative students in Canada who are doing innovative work to improve people's life through interactive, visual, informational, and other aspects of User Experience Design. I invited them to introduce who they are and share their work with you. To nominate a Design Student of the Month, email us. The Design Student of the Month for June 2009 is Jin Fan! Congratulations!! Let's hear from Jin.
Who’s Jin?
I am an undergraduate honors degree candidate who is in my final year of completing my Bachelors of Science degree with a specialization in Interaction Design. I currently reside in Vancouver, British Columbia, where I study in the School of Interactive Arts and Technology (SIAT) at Simon Fraser University (SFU). I love being creative all the time and searching for new opportunities. Interaction design is such a diverse and interdisciplinary field. By studying it for more than four years, I have had experience learning a broad range of subjects from human computer interactions, usability, information visualization, design methodologies, cognitive science to communication design, human factors and so on. The collaborative learning environment in my program not only allows me to work with colleagues with different skill-sets and academic background, but also allow me to see how interaction design brings a new dimensions to benefit people’s life and the society at large.
What cool stuff is Jin doing?
Last year, my partner Kevin Muise and I attended the 2008 Microsoft Imagine Cup global final in Paris, France. Our GreeNet Facebook application design along with the proposal of re-designing an air pollution system for seniors during the 24-hours final competition made us won the 2nd place in the Interface Design category. Kevin and I are continuing our research and study in regard to energy visualization and sustainability. Currently, we both are involved in a project of developing an adoptive living interface for a solar powered home.
Last week (June 9-10), two of my projects, Bike App and The Looking Glass, were selected to showcase to the public as part of the Made in Brunel competition in London, UK. The two projects were published in the book Made in Brunel 2009: Thinking Out Loud. Bike App is a fitness iPhone application, which allows biking enthusiasts and iPhone users to enhance their workout through real time scenic and data visualization. Whether it’s hitting the trails on a sunny day or hopping on a bike at the gym for some cardio, the application uses iPhone’s built-in microphone and GPS capabilities to processes heart rate and calorie data into visually motivational and informative displays. As the lead designer of this project, I designed the graphical user interface and the navigations for the prototype.
In addition, I have also explored some other area of interaction design and its approach in terms of user-oriented design process. The design of the Droog showroom was an example of integrating interaction design approach on designing architectural environment. My team tried to explore and consider how people interact within a space and how a well designed space can enhance and encourage positive behaviour.
This short video below highlights some of the projects I have worked on at Simon Fraser University.
What are Jin's plans after graduation?
I look forward working in a creative organization and developing my specialities in the area of interaction design and user experience. I want to bring my passion in design to my future workplace and one of my goals is to contribute positively to people and society through better design and user experience.
Want to learn more about Jin?
I can be contacted via email at jfan.info@gmail.com or visit my website at www.sfu.ca/~jfa2
Technorati Tags: StudentoftheMonth,Canadian,Interaction Design,Simon Fraser University