WOII: Week 1 Phenomenology
In this week's lesson, we learned about phenomenology, a bridge between our internal consciousness and the external world through purpose. According to my research, this approach is not just about personal opinions, but about discovering the "essence" of an experience.
I realized how people don’t interpret experiences in the same way because each person’s "lifeworld" is shaped by different bodily comforts and emotional associations. Our bodies and senses are constantly being affected by the environment, particularly through our experience of temperature. For example, while some Westerners may see Singapore’s humid weather as a sunny escape from their cold, temperate winters, many of us who live here tend to appreciate the cooler temperatures that come with seasonal changes. For me, I have a strong preference for colder environments because they offer a unique sense of safety. To some, the cold feels harsh or lonely, but for me, it acts as a quiet, grounding force that allows me to retreat into my own thoughts
Answer (1 of 2): Weather was one of factors I left Singapore but it isn’t the main reason. I left Singapore for New Zealand which has a 4-se
Through photography class, this became very clear to me. We were given the same 16 topics to photograph, When we compared everyone’s photographs, the results were very different. Even though there were some that came out similar to each other. Although the prompts were identical, our imagination, emotion, and personal associations guided what we chose to capture.
Both my research and this experience connect strongly to my design training. They reveal the gap that can exist between a designer’s intention and the audience’s lived experience. According to the phenomenological framework, a viewer doesn't just "see" a design; they "inhabit" it through the lens of their own history, culture, and current emotional state. Understanding this encourages me to move beyond purely aesthetic choices and design with deeper empathy.
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