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Moving from New York to Taipei, I had a challenge to pack for a six-month stay. So in goes the boxes are my favorite art supplies so I could continue to pursue creative projects, my tech essentials for work and for monitoring my personal well-being, a versatile and simple wardrobe to cope with high humidity in a new climate. These items were supposed to work for that half a year stay, that sounds like such a short time now (laugh). But at the end of 2020, after living in New York for over 15 years, it felt like a huge move. I packed slowly with intention, to make sure I’d feel comfortable and not deprived, being away from my comfort zone. Fast forward to today, four years later, after living with these items for 8 times the amount of time that we original planned for, I know I’d move with them anywhere. Together, they’ve become my life kit. The value they bring to my day-to-day is now immeasurable. Lately, I’ve been thinking about the intentions from the designers of these objects, and how these intentions overlap with how I designed my life kit. This overlap is where I found value.

Hi, so happy to have you here! This is where I share my thoughts on how design changed the way I think and do, and why I think design is simply a part of life. My name is Sandy, and I’m A Design Mentor.

As promised in the last episode, let’s dive into value proposition today.

Have you heard of this term? And what do you think it is?

As usual, let’s take a step back and think about value. What does the word value mean to you? And what is valuable to you? Could it be that 99-cent-a-slice corner pizza store on a busy day? Could it be the planner you use to organize both work and life? Could it be the pair of AirPods that lock you in the zone while you work? Could it be the beat-up stuffed animal from your childhood? Could it simply be time? Yes, to all of the above. Each one of these items could be valuable to you or anyone else for a personal reason. And even though there is no set formula to calculate the value of anything to a specific person, it’s always felt through the overlap of function, delight, need, and sentiment.

Let’s take the AirPods and stuffed animal as examples.

My AirPods' function is to deliver audio to me, whether it’s a piece of a content or an important conversation. The delight is how seamless it switches between all my devices. My need for them is to listen to music or podcast so I stay focused at work. The sentiment I feel for them is that they were given to me by my husband.

Okay, how about a stuffed animal?

A stuffed animal’s function is to deliver an animal-like toy to a child. The delight is its colors and its squishy softness. The child’s need is to hold onto it to feel secure before falling asleep. The child feels the sentiment of having the most trusted companion every single night towards it.

There are plenty of other possible combinations of function, delight, need, and sentiment. And where these four things overlap, we feel the value.

Why does this matter in design? As designers, we often start by noticing a problem from the users. Then we continue on to brainstorm the functions of a product. And to make the product appealing, as an added bonus, we add in the delight. The personal sentiments from the users are more unpredictable, but through empathy, we design so the target users feel a connection to the product, as this keeps them around for a very long time. In short, we discover the user needs, and we work on delivering the function, delight, and in turn, the value.

From a very macro perspective, looking at a design process, the discovery, the research, the prototypes, the iterations, the deliveries, are all for proposing value to the users. It’s not just what the product does—it’s what the product offers in return for the user’s attention.

So why do we talk about value proposition in product design? It has a lot to do with the need for definitions, especially in the last 30 years, with a startup heavy design culture, well-defined value propositions don’t just help the users understand brand new products that never existed before. They also help design and business teams stay focused on what they need to work towards.

Now, there are plenty of tutorials on writing compelling value propositions, so I’m actually not going to discuss how to draft a value proposition, instead, I just want to say that at its core, a value proposition is what designers and businesses promise the users, a promise to deliver a product that is unique, useful, delightful, and cherishable.

With this understanding, how do we apply this to life?

Take the example I shared at the beginning of the episode, I designed the life kit by asking really confronting questions to myself.

• What do I need for work?

• What are my absolute musts in life?

• What are the most essential art supplies to provide me creative outlets?

• What would make me feel most like myself and secure?

Anything that weren’t answers to the these four questions, did not follow me to Taiwan. While designing my life kit, I made sure I focused on my personal needs, considered the functions and portability of everything, l left room for delight, and I embraced the sentiments.

When I say design changed the way I think and do, I mean it, as I’ve designed many more little kits in other areas of life just like this one, following the same principles. These are unthinkable projects to my younger self, before I studied design.

Whether you’re building something for yourself or for others, try to ask the hard questions, seek the most honest answers, and craft with the most intention.

I’m curious—what was a value you didn’t understand at first, but later came to truly appreciate?

Before I let you go, I want to share some exciting news. After a couple months of hard work, I’ve launched a new website! Over the last three years, I felt a need to consolidate everything I do, in writing, in art, in design, in my name, in everything. So I finally did it. Please check it out at sandyhongsanchen.com. You’ll also find the link in the show notes. Please feel free to let me know your feedback and your thoughts.

If this episode got you thinking—whether for work or life—subscribe and turn on your notifications. I’m grateful for you all and beyond excited to go on this journey with you.

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Sandy Chen 陳虹珊
A storyteller born in Taipei, shaped by New York. Bilingual writer, designer, podcaster, and artist. 台北出生，紐約成形的故事編織者。雙語寫字人、設計人、Podcaster、以及藝術創作者。

Work with me | 合作邀約

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Hi, so happy to have you here! This is where I share my thoughts on how design changed the way I think and do, and why I think design is simply a part of life. My name is Sandy, and I’m A Design Mentor.

The word pivoting is often used at work and in business. It usually means to take a hard turn from the original project, to go into a brand new direction or a new venture, in order to meet the needs of the customers.

But today, I’d like to share my thoughts on why pivoting is impactful to life.

When I was young, I always wanted to follow the safe path. The path that many have told me about or even guided me towards. Veering away from the path would create many unknown and unpredictable situations. And it could mean danger or failure. In the fear of getting into unknown territories, I often stayed firmly on the path, until I moved to the US.

After moving abroad, time and time again, I find myself at crossroads where I needed to make decisions for myself. What should I study for college? Which school should I apply to? Which career looks interesting? Should I shift the focus of my career? Can I start a new career? Should I get married? Where do I want to live? Should I dedicate time to learning? There are a whole lot more of these questions, as life is full of challenges and decision points. In the past episodes, I mentioned quite a few pivoting moments in my life. These moments were daunting, thrilling, and crippling all at once. Daunting because of the unknown consequences, thrilling because of the possible outcomes, and crippling because of the endless what ifs running through my head. I was never really sure if I was choosing the correct path.

None of the pivoting moments have been easy. None of them showed me what the future would look like before I took the plunge. But like anything in life, I needed practice and confidence. I needed practice to know that failures are actually my friends. And even if I still wouldn’t know anything about the future, I know for sure that the process will bring me the kind of knowledge that I get to keep for life. I needed confidence to trust myself, to know that even if this pivoting moment would only lead to another pivoting moment, I have the strength and will to redesign a new path forward.

With each hard turn, I gathered tremendous courage to clean slate and start fresh. I used discipline to create a brand new set of rules and a fresh approach of doing. I subscribed to grit and persistence to just churn through the time, sometimes a lot of time, to see some results. In the process, I learned to focus on what I believe in, to see past the hurdles and obstacles, to finally realize that the other alternative of staying put, was no longer what I needed. Perhaps, the process of pivoting, is like a process of decluttering, so I can clearly distinguish what I should hold on tight or to let go.

After becoming a mentor, I got to work with many who have had successful careers before digital product design. They were a teacher, an engineer, a fashion designer, and many more. When I met them, I saw their drive pushing them forward, I saw them go through extremely difficult and self-doubting moments, I saw them celebrate the small daily wins. And all of them would eventually break through their personal limitation, and go off to begin a brand new career.

The reason why mentoring was so rewarding, was not because I got to teach anything. It was the inspiration and awe I felt, when I could walk with others and be there to witness their journeys. The importance of pivoting is often not about what we get at the end, but the process of coming to see how powerful we can be, how swiftly we can shift and experiment, and how adaptable we truly are.

Seeing others and myself walk through these processes made me realize that no one's life is supposed to be a straight line. The winding path, the sudden stops, the ups and downs are what make our lives interesting, and yes, beautiful. The opportunities and lessons along the way are unique presents, for us to grow, to become more connected with ourselves.

Pivoting is an opportunity for us to redesign the way we live, operate, and connect with the world. If you are at a place where staying put gives you satisfaction and support, that is fantastic. There is nothing wrong with that. There are certain periods of time in life when stability is the most important thing. On the other hand, if there was a chance for you to change in order to gain new perspectives, and you know the time has come, grab that opportunity, for yourself. Just like the courage you have in staying put, use the same courage to move forward. It is never going to be too late, there is never going to be a perfect time, a seed planted today is the best time for it to grow. And any pivoting moment in life is for us to grow, and to branch out.

At the end of the episode, I’d just like to say happy new year, we’ve reached the 10th episode today! I know it’s a very small milestone, but it has been such a big project for me in the past 3 months. Thank you for being the firsts, I appreciate you tremendously. I hope these first 10 episodes have brought you something. If you like what I’m sharing, please subscribe and share it with others, your support means the world to me. I’m looking forward to this new year, as there is so much more to come.

Next time, I will try to demystify digital product design.

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Sandy Chen 陳虹珊
A storyteller born in Taipei, shaped by New York. Bilingual writer, designer, podcaster, and artist. 台北出生，紐約成形的故事編織者。雙語寫字人、設計人、Podcaster、以及藝術創作者。

Work with me | 合作邀約