Jiajia Zhang

About

Jiajia is a Chinese designer, who graduated from the Design Products programme at the Royal College of Art.

Her designs come from observing life and exploring the possibilities of design to make life better. At RCA, she steps out of her comfort zone and constantly challenges new ideas and brings them to life.

Her designs are always user-centered and she is now on her way to becoming a great user experience designer.

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Award

2022: BP Sparkling Challenge - Finalist

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Exhibition

2022: Milan Design Week, BASE Milano, We will design, Milan


Contact

Degree Details

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  • Jiajia Zhang qr code

Statement

Working from home allows more and more work to invade our homes. How people balance life and work has become more important and it fundamentally affects individuals and companies. I believe that the lack of timely rest due to overwork is both a personal and a social problem, this is how I started this project.

Due to the performance evaluation of their work, people work non-stop leading to mental stress and physical strain. Their constant state of fatigue must affect the quality of their work. In my project "955", the interaction with the anthropomorphic objects allows people to actively take a break, rather than a passive reminder like an alarm clock, which can easily be ignored by clicking "snooze".

The exhaustion and crying of household objects make people aware of the over-encroachment of work in the home office and our need for timely rest. When household objects know that you are tired, they mimic your tiredness to prompt you to take a break. This is to ensure that people get enough rest and return to work more refreshed.

Nine Five Five 955

955 fights the 996 work system and defends our home from the invasion of work. 

Since the pandemic, working from home has allowed more work to invade our personal space. The 996 work system, describes people who work from 9 am to 9 pm 6 days per week, for which the work-life balance is increasingly difficult to achieve. 

955 is a series of anthropomorphic objects about resting to defend our home and take care of ourselves from overworking through a humorous design language. People get tired from working, but often forget that furniture and electrical appliances get tired, too. We all deserve a break. 

Object 1 - Chair Needs Rest

Chair needs rest
Chair needs rest
"Working mode" to "Overworking mode"
"Working mode" to "Overworking mode" — The chair has a pressure sensor on the backrest. When you are tired and lean back, the chair will know you are tired. The seat will drop back to push you to stand up for a rest.
Resetting the seat manually
Resetting the seat manually — After a 10-minute rest, the seat can be reset manually.
Arduino part
Arduino part — Using the car wiper motor turned the door latch by the crank to control the seat drops back. These all hide under the seat.

When you overwork, the chair seat drops lower and the backrest leans back to push you to stand up and have a rest. 

After a 10-minute rest, the seat can be reset.

Medium: Birch Plywood, Metal, Linen, Sponge, Arduino

Size: 504 x 630 x 1000

Object 2 - Lamp Needs Rest

Working mode
Working mode — The lamp is working.
Overworking mode
Overworking mode — The lamp blinks eyes many times and finally droops the head.
The lamp is working
The lamp is working
The lamp droops head
The lamp droops head
Adjusting the angle manually
Adjusting the angle manually
Securing with a wing nut
Securing with a wing nut
The lamp links a delete button
The lamp links a delete button — When you keep pressing the delete button, the lamp will know you are tired.
The lamp base
The lamp base
3D printing part
3D printing part — As the connection to every part of the lamp.
Arduino part
Arduino part — The light bulb for blinking, the servo motor for drooping the lamp head, and the button as a delete button. These all hide in the lamp base.

When you overwork you make more mistakes. When the lamp finds you tired, it will blink and droop. 

After a 10-minute rest, the lamp can be reset.

Medium: Aluminium, PLA, 3D Printing, Arduino

Object 3 - Pillow Needs Sleep

Weekday mode
Weekday mode — Working
Weekend mode
Weekend mode — Not working
Flipping to change mode
Flipping to change mode
Changing modes manually
Changing modes manually
Arduino part
Arduino part — The handmade pressure sensor for detecting, and the speaker for playing a sound. These all hide in the pillow.

When it's time to go to bed on weekdays, the pillow plays a lullaby to invite you to sleep.

After 10 minutes, if you're still working, the pillow cries like a baby to urge you to sleep.

Until your head leans on the pillow, it goes to sleep with you.

Medium: Linen, Velcro, Arduino

Size: 740 x 480 x 110