In our latest team discussion on Wednesday, our agenda was to solidify our project direction with an action plan. Earlier in the day before this meeting, we had a workshop with Elizabeth where she was talking about being aware of the time schedule, and shared a quote “Don’t make the Right Decision; Make the Decision Right.” This really resonated with me regarding our group dynamics.
We are struggling a bit with very diverse ideas and the challenge of reaching a collective consensus. I don’t know if it’s placebo or something else, but I felt like the group meeting session later in the day flowed much more constructively with members including myself, XQ, and Khyathi, showing greater openness to compromise. This shift didn’t mean we stopped voicing our concerns, but it meant we were challenging and probing ideas more effectively while keeping the conversation on track within the scope of our project. We did have the occasional diversions into topics like Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and even some backtracking into Western vs Eastern working dynamics, but each time we managed to quickly reign the conversation back into focus on our primary objective.
Our project’s aim became clear, we wanted to explore the impact of technological advancements on labor within the hospitality sector, particularly within tech company canteens. This choice was made with the desire to provoke thought on the broader social implications of tech replacing human roles, touching on the themes of, as Nina puts it, design activism and social change. While I remain a bit skeptical about the assumption of “most” tech companies are actively developing technologies to replace human labor in the hospitality sector, this is mostly a practical concerns as I’m not sure how many of these type of tech companies exists in London, or even the UK. With that said, I still recognized the value in examining the hospitality sector within these settings as it could unveil some insights into privilege, social divides, and the interplay between technological progress and human livelihood.
Having finally reached an actual consensus, for the last time I hope haha. We are going to move forward with our research, both primary and secondary, looking for research, references and evidence to support our project, and allowing us to advance with a clear direction and purpose.
very interesting.