Intercultural Design
03/02/2026 - 20/03/2026 (Week 1 - Week 7)
Lexandra Feodora Stefano/0384629
Intercultural Design/Bachelors of Design (Honours) in Creative Media/
Taylor's University
Intercultural Design : Designing Urban Features
JUMPLINKS
LECTURE
Culture and Design
Visuals are are defined as everything that can be seen and everything produced
or created by humans that can be seen. Everything that can be seen is wide,
all-inclusive including nature, but nature is not apart of culture unless
there's a meaning and representation. Everything produced or created by humans
that can be seen that has functions, content, and communicative purpose.
Examples :
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| Fig 1.1.1 Example 1 (05/02/2026) |
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Fig 1.1.2 Example 2 (05/02/2026) |
Designers need to be aware of cultural nuances, symbolism, and context to
create designs that resonate with different audiences. Design significance is
where people are able to identify the social, cultural, and political sphere
where the design elements reside. Can be simplified to a design system
below.
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| Fig 1.1.3 Design System (05/02/2026) |
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| Fig 1.1.4 Design System Structure (05/02/2026) |
Cultural sensitivity in design is more than aesthetics, it also encompasses
functionality, usability, and user experience. Cultural sensitivity awareness
includes symbolism and imagery, typography and language, also colour
consideration. Addressing cultural sensitivity can include inclusive design,
localization, user research, and cultural awareness training.
Impact vs Decoration
- The problem : visually impressive but conceptually thin, socially irrelevant, the portfolio trap.
- Decorative design : designs that start with aesthetics that doesn't really solve real life problems (example: tech-solution decorations)
- Impact-driven design : starts with people, responds to lived experience, the verdict
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Proposal (Week 1 - Week 3)
On the first week, we were told to form a group consisting of 6 people
(Ashley, Ellen, Via, Annabelle, Veivei, and me). After that, we were given a
briefing on what to do for this project and also some examples. Our project
theme is about designing urban futures. Then, we started brainstorming some
ideas and came up with 7 different ideas. We later decided to stick to 3
ideas, which are emergency button, drinking water fountain, and emergency
alarm and light for natural disasters. Then, we spilt into 3 teams to do the
research. Ashley is in charged of the first idea, me and Ellen are in charge
of the second idea, the rest are in charge of the last idea. The emergency
button is based in Kuala Lumpur, while the other designs are based in
Indonesia.
But then, we scraped the emergency ideas and came up with new ones, foldable
train chairs; fashion as urban infrastructure (anti-haba jacket), and
redesigning TransJogja map. All of the designs are based in Indonesia. Then,
during consultation day, we found out that the design has to be based in KL,
so we changed the locations and we have to look for a new idea. So, instead
of redesigning TransJogja map, we decided to do research on luminous zebra
crosswalk that is based in KL. After getting the approval for the 3 ideas,
we searched for the information needed and compiled it into a ppt. Here is
the final proposal.
Slides :
Presentation :
2. Data Collection (Week 4 - Week 5)
For this week, we were told to collect data for the luminous zebra
crosswalk, since it was our main focus. The anti-haba jacket is the second
idea but Mr Max said to focus more on the crosswalk. Then, we decided to
split into 2 groups for this task where 3 members go to KL to observe and do
interviews (Via, Veivei, Abel) and the 3 others do research and compile the
data (Me, Ashley, Ellen). For the research, we focused on researching on the
rules, signs, types, materials, etc of crosswalks in KL. For the interview,
we decided to ask 4 questions :
- How do drivers in Kuala Lumpur usually behave toward pedestrians at zebra crossings?
- How do pedestrians in Kuala Lumpur usually behave at zebra crossings?
- How would you rate the condition and safety of zebra crossings around Pavilion Kuala Lumpur?
- Do you agree that zebra crossings should have added features like lighting or sound for safety? Why?
We documented the interview and summarized the answers. We also decided to
do a google form to further explore and collect more data. Here are the
questions asked in the google form :
- How often do you walk as a pedestrian in Kuala Lumpur?
- How often do you use zebra crosswalks when crossing the road?
- On a scale of 1-5, how safe do you feel using zebra crosswalks in Kuala Lumpur?
- Have you ever experienced or witnessed a near-miss or accident at a zebra crosswalk?
- Based on your experience, do drivers usually stop for pedestrians at zebra crossing at red lights?
- How visible are crosswalks at night?
- On a scale of 1-5, do road accidents in your area affect your confidence when using zebra crossings?
- Which factors make zebra crosswalks unsafe? (Multiple choices question)
- What improvements would make zebra crosswalks safer? (Multiple choices question)
- If we proposed installing LED luminous (glowing) crosswalks, would you support this idea?
The second group went to KL to do observation, interview, and document/take
pictures of the crosswalks and lighting. After collecting all the
information needed, we compiled it into one ppt. After consultation, we were
asked to collect more data by doing more interviews and analyse the
crosswalk during night. We were also told to focus on one area only so we
chose Pavilion. Here is the final data collection slide (observation,
interview, research, google form).
3. Final
For the final task, we were asked to compile task 1 and 2 and also
finalize our ideas. We made some sketches and showed them to Mr Max, he
said to combine my idea and Ashley's idea and make one final sketch. Here
are my and Ashley's sketches that are going to be combined.
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| Fig 2.1.1 Sketch 1 |
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| Fig 2.1.2 Sketch 2 |
We decided to split into 3 groups where Ashley will make the 3d model of
the final design, me and Ellen will make the 2d final design, and the rest
will compile and summarize task 1 and 2. We decided to do an top view,
pedestrians pov, and drivers pov for the angles of the final design.
Ashley also made a detailed overview of the elements (traffic light,
speaker, crosswalk, led arrows, speed bump) for the design to help further
deepen the understanding of the final design. Then, we compiled everything
into a final slide and after getting the approval, we recorded the
presentation. Here are the slides and presentation recording.
Slides :
Presentation :
FEEDBACK
Task 1
Week 2 : The design has to be based in KL, need to change the ideas to
the solutions from problems that people face in KL about mobility. Add
more to the design, don't be to plain. Don't combine with a barrier
because we want to focus on the crosswalk. Can focus on distracted
walking instead.
Week 3 : slides and recording will be due on the 22nd Feb, don't
forget to send to g-drive link and e-portfolio links to teams.
Task 2
Week 4 : use the luminous zebra crosswalk as the main focus for task
2. The anti-haba jacket is the backup plan for the data collection.
The foldable train seat will not be continued. Google form is already
good. Don't forget to put the interview documentation.
Week 5 : do more interviews and observations, put the insight and
design requirements and focus on one site only, don't be to broad.
Task 3
Week 6 : sketches are ok, stop exploring too widely and start
narrowing into one final design.
Week 7 : all good, can start recording
REFLECTION
Experience - In this project, I met new people from different
programmes and got a chance to work together with them. I had the chance
to do lots of research about mobility issues in KL and especially a lot of
research about roads and crosswalks. I learned a lot of new things about
crosswalks, such as the history, different types of crosswalks, and many
more. This module was pretty difficult since there are a lot of tasks to
do with a limited time. But we managed things very easily and we finished
before the deadline. Even though I usually enjoy working alone, this
module helped me realize how teamwork can really help for tasks like
this.
Observation - Me and my teammates observed how people move through
the city, especially by foot. Me myself also walk around the city a lot
and have experienced the same problems with the crosswalks. At first, I
though the crosswalks and drivers here were better than my home country,
but turns out I was wrong. With this module, I realized quite a few things
about mobility issues that happen here in KL that are similar from my home
country. With the designs that we made, I hope we can help reduce
crosswalk problems here in the city.
Findings - Since I did the research in this project, I found out
that crosswalks go way back and some of them has a meaning to them. I also
realized that there are a lot of signs near crosswalks to help warn the
drivers about pedestrians but sometimes they are useless, especially with
low visibility. Designing projects like these can really help mobility in
the city for pedestrians. Other than that, I find it very interesting to
work together with people from different programmes. Overall, I'm glad
that we were able to finish this module in time.
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