[ PARSONS INTEGRATIVE STUDIO 1 - WEEK 6 REFLECTION ]

We've finally kicked-off our studio project this week! After reading about design research methods for a while now it's time to practice them in real life. 

We as a team spent about 1.5hr on our team agreement document. Though it might sound like a a total waste of time on something that's not as relevant, I found it extremely important. It not only set the rules for us to follow throughout the semester, alleviating problems caused by lack of communication, but also served as a team building activity for us. Within that 90 minutes, we all learned a lot about each other's background, interests, personalities and much much more.

[ PARSONS INTEGRATIVE STUDIO 1 - WEEK 5 REFLECTION ]

I have been looking forward to this lecture by Soon Yu after hearing him talk about innovation within large corporations last year. This time he visited Parsons again to talk about his upcoming book Iconic Advantage. It was hands down one of the most inspirational and motivating lectures I've ever heard. I especially love the Disney magic band story he gave as an example to show how organizations create their signature moments (iconic advantage) using these steps:

1. Map the Journey (of the users or consumers) - forget about all the traditional research methodologies, the simplest approach is to go out and start talking to people.
2. Find Pivotal Moments
3. Create Signature (Pick one and make it really, really good)
4. Innovate the Benefit

Being a huge Disney fan myself, I resonate with this story a lot. It was as if I got a sneak peak of what it's like working for Disney to help create the magical moments at the happiest place on earth (which is also my dream). 

During the first 40 minutes or so of our studio class last week we did a quick warm up activity with a group of 2-3 people, and from the activity we identified the top 5 best practices for teamwork. We each shared our greatest teamwork experience from the past (of course, there were some horror stories throughout the conversation as well...), we settled down on the following five.

I am never a techy kind of person, especially around virtual reality (VR). I always feel that the technology is still immature (also very uncomfortable for glasses people like me) and is something that's only going to be "hot" for a little while until the gamers lose interests and move on to the next big thing. After attending this symposium I have completely changed my perception towards VR and the impact it may be able to bring to this world, depending on how we utilize the technology. 

Randy Pausch, one of the most inspirational figure to me, once said during his famous lecture, Achieving your Childhood Dreams: "Wait long enough and people will surprise and impress. When you're pissed off at someone and you're angry at them, you just haven't given them enough time. Just give them a little more time and they almost always will impress you." When I watched the lecture a few years ago, this quote didn't leave any mark in my brain at all. After a few years of "real life" working experience, I went back and watched the lecture again last year. The quote caught my attention then but it just didn't resonate with me - I even tried debating with him in my mind a few times (yup...). "There are some people who are just not worth the time." I thought.