MDes Students Share Early Ideas at the Thesis Progress Poster Symposium

On Friday, December 12, just before mid-semester break, second-year MDes students shared the direction of their thesis work during the Thesis Progress Symposium.

A central milestone in the thesis year, the symposium provides a structured opportunity for students to articulate early-stage thinking, share design research in progress, and put evolving concepts in front of peers, faculty advisors, alumni, and local industry professionals. For many, it’s the first time their thesis work moves from private exploration to public dialogue.

The day began with review sessions in Advising Work Groups, which are small cohorts of students and faculty who meet periodically throughout the year. These sessions allow for in-depth discussion of research framing, methodology, and emerging insights. In the afternoon, students presented their work in an open poster session. The space was filled with faculty, peers, alumni, and visiting professionals who circulated among the posters, engaging students in conversation about methods, prototypes, and possibilities. Rather than polished conclusions, students shared works-in-progress, literature review insights, early design research findings, and thoughts on potential directions, inviting tactical feedback and fresh perspectives.

This year’s symposium reflected the range of interests across the MDes cohort. Project topics include:

• Designing Ambient Systems for Emotional Co-Presence in Remote Relationships, Summer Chao
• Moments of Play: How Public Design Can Facilitate Individual Playfulness, Mia Jeong
• Meaningful Distribution: Spatially-Mediated Collaboration with Distributed Physical Pixels, Jo Jiang
• Between Algorithm and Agency: Designing Adaptive Wellness Platforms for Trust, Serendipity, and Context-Aware Guidance with Data Transparency and User Agency, Jiyu Kwag
• Designing for Individualized Self-Care: Fostering Emotional Resonance Through Mental-Health Support Tools That Motivate Sustained Engagement, Yujin Lee
• Co-Living with Agentic AI: Designing Relational Human-Agent Interactions through Experiential Trust, Jay Moon

Together, these projects examine questions of connection, agency, interaction, and emerging technologies across diverse contexts. The work reflects a shared commitment to designing for meaningful experience in a rapidly evolving world.

Throughout the remainder of the year, second-year MDes students will conduct further design research, develop and refine prototypes, and evaluate their interventions with members of their target audience. Each thesis culminates in a written document that articulates the design process, proposed concept, rationale, and potential broad implications of the work.

The students invite the community to learn about their theses and experience their final forms during a public presentation and exhibition on Friday, May 1, 2026.

To learn more about each student’s work, visit our Graduate Thesis Work page.