AGENCY (Singapore)

Just wrapped up an incredible two days at the DesignSingapore Council's Futures Forum! 🎉 The event was a masterclass in forward thinking, structured around three pivotal pillars: Emerging Tech, Sustainability, and Care. Bringing together a highly inspirational group — changemakers, visionary designers, dedicated doctors, and passionate advocates striving to save our planet. 🌍 Kudos to Dawn Lim and the DSG team for the impeccable curation. Each session kept us engaged and inspired throughout. Day two was particularly immersive, blending enlightening talks with hands-on exercises that literally got us on our feet, collaboratively designing the future of care. Thanks, Tamsin Greulich-Smith. Several impactful themes emerged, highlighting the intersection of technology, design, and sustainability. 1. The Transformative Role of AI and Emerging Technologies AI in Design and Education: Embracing AI as a collaborative partner rather than just a tool. Discussions set out how and when to introduce AI tools to children, with the possibility of reframing creativity. Educators must focus on helping the youth ask the right questions and understand that they have access to endless answers like no other generation before them. Spatial Computing and AR Applications: Innovative use cases of spatial computing were showcased, particularly in medical support for PTSD and stroke victims. There was an in-depth look at how Augmented Reality (AR) can assist staff and impact patients in care settings. Gesture-Based User Experience: The future of UX could lean more towards gesture-based interactions—including voice commands, hand movements, and eye tracking. This raises questions for me about how these technologies will reshape service experiences and which tech advancements will be most influential. 2. Rethinking Design and Team Collaboration Designers and AI Collaboration: Encouraging designers to engage with AI as another contributor in the creative process. This collaboration can only amplify creativity and problem-solving capabilities. 3. Sustainability and Regenerative Practices From Growth Focus to Regeneration: Challenging the traditional focus on economic growth, the forum introduced concepts of regeneration and sustainability. The idea is to shift towards practices that not only sustain but also regenerate our environment. Zoöp Initiative: Highlighted the Zoöp model—an organisational form that includes non-human life in decision-making processes. This approach ensures ecological considerations are integral to economics and governance. The Futures Forum called on all of us to rethink our approaches, embrace collaboration (both human and AI), and commit to a future that is not only innovative but also regenerative and inclusive. #SingaporeDesignWeek2024 #DesignFuturesForum #FutureOfCare #SustainabilityInDesign #GoodDesign #AIandSustainability #GreenFutures #CreativityShapingFutures #InspirationThroughDesign

As part of a collaborative process, IDEO Play Lab works with families in interactive research sessions. These allow kids to let their imaginations soar as they play with toy prototypes, and their feedback gets incorporated into final products. In a recent endeavor, our designers worked to understand how kids and parents feel about their toys, what would make more #sustainable toys a more viable option, and how we could not just make a non-plastic alternative, but something even better for the whole planet. We discovered that to make sustainable toys appealing, they need to provide additional value, like affordability, enhanced educational benefits, or support for children's development. Kids themselves love natural materials and the ability to be resourceful, creating new toys from materials they have available. Already, we’re building concepts and new toys based on these opportunities, and we’re excited to make them real. Play along: https://lnkd.in/gs_sfW5b

We're thrilled to announce that our work with Sheares Healthcare Group has earned the prestigious SG Mark. Our innovative collaboration has revolutionised care for those living with chronic conditions, creating a programme that profoundly impacts daily lives. This recognition affirms our commitment to harnessing design as a powerful catalyst for positive change, transforming healthcare experiences and improving the quality of life for those we serve. We're immensely proud that our work is setting new standards in healthcare design and making a real difference in our community. #behaviourchange #humancentreddesign #sgmark #singapore

Our team had a wonderful night receiving an SG Mark award at the Design Business Chamber Singapore gala and award ceremony. To every designer honoured alongside us: your dedication to innovation inspires us all. You're not just creating solutions; you're crafting hope, shaping lives for the better, one design at a time. The creativity and impact on display from across Singapore and Southeast Asia remind us why we do what we do. Our award-winning work holds a special place in our hearts. It's more than a project; it's a lifeline for those managing chronic conditions. Knowing that our efforts are making daily life better and improving health outcomes for real people – that's what truly matters. This recognition fuels our passion to keep pushing boundaries in healthcare design. A huge thank you to Chloe SJ Lam and Joel Ong for representing AGENCY (Singapore) on the night. And to every team member, past and present, who poured their heart into this work: your fingerprints are on every life we touch. This achievement belongs to all of you. A heartfelt thank you to the DBCS team for a wonderful evening, and to the Ministers whose presence underscored the importance of our collective efforts. Your support means the world to us. This award will act as a reminder of the responsibility we bear and the potential we hold to make a difference through design. And we're humbled and honoured that our designs can change lives for the better. We will raise a glass! #behaviourchange #humancentreddesign #sgmark #dbcs #singaporedesign #passionmadepossible

Our team had a wonderful night receiving an SG Mark award at the Design Business Chamber Singapore gala and award ceremony. To every designer honoured alongside us: your dedication to innovation inspires us all. You're not just creating solutions; you're crafting hope, shaping lives for the better, one design at a time. The creativity and impact on display from across Singapore and Southeast Asia remind us why we do what we do. Our award-winning work holds a special place in our hearts. It's more than a project; it's a lifeline for those managing chronic conditions. Knowing that our efforts are making daily life better and improving health outcomes for real people – that's what truly matters. This recognition fuels our passion to keep pushing boundaries in healthcare design. A huge thank you to Chloe SJ Lam and Joel Ong for representing AGENCY (Singapore) on the night. And to every team member, past and present, who poured their heart into this work: your fingerprints are on every life we touch. This achievement belongs to all of you. A heartfelt thank you to the DBCS team for a wonderful evening, and to the Ministers whose presence underscored the importance of our collective efforts. Your support means the world to us. This award will act as a reminder of the responsibility we bear and the potential we hold to make a difference through design. And we're humbled and honoured that our designs can change lives for the better. We will raise a glass! #behaviourchange #humancentreddesign #sgmark #dbcs #singaporedesign #passionmadepossible

We're thrilled to announce that our work with Sheares Healthcare Group has earned the prestigious SG Mark. Our innovative collaboration has revolutionised care for those living with chronic conditions, creating a programme that profoundly impacts daily lives. This recognition affirms our commitment to harnessing design as a powerful catalyst for positive change, transforming healthcare experiences and improving the quality of life for those we serve. We're immensely proud that our work is setting new standards in healthcare design and making a real difference in our community. #behaviourchange #humancentreddesign #sgmark #singapore

AGENCY (Singapore) is proud to announce that we are now part of the Stagwell Global Affiliate Network, adding human-centred design to their creative toolkit to help our clients achieve the transformative growth they seek.

When bike-sharing programmes launched, they promised to ease urban congestion and pollution. However, real-world interactions often defy our expectations, resulting in many sightings of bicycles in unexpected places. We've seen how real-world behaviour can be unpredictable. This shows us an important lesson: understanding how people will use something is tricky but crucial. 🔍 One way to unpack user behaviour is to develop possible hypotheses, which serve as starting points rather than truths. By testing these hypotheses, we can reveal user needs and behaviours, guiding effective problem-solving and innovation. 1️⃣ Balancing act between regulation and freedom In a heavily regulated city like Singapore, the bike-sharing programme introduces an interesting tension by offering users the freedom to use bikes with minimal rules. This mix of strict city rules and the freedom of bike-sharing may affect how people use the service. The bike-sharing company may have kept regulations loose at the programme's inception to get more people to try it. Looking into this can teach us a lot about how people engage with bike-sharing. 2️⃣ Not meeting different user needs Bike-sharing serves varied purposes: commuters need quick rides, while tourists seek exploration. Even similar cities can have different conditions influencing residents' attitudes toward bike-sharing. Understanding these nuanced differences is crucial for designing effective, overarching solutions that cater to the diverse needs of modern cities. This approach helps planners and businesses make informed, strategic leaps rather than blind ones. See how we've helped other businesses better understand their users, check out our success stories and insights at https://lnkd.in/gfrSG7si #WorldBicycleDay #BikeSharing #BikeSafari #SmartCities #Sustainability #CityLife

Project Commune, a partnership between Agency & DASL to revitalise migrant worker dormitories, was honoured last year by Fast Company as the 'Winner of Best Asia Pacific Design.' This initiative boosts productivity and improves living conditions for Singapore's unseen labourers, setting a scalable model for business efficiency and community building. Read the detailed case study from our website here: https://lnkd.in/grdtTJUn #Communitydesign #Sustainablelivingspaces #Humancentreddesign