ArtCenter | Where My Interaction Design Practice Began

My design journey began in the Interaction Design program at ArtCenter College of Design. ArtCenter's intense, project-based training taught me to start with real problems and move quickly through research, concept, interaction logic, prototyping, and final presentation. It also trained me to explain, clearly and convincingly, why a design should exist.

During my undergraduate studies, I built a foundation in interaction design, user experience, interface and prototype design, experience storytelling, and future-facing design exploration. Instead of thinking only in screens, I became interested in the full logic of an experience: why a problem exists, what people need, how touchpoints connect, and how design balances people, technology, and context.

This thinking ultimately came together in my graduation project, Pikapoo.

Pikapoo began with my observation of pet waste management in urban public spaces. The issue was not simply that some owners were unwilling to clean up after their pets. It also involved inconvenience, limited awareness of environmental impact, and a missed opportunity to connect public space management with pet health data.

So I did not approach it as a standalone app or a single hardware product. I tried to redesign the entire service from a system design perspective.

Pikapoo combines a shared pet waste cleanup robot, PooBot, a waste processing facility, PooBase, and a mobile service. Users can call a nearby PooBot through the app; the robot identifies, collects, and transports waste. The system also performs basic health analysis, syncs results to the pet's health record, and converts waste into reusable organic fertilizer. Together, these touchpoints create a loop from problem discovery to robotic cleanup, data feedback, and resource reuse.

I was responsible for Pikapoo's interaction system, app experience, and service flow, while collaborating with an industrial design partner on the robot's form, behavior, and human-machine interaction. It was my first time bringing product design, interaction design, service design, robotics, and sustainability into one system.

Pikapoo continued to evolve after graduation and won the iF Design Award and A' Design Award. It was also exhibited at Milan Design Week and other design exhibitions, and was featured by Sustainability Times.

For me, Pikapoo was more than a graduation project. It shaped how I approach design: less as a single page or feature, and more as a system that connects users, products, technology, and real environments.

Pikapoo Project Video

Pikapoo Project PDF

During my time at ArtCenter, I was on the Dean's List (GPA above 3.8/4.0), received multiple college scholarships, and graduated with honors.

This became the foundation for my later work in AI product design, VR/AR, game experiences, interactive media research, and interdisciplinary projects. It taught me to go deep into interaction details while still asking: What problem are we solving, and what can design actually change?

Core Growth: Interaction design and UX methods · system design · service design · prototyping and interface design · user research · experience storytelling · rapid iteration and public presentation · interdisciplinary design thinking