Everyday Design 2：Design for One

Dining alone, watching movies alone, shopping alone.
Will that make you feel free or lonely?
How can design help you enjoy spending time on your own?

Kevin, an interior designer and restaurant head chef, said, “Sitting at the low counter, you can chat with the chef anytime, and you can continue to eat alone. While sitting there on your own, you also know that there are other people by your side.”

How much can a person understand the needs of another person?
How much can a person understand his / her own needs?

Hans and Peter, founders of a self-ordering system company, said, “Waiters cannot remember the preferences of thousands of diners visiting every day, while self-ordering system can provide customized recommendations.”

In the crowd, you think nobody is watching you, and you can finally be yourself.
However, when being immersed in the crowd, you notice you can only be yourself when someone is watching you.
Being a foreigner in an unfamiliar city, one cannot find the feeling of home until he encounters a laundry.

Designer Katol said, “Hong Kong people are short of time in solitude and silence.”

Is there any good idea to design ways to experience the city on your own?

Edit a visual content of the city’s small structures?
Seize your lunch time for a journey to admire buildings?
Let the birds’ twitters show you a birdwatching route?

Perhaps, you will finally discover a broader world when you are not alone.