2025
Personal
Interactive Design
Background
In the Performative Objects unit, the brief tasked us with digitising a physical object to create an interactive prototype that highlights its materiality, cultural significance, and function. I chose kimchi as my subject, a fermented Korean food rich in sensory and historical layers. My final deliverable was a website built in Webflow supported by an Augmented Reality (AR) video experience. The goal was to tell kimchi’s story in a multisensory, interactive format that engages users visually, audibly, and imaginatively.
Core problem
Kimchi, as a wet, textured, and organic object, is difficult to digitally capture in a way that fully conveys its sensory richness, especially smell and texture. Additionally, I lacked prior UI/UX experience, which presented technical challenges in developing an interactive web prototype using Webflow and integrating audio/AR within its platform limitations.
My Process
3D Scanning & Editing: Used Polycam and Luma AI to scan kimchi; cleaned scans in Blender to remove noise and artifacts.
AR Design: Illustrated and animated three AR scenes representing different kimchi types and their regional/cultural backgrounds, using Illustrator and After Effects.
Web Development: Developed the website in Webflow, refining layout and interactivity while working around limitations (e.g. using external links for audio).
Visual & Audio Storytelling: Designed pixel icons, retro 2000s Windows-style UI, and produce two ambient soundtracks to create emotional and sensorial immersion.
Narrative Framing: Wrote all website copy from kimchi’s point of view; titled "POV: Kimchi", to create a playful and culturally expressive voice.
Key Actions Taken
Narrative-Driven UI: Designed a storytelling interface mimicking early 2000s Windows, allowing kimchi to "speak" through playful, sensorial prompts (e.g. “Smell me,” “Feed me”).
Multi-Sensory Engagement: Integrated custom ambient audio tracks representing both emotional context and cultural history; designed AR scenes with symbolic colors, motion, and sound to evoke smell, setting, and mood.
Interactive Storytelling Elements: Developed drag-and-drop sections, rotatable 3D object, and pixelated sensory icons to emphasize functionality and interactivity.
Adaptive Problem Solving: When Webflow couldn’t embed audio or allow HTML edits, I created external audio triggers and visual cues to maintain narrative cohesion.
Outcomes
Created a fully interactive website prototype with distinctive visual identity, tactile storytelling, and narrative depth, despite having no prior UI/UX background.
Successfully conveyed the sensory experience of kimchi digitally, blending AR, audio, and visual cues to evoke taste, smell, and cultural setting.
Developed technical fluency in new tools like Polycam, Blender, and Webflow while strengthening my design adaptability.
Used a culturally-sensitive and emotionally resonant approach to storytelling, positioning kimchi not just as food, but as an object with memory, identity, and presence.
