Professor Ken Nah has been a member of the Red Dot Award: Design Concept Jury since 2009. He is a professor of design management and the head of the International Human Experience Research (HER) Laboratory at the Korean Higher School of Design (IDAS). After a review meeting of the Red Dot Award: Product Design, Ken Koo and Professor Nah discussed the impact of design and mobile devices on life.

Ken Koo(KK): I know you like to manage your life through mobile devices. Can you share some experiences?
Ken Nah(KN): Like this electronic product, if I click twice ("Misfit Shine"), I can know the time and my work progress.
I sync it to my phone, I can accurately know the time of daily exercise, it can not only record my exercise, but also record my sleep. The most amazing thing is that according to the distance and time generated by the movement, it will automatically divide the activity into 5 different activity levels.

KK: Does it really help you?
KN: Yes, because with this application, I can record and set goals. If I reach my goal, I will be happy like a child, but if I don't achieve my goal for several days in a row, I feel that I need to work harder to solve this problem.

KK: I see more and more such devices that can measure and communicate. Smartphones are doing more for us. They reduce the number of products on the market and use their own services to make up for the functions of these products.
KN: Indeed, smartphone designers will first study existing products and then launch new business models and services. I think this is indeed a good thing, because it can integrate different services and devices. To me, my mobile phone is like a command and control center

KK: Do you foresee anything new in the future and how smartphones will change our lives?
KN: I think we can actually explore two different levels. On the one hand, more and more time is spent on mobile phones, which can help us think about problems. On the other hand, we spend more time communicating with others through SMS, group chat, Facebook and other software.

KK: It's an interesting insight that I never thought of, and I totally agree with it. Smartphones increase the time we spend communicating with ourselves, and at the same time extend the time we spend interacting with people. Does that mean we have fewer breaks now?
KN: This is a good question. Generally speaking, there is a certain transition time from activity A to activity B, but now, the transition time is getting shorter and shorter, almost immediately. Therefore, even if it is only 24 hours, I think we can use time more effectively.

KK: Do you rely too much on smart phones, even on holidays, because people can be contacted immediately, so you should reply to any situation immediately.
When designers develop mentioned services on smartphones, should they take care of some aspects and not always make everyone busier?
KN: That's a very good question. At present, in South Korea, designers and design associations are at an impasse. We need inspiration to break through the bottleneck period.
Designers should consider both positive and negative effects. In Asian culture, positive and negative are "yang" and "yin" respectively ". So far, designers have only considered the positive aspect, which is to design attractive products and then achieve commercial success. In fact, they should also broaden their horizons and consider negative factors.
They can work with experts in management, engineering, science and literature, and through interdisciplinary cooperation, innovation may be generated.

KK: Last question. What is the general direction of Korean design development now? Why do Koreans participate in the "Red Dot Award: Design Concept" award in large numbers? This is a relatively small country/region.
KN: A few years ago, almost every design student's dream was to work in Samsung's design center, but now it's not. At present, Samsung has more than 500 designers, but the number of final products is only a handful, and it is the same every year. The space that designers can play. At present, we are considering triggering a design 2.0 revolution. Because at present almost all designs are related to household appliances and company services.
Today, Korean designers look to the future because many companies still need designers with excellent design concepts. Designers should consider future development strategies, so I think this is the current overall direction of Korean designers is to develop new ideas, and even all education industries are developing in this direction.

KK: Thank you for your interview.
KN: Thank you.