Now

![My final project Stille got honored in Fast Company’s Innovation Design Awards in the Student projects category!]()

My final project Stille got honored in Fast Company’s Innovation Design Awards in the [Student projects category! ](https://www.fastcompany.com/90553730/students-innovation-by-design-2020)

**Update –** Stille got honored as an **honorable mention** in the [2020 Fast Company’s Innovation By Design awards](https://www.fastcompany.com/90553730/students-innovation-by-design-2020) under the Student category!

I have mentioned this in my LinkedIn and FB posts, but will repeat it here: it really feels a bit odd to be mentioned in the same breath as my classmate Hiroki Sato’s project Kico, which was also honored but was also our BEST IN CLASS at CIID. You should totally check out Hiroki’s awesome project.

New section: Playground, which is a section for playful projects. I will be using that to put up small scale projects as and when I am done with them.
As I am interested in meditation (I am actually in the middle of a meditation retreat right now), my latest playground project is a toy interaction inspired by a Zen saying, which I am calling Raging Bull 1.0.
(To note, there seems to be an issue with the interaction when assessed via mobile Safari or Chrome, though it works on Firefox mobile.)

Work

I’m an Assistant Vice President in the Customer Experience (CX) division, Singapore Economic Development Board (“EDB”). It’s a lovely team, working on different projects: I’m working on multiple workstreams at this point.

I will be taking over a product team, which I was initially a bit down on (I like being irresponsibly free from having to manage people…) But now I am quite excited: I have been thinking these few days, that perhaps this product I am taking over is my long-awaited answer to the Hamming questions.

I am part of a team looking at telecommuting. We just did a few weeks’ of design research, which has been quite fascinating. What I can share is that telecommuting has had a significant effect on the social connections within the wider organisation, especially between teams. Seems like technology and virtual coffees can’t quite replace the in-person connections that spontaneously happen at the water points, bathrooms, lift lobbies, etc.

I’m still part of a team looking at Digital WorkPlace tools, especially around Microsoft Teams and its app ecosystem: our objective is to reduce employee fatigue and increase productivity. We had tapped on design research that I did in March.

Side Projects (Update 29 Sep 20)

I’m working with IDP ‘17 alum Yee Mun on a project. Right now, it’s in a hiatus as we are both busy with other things: I recently completed a trial project with some friends on a “gratitude service”.

[Update: I am choosing to get distracted by Lisp, specifically Dr Racket, as I decided to take a step back, and learn how to properly design programs before devoting my time to Javascript. My thinking is that I am getting hugely stuck in the weeds of Javascript syntax, and half the time I am not sure if I am having problems with syntax or coding logic. So I have decided to focus on coding logic primarily.]

I am also playing around with p5js, mainly because it is close enough to Processing (which I had learned last year, but don’t like as a language) for me to be able to code some very basic stuff. I am trying out a digital Dhamma concept for the past few weeks; will post it here when I am satisfied with the outcome.

Mulling Over (Updated 11 Oct 20)

> data-animation-override> > “To condense fact from the vapor of nuance.”

— Juanita, “Snow Crash”

I am reading Snow Crash (see below), and am wondering how would the Metaverse and hypercards be like in this day-and-age. In fact, wouldn’t it be cool to overlay a Metaverse onto Singapore, AR-style? [Opportunities in digital Dhamma/dharma](/dreaming-of-dharma) – I have been thinking a lot about using digital to create tools or experiences for people to enjoy calm in their minds. \[**Update** my playground project Raging Bull v1.0 is along these lines! [Check it out](/raging-bull-v1).\] \[**Update\]**Javascript – I am parking aside Javascript. While it is useful and widely used, I struggle with the language; it is really not as easy to learn coding/programming from a language that seems to accept almost everything, before spitting out an unclear error message… In contrast, I have been exploring [***How to Design Programs***](https://htdp.org/2020-8-1/Book/index.html) the last two weeks, and it has been (a) hugely fun and enjoyable, and (b) super easy and clear. Scheme/Lisp/Racket has almost no syntax whatsoever, and it has been amazingly easy and fast to pick up. A huge contrast to Javscript!

Other Stuff (Updated 11 Oct 20)

Reading
Snow Crash – mentioned in the latest Economist Tech Quarterly on Virtual Realities, which sparked me to finally take it off my shelf and read it. After a sluggish start, it’s turning into a pretty absorbing read.
How to Design Programs

Watching
Kevin Hale’s talk on How to Build Products People love – such a gem for product people. A bit dated, but it goes into so much in such a condensed way.

Meditating
30+ mins a day. Latest guided meditation I used is here.

Working out
Starting Strength Linear Progression. Current weights: Squat 210lb (94.75kgs). Am taking a break for a bit, as my form is a bit off and I have also injured my left foot recently.

Updated as of 11 Oct 2020