Conferences
This marks Aaron Zhu’s first time attending the Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS) and also his inaugural presentation of a Work-in-Progress paper as first author. He expressed deep gratitude to their exceptional collaborators—Yiming Yao, Haiyue Lu, Tse Pei Ng, and Celeste Seah—and acknowledges the invaluable guidance and support provided by Division of Industrial Design Professors—Janghee Cho, Jung-Joo Lee.
The research addresses a significant oversight in HCI: the invisible labour of care workers in aged-care homes—an area that remains under-explored despite demographic shifts in high-income nations. Through ethnographic study involving migrant care workers at a nonprofit long-term aged-care facility in Singapore, they unpack the nuanced, invisible work shaped by migrant identity, communication barriers, juggling care roles, and efficiency-driven technologies. Rather than merely automating these tasks, they advocate for design approaches that illuminate, respect, and reimagine care work to improve well-being and agency.
The project originated during his MDes programme in the Advanced Design Studio focused on The Futures of Care. At DIS, Aaron was thrilled to connect with other researchers investigating aged-care, noting that while care is a shared concept, its tensions surface differently across cultural contexts—highlighting the importance of situated design. Aaron also contributed to the DIS Zine Library with a collaborative zine born from the CHI’25 workshop “Mobile Technology and Teens”—co-created with Janghee Cho, Inhwa Song, Zainab Agha, Bengisu, Veena Calambur, Minjin Rheu, and Jina Huh‑Yoo. More than stories, these zines serve as artifacts of daily negotiation, care, and digital agency, offering grounded provocations for researchers and designers—ultimately asking: What should be built? How can technology foster reflection, trust, and well-being?
As a designer, this experience fostered a strong sense of belonging and provided a bold launchpad for future work for Aaron. He is particularly thankful to the MDes programme for opening rich intersections between design research and HCI.
Photo Credits: Aaron Zhu (MDes Class of 2025)
Our MDes students were honoured to present their final ID5002 Integrated Design Studio project at the Future Foods Congress 2025 — Bridging the Future of Sustainability and Food Science, which took place from 16 – 18 June 2025 at the Singapore Expo. It was an incredible opportunity to share their vision and be inspired by the latest research in food innovation.
The students had meaningful conversations with talents across academia and industry, exchanging ideas on how different countries are tackling food sustainability and exploring possibilities for future collaboration.
"Where can we experience your pop-up exhibition?" and "How can we participate?" — These were some of the questions asked by the attendees and it’s heart-warming to see people excited about bringing our students’ design to life!
Photo Credits: Yao Yiming and Zhang Xinyang (MDes Class of 2025)