Sizhe Yan

Sizhe Yan(Rain) is a designer who designs experimental interaction in addressing real-world social issues. Before joining RCA, he graduated as a product design student from Coventry university. He has a relatively mature understanding of industrial design processes and methodologies and challenges himself to jump out of the box to learn and adopt new design approaches. Projects, Rain(Sizhe Yan) Loves to involve fun elements in his concepts. During his OMI study, His practice is to develop future interaction and products through real or hypothetical objects, experimenting with multi-discipline methodologies and design interventions addressing social relationships issues.

Education

MA Royal College of Art 2019-2021

BA(Hons) Product design Coventry University 2016-2019

Graduated with First Class Honour Degree

Award and Exhibitions

RCA/Logitech The Grand Challange 2020 3rd Prize Winner

London NEW DESIGNER Show 2019

Breaktime.-----Virtual Water-Cooler Moments

This project explores new ways of social interaction in addressing issues around remote working anxiety and work in isolation. An exploration of the type of conversation that people missed in the physical workplace develop a feasible approach to explore social interaction.

FOMO(Fear of Missing Out) feels that many remote workers fear being excluded from the company activity, creating people's own side of anxiety. There are no more watercooler/coffee break moments that allow colleagues to relate to one another, the right to support the right to express themselves, the right to relax in a work time/space.

So how can we recreate those casual encounters,water-cooler moments in remote worker's own kitchens? Restore the type of social interaction that people missed from the physical workplace?

Unit 4 The World of Online Streamer:

I investigated the work condition of online streamers. They are regarded as the ultimate entrepreneurs in the virtual space. But behind the glamour of celebrity, it is actually very exhausting work. They have to constantly perform to the audience through the tiny camera space and are monitored by platform supervisors.

This unit leads me to explore further the current remote working conditions among all of us in my final project.

Unit 3 The Ball Boys

This group project explores the depth of the tennis ball boys working system on-field and their precise and unique interactions with the tennis ball. Gaining insights and translate them to a fictionalized "youtube game reaction video."

Project Video: Virtual Water-cooler Moments — This project video fictionalises different types of experiences that people have in remote working/work in isolation. And display the ideal scenario for the new social interactions.

Designed Interaction: Proximity(1) — The user interacts with the virtual space through distance change with the physical device to re-create those casual encounter moments between colleagues during their work break.

Designed Interaction: Proximity(2) — Colleague pass by the "Virtual room"

Two colleagues encounter scenario(1)

Two colleagues encounter scenario(2)

Two colleagues encounter scenario(3)

Group of colleagues encounter scenario(1)

Group of colleagues encounter scenario(2)

This storyboard focuses on creating a virtual casual encounter between colleagues through the interface and spatial sound to create the experience of a random bump into someone in the workplace breakroom. Exploring all kinds of scenarios in this type of conversation and social interaction allows the user to be more selective during the process.

Interaction system remote work

Physical Device

Physical Device Components

"Water-cooler moments" System Concept — This project is not creating an intercom device but restoring the social relationship between the remote workers(alone). This system explores the "Water-cooler moment" during work breaks and understands how to accommodate different traits of this type of social interaction.

This project is not creating an intercom device but restoring the social relationship between the remote workers(alone) in the company. This system explores the "Water-cooler moment" during work breaks and understands how to accommodate different social interaction traits. Also, the current focuses of the project are on the interaction/System design. I will develop further into the physical concept of the project, Move away from hand-screen interaction into a range of device interaction methods.

Interaction Design Remote Work System

Project video

Fictionalized Poster: Streamer work condition insights

Project Props

Through this unit, I investigated the work condition of online streamers. They are regarded as the ultimate entrepreneurs in the virtual space. But behind the glamour of celebrity, it is actually very exhausting work. They have to constantly perform to the audience through the tiny camera space and are monitored by platform supervisors.

This unit leads me to explore further the current remote working conditions among all of us in my final project.

Augmented Reality Interaction Labour

"The Ball Boys 4" Game reaction video

This group project explores the depth of the tennis ball boys working system on-field and their precise and unique interactions with the tennis ball. Gaining insights and translate them to a fictionalized "youtube game reaction video."

Tennis

Sizhe Yan

Social

About

Royal College of Art