Keeping Up With Kiah

A collection of my thoughts about the complexity of our world and the beauty it holds.

[dailykroutines]

Visual Diary 14

One thing I want to take with me is being intentional with how I connect with the audience I am creating for. We get caught up in the idea of what we want to do and we forget to gain an understanding of those we do it for. I want to be sure I never forget that changing the world involves everyone in some way.

[dailykroutines]

Visual Diary 13 - The role major companies play in major crisis

A few days ago, I went to Starbucks and I shared what I was eating on Snapchat. My friend slid up and said “girl we boycotting Starbucks” which has me thinking about the responsibility we place on major companies' roles in foreign affairs. Now, we as a people should support the goal of “no war, just peace” but I think while we share our support from oversees, we are expecting major companies to make certain actions we can’t. And when we boycott them, we eventually disregard their wrongdoings and continue shopping with them. We are stuck in this complicated relationship between needing to enjoy those joys in life, like the first morning sip of a Frappachino, while also wanting to support those who need a village more than anything. How do we break the cycle while still holding on to our own human experiences?

[dailykroutines]

Visual Diary 12- Shonda Rhimes

If my random Grey’s anatomy reference have not indicated it, I am huge Shonda Rhimes fan! And of course, my absolute favorite work from her is Grey’s Anatomy. A fun fact about the show was it was never meant to go past season 1, not many people had that kind of hope. Today, they stand tall at about 19 seasons and they just. Keep. Coming. This show is an excellent example of design leadership seeing as they have never strayed from relating content to the realities of our country. Just to name a few, there are episodes that raise awareness of police brutality, COVID 19, and the overturn of Roe V. Wade. They have made direct efforts to impact their audience through entertainment and education. They never stuck to just being a show about surgeons and their personal problems. I am influenced by Shonda Rhimes because she has never been afraid to stand in the face of change and adversity. She has never been afraid of making the show impactful and relatable. It shows me that I want to be a design leader who isn’t afraid of addressing problems in the world and learning how I can support my employees, customers and community in positive ways.

[dailykroutines]

Visual Diary 12 - Welcome to the Renaissance

Beyonce is one of the largest artists of our lifetime and also an extremely impressive design leader. Throughout her career, she has made efforts to connect with communities within and outside of her company. She has also never been afraid to try a new sound or vibe when it relates to her music. Today, even if they aren’t a mega fan, you can guarantee that everyone has a favored Beyonce song OR they knew at least 1-3 songs. I thought the most impressive point in her career was the Renaissance era. From beginning to end, Beyonce allowed her fans be the advertises of her songs, concerts and products. She created an interactive experience at her show by starting the mute challenge and suggesting outfit colors and ideas to make each show more special than the next. Even when the concert ended, she create a movie to keep the experience alive for those who attended and those who were unable to make it. To me, show had a strong sense of empathy towards fans who were unable to afford a ticket and only enjoyed it through other people. She also realized how powerful she makes those who believe in and love the work she does, so she made a long lasting production that could all people to relive it and feel inspiration. I believe Beyonce has created a community of people who can come together to laugh, cry or scream to the numerous songs she has created throughout her career. She has learned how to allow her community to push her work out for her. To me, I am influenced by her leadership because she has never been afraid to try a new sound, move or bit. She has also always relied and repped her people. She noted societal changes and she wrapped her music and performance around it. She incorporated people we already love as backup dancers and singers. Beyonce shows that to be a design leader, never be afraid of change nor criticism, both of them will get you your results. 

[dailykroutines]

Visual Diary 11 - Shrek Forever After Mugs

The McDonald’s Character mugs were a huge success for decades, until the recall of over 12 million Shrek mugs. In 2010, it was discovered that there were dangerously high levels of cadmium. After recalling the mugs and investigation by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, there was 1000 times the federal limit for children’s products. In response, McDonalds offered to pay any customer $3.00 per cup if returned to stores, which was a little more than the original price.

[dailykroutines]

Visual Diary 10 - The Obama Phone

The Obama Phone program was put into place in 2008 for Americans who could afford paying for a phone service. Coincidentally, that was the year of the stock market crash and the around the time my mother was laid off from her job. For many years after that, we struggled financially because it because difficult to secure a full time job, especially because of the location we lived in. We depended upon government assistance and the Obama phone kept us in contact with my school, family and potential job opportunities for my mom. It kept a lot of families connected.

[dailykroutines]

Visual Diary 10 - WeTransfer

WeTransfer saw a major need present within companies whether nonprofit or for profit, it was a major pain for everyone to share huge files. Email companies had not caught up with that demand so people struggles sending files there and it was a real headache. So they created a platform where people could share files, no matter the size, to as many people as they needed, in minutes. To me, this example stuck out because I know the pain of sharing those files and the pressure placed upon employees to ensure they are received. It is something, that surprisingly enough, many companies used in the professional world have not caught up with yet. Because of that, WeTransfer is setting the tone for efficiency in the workplace.

[dailykroutines]

Visual Diary 9

I recently watched another episode of Grey's Anatomy where they had to save a patient who was a Jehovah's Witness and could not use any outside blood for his blood transfusion. Though he was unconscious when he came in, he had a medical alert necklace that informed the surgeons. To me, this shows that cultural parameters must be respected but there are instances where it would be in the person's best interest to put them aside. On the other side, this forces us as a society to learn about cultural parameters and develop strategies to meet the needs of other people. We need to know about the user experience and that doesn't always mean we will understand.

[dailykroutines]

Visual Diary 9 - Oreos

Oreos are a great example of accommodating to cultural parameters. In China, the Oreos we have in America were considered way too sweet, which eventually leads to the release of LightSweet Oreos. This also resulted in flavors such as green tea and tiramisu to fit local flavors.

[dailykroutines]

Visual Diary 8

Starburst originated in the United Kingdom, and were named Opal Fruits. When they transitioned to the United States, the company realized they had to accommodate to the audience, which created a new set a parameters. This included the name and new product variations.

For example, Starbursts began with 4 flavors and textures, which includes tropical fruit, gummies, jellybeans etc.. They also considered the favorite flavor, pink and red, and began creating packs that had those two or just one. They even made the candy sweeter to meet the needs of Americans who love sweets. 

[dailykroutines]

Visual Diary 8

The automotive industry has continuously created features to improve driver safety. A great example are the features of the 2022 Kia Seltos with the Kia Drive Wise Driver Assist Technology. My favorite features include:

Lane Departure Warning, which ensure the driver does not deviate to far from their lane, and if necessary it corrects the steering to ensure the car remains in its lane.

High Beam Assists, a feature that automatically dims and brightens your lights whenever a car approaches. This keeps drivers focused on the road and ensures the other car can keep their focus 

Blind-Spot Collision-Avoidance Assist keeps you from merging without hitting a car that may or may not be visible to the driver. Turning around to check your blind spot requires us to take focus from the drive, which in an instant can be considered deadly. 

[dailykroutines]

Visual Diary 7 - Jira to SalesForce

I have worked at my company for almost four months and in the time I was experienced my first software migration, from Jira to SalesForce. The migration to SalesForce has saved us a few steps and the made the updates more accessible and readible for the company. It also connects the parent and child case automatically, which makes it easier to review cases for any updates missed or due dates to be mindful of. And of course, they prepared us with training and knowledge articles.

I will say that the my company really showed great design leadership skills by developing a thorough plan with migrating everything from Jira to SaleForce. They prepared directors and managers with the knowledge they needed to share with their teams, as well as, ensuring the migration would meet the expectations of each team. They prepare effected training materials and remained accessible and flexible to any concerns or questions we had.

[dailykroutines]

Visual Diary 7 - iPhone 15 Overheats

This morning I look at the news to see our beloved brand, Apple, receiving criticism. The iPhone 15 has been reported by customers to overheat to a point of causing safety concerns. Apple has stated that it is a bug within IOS 17 and will be fixed with the next software update. They also suggested that the problem is connected to prolonged social media usage and ride shares. I find the design of their PR strategy interesting. They are not admitting fault, nor negligence, but they are finding a reasonable aspect to blame, IOS 17. They are stating what the plans are to fix and they are suggesting where the problem lies, ride shares and social media.

[dailykroutines]

Visual Diary 6 - Quantitative & Qualitative Research

Proctor and Gamble would do a lot of quantitative and qualitative research. Their quantitative research would probably involve learning the percentage of people who have unique experiences such as having a pet or children (which produces more dirt), how often people clean up on a weekly basis, or even what cleaning products do they currently use, why and for what purpose. They would also consider why they flock to using one product over another? Qualitative research may have them learning who are the people they sale these products to? What are their jobs? Are they obsessed with a clean space and how often do they clean. What struggles come with cleaning certain rooms and why ? How do they overcome that? What could make getting grime up better? What are their pet peeves about dusting, moping or sweeping? They would learn the life of someone and the how it makes them feel to have a clean space. I am interested in these tools because they have multiple methods to gain the data and insight.

[dailykroutines]

Visual Diary 6 - Assembling a Team

Assembling a team allows us to bring together a group of people with different educational backgrounds, unique experiences and various talents to build on each other to form an innovative design. A common of example of this is non-profit organizations. When these organizations are formed it begins with one or more individuals with different backgrounds and skills who are passionate about making change within their communities. They volunteer time for research, performing outreach, brainstorming ideas, and working to spread the message.

[dailykroutines]

Visual Design 4

Plastic Crochet Sleeping Mats help and serve the homeless population. With the amount of plastic bags we acquire as a nation, we have to be thoughtful about how we are giving back to our planet. This crochet sleeping mat design is creative and economically friendly. It serves to support homelessness, which is a wicked design problem with many infinite solutions but no right one.

[dailykroutines]

Visual Diary 5

"I feel like when you get back home, you just feel stuck. And that's so depressing."

My ethnography report at its core is about mental health trends in rural counties. For me, this includes current residents and recently relocated natives. I approached the questions I asked by asking to learn more about the participant, not just their mental health. This put them at ease and allowed me to learn about commitments in their lives that could cause stress. Then I started with simple questions surrounding mental health, the effects they believe it has in their lives, and how living in a rural county impacted their mental health. I also shared my own experience where necessary. I believe this offered comfort because they felt less exposed. I feel that one tension point was when we talked about how they dealt with their mental health and how they communicated their mental health issues to others.