Note to Self - Thesis project
From the object collection Material & Memory. A porcelain tile memory system that help our minds gradually train and reinforce memory over time in a meaningful and creative way, helping them to stay organized and remember what matters at the right time and place.
Parsons The New School - Spring 2025
Project currently under development.
Introduction
We often work in chaotic spaces, where forgetting reminders, appointments, tasks or ideas can cause stress and make it hard to stay focused. I’ve been there too and I realized no one offers the tools we truly need, I believe this is an opportunity to introduce into the market an analog, and mindful tool for eco-conscious and self aware users. That’s why I designed Note to Self — a system that helps customers gradually train and reinforce their memories over time, helping them to stay organized and remember what matters.
Background
When I was seven, my parents moved into my grandparents’ home to take care of them as they became more dependent. I spent more time with my grandpa and began noticing his unique habits. He was a perfectionist with a great sense of humor, but he was also strict. He’d remind me to tie my shoelaces or avoid a broken tile he had marked with red paper. Once, he publicly chastised me when he mistakenly, thought I was being disobedient, which made me feel frustrated. Later, alone with my toy vehicles and a hammer, I smashed them to let out my emotions.
This destructive behavior sparked my curiosity as a designer, driving me to explore the effects of time on materials. I began questioning why that tile broke, which led me to understand that the cracks that frequently appear in the corners of solid, flat floor surfaces often result from uneven forces and an unstable surface below.
The red paper covering the crack in the tile served as a reminder that it was broken and needed to be replaced or repaired, while also acting as a safety label to prevent tripping.
Why *Note to Self?
Human memory is generally poor, prone to error and to manipulation. It fails in unpredictable ways, at the most inconvenient times, and sometimes, with dire consequences. — Bender W., 2004.
Expanding the context of the broken tile, I’m designing a system that helps users capture and recall important notes. This system includes a modular board and a small device, about the size of a toy car, that prompts users with reminders when needed. Five participants from different creative fields will test these components as part of this research. Since human memory is often unreliable, this system aims to reduce stress and help users focus on what truly matters in their lives.
I’m convinced that developing a better memory requires patience and a lot of practice. Dominic O'Brien, the eight-time world memory champion, shares that memory depends on three key elements: making something memorable, storing that information in the mind, and recalling it accurately when needed.
When I slept I dreamed I was being crushed. So I began to move my memories, to place them round the cell, in the crack of the floor. By rights, such a small room could nor serve the purpose. But I gave each spot a meaning. — Kunzru H., 2012.
There are two different aspects to a reminder: the signal and the message. The signal refers to knowing something is to be remembered, while the message is remembering the information itself. Most popular reminding methods typically provide only one or the other of these two critical aspects.
According to Don Norman, the need for electronic reminders is well known, but these reminders often prompt people too early or too late, rendering them just as useless as having no reminders at all. Yet surprisingly, in the area of screen-based devices, paper tools are still enormously popular and effective.
This is how I envision users interacting with this system: they can imagine a space, make it memorable, store information in different spots of their mind, and recall it when needed with the help of a totem they carry everywhere, like on their keychain. I believe this tool has the potential to change people's lives. By literally writing on porcelain tiles, each designed with the symbolism of a broken tile with a crack, users can treat these tiles as a meaningful storage for their notes, combining both meaning and creativity in their reminders.
Endnote
*Note to Self is planned to be part of the narrative of Material & Memory — a collection of objects that can evolve through different perspectives within interiors, architecture, and product design.