Designers should not only focus on the aesthetic part of UI design. We should have broader – from psychologist’s point of view: what are users’ mental models of the application, what are the layers of users’ goals, to developers’ point of view: what are the logics of the interactions, what is the implementation model of the application and how the application is actually built, to mar- keters’ point of view: what is the ecological environemnt of it and who are the competitors.

In my previous working experience, I always stayed in the endless circle that paid extreme attention to the details of every interaction, but forgot the overall picture of the whole system, especially when I was drawing the wireframes for telematics (the whole system of in-car software). There should be a better way to help designers understand the whole system, the logics, and the models.

If mental models represent what are in people’s minds and implementa- tion models represent how products were built, then conceptual models represent designs.

This summer, I tried to learn coding, but the most time-consuming and energy-con- suming thing was to decide what language to learn.The same for learning interac- tive prototype tools; I always want to find the “final” and “perfect” tool, but the result is that nothing is the “final” one.

This Manifesto was originally from my husband. He, as a product manager, is often more “designer” than me. He always says “the value of your doing depends on your motivation behind it.” The measurment is not only for the end result, but also for the whole process.

This was originally from one of my friends, she shared it in wechat. The topic is how to “understand the motives behind your busyness: 1. (Positive)To please God, ‘well done’ at the end of time; 2. (Negative)Pride: I am the one who can accomplish this task, but the whole world is not depends on you; 3. (Negative)Powers: to control. I want it to be done in my way. My way is the perfect one; 4. (Negative)People pleaser. Just afraid of someone and want to please someone. Can’t say ‘no’. ”

The first time I saw these words, I was terribly shocked. It reminds me a lot of my negative motivations.

There is one sentence that always appears in my mind: If you can’t manage your life, you can’t manage your design. It is not easy to take care of my husband, my 2-year-old daughter and go to grad school. It is not easy at the beginning, but I am kind of enjoy it right now, looking for a balancing point between life and work, and letting life be my refueler. Everytime I go back home, I feel housework is more a relaxing exercise than a tidius work. I find my life is full of my husband’s and daugter’s love.