Flow
Flow is a product designed to offer digital nomads workspace recommendations in unfamiliar locations, along with access to shared focus-enhancing device to boost their productivity.
Its primary objective is to assist digital nomads in preserving a healthy work-life balance by enhancing their work experience and productivity.
DATE : 2022
ROLE : UX | VISUAL DESIGNER
TEAM : Qixuan Hu & Gechun Guo & Yanru Wang
Problem Statement
If digital nomads are the future trend of young people's lives, what kind of work environment and working conditions can promote the development of digital nomadic lifestyle?
Research & Analysis
We conducted interviews with four digital nomads residing in China and Thailand. Each interview lasted 45 minutes and aimed to capture their thoughts, attitudes, and emotions regarding remote work while on the move. Additionally, we visited three distinct public workspaces that these digital nomads had recommended, allowing us to observe their work habits, sources of distraction, and workspace preferences.
Ideation
We connected the needs of digital nomads across multiple aspects of work, and we tried to approach the problem in a more sustainable and aggressive way by studying a variety of literature and cases.
Competitive Analysis
Based on initial design thinking, we analyzed the tools that digital nomads use to find a place to work on the market as well as products focused on increasing work efficiency.
Design
Our products are divided into two key sections. By seamlessly combining the online recommendation platform with tangible offline products, Flow offers a holistic experience that empowers digital nomads to more effectively achieve a harmonious work-life balance.
SAY SOMETHING
The biggest takeaway from this project is the limitations of the output we break through. It originated from our curiosity about the digital nomad lifestyle and a quest to uncover new methods for achieving work-life balance in the future.
Our initial assumption was for a spatial product, but through interviews, observations, and surveys, we uncovered significant discrepancies in digital nomads' work expectations compared to our assumptions. We also identified a preference for natural, local spaces to create a versatile office environment. This approach allows us to overcome the limitation of office space; one product plus a platform, with only a few pieces of work auxiliary equipment, can make any location suitable for an office.
My team and I bring expertise from digital media, industrial design, and environmental design, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration that broadens my perspective to incorporate product material structure and psychological safety distance in the environment.
