Laveda Pasang

Designer
Master of Design

She is passionate about designing meaningful products or services, and about advocating for those in need, says Laveda Pasang who just completed a Master of Design.

“In my Design for Health course as part of my Master of Design, a few guest speakers talked about their experiences designing in the healthcare sector. Hearing about how design can be used to support underserved people, shift away from the status quo or break systemic cycles was truly heart-warming. I had an epiphany and a feeling of settled peace that this is exactly where I should be.

“There was a quote by Joyce Lee, related to the misuse of medical products, that stuck with me throughout my master’s degree, ‘Is it the fault of the patient or the fault of the design?’. Empathy is the key. It can be difficult not to try to come up with a solution based on our assumptions. As a designer, I become responsible for putting myself in the user’s shoes to understand their real experiences and perspectives, and determine the underlying issues.”

Laveda says she is ecstatic to have found her passion through her studies, and is now planning to move to the UK to pursue a career in the design for health area and gain overseas experience.

From engineering to design
Despite having a background in engineering, Laveda says she had always wanted to study or work in the design field.

“After high school, I decided to do a bachelor’s degree in engineering since I also enjoyed the sciences and maths, and couldn’t figure out which area of design to specialise in. Although I’m glad I completed my engineering studies, I missed being able to explore more unconventional and imaginative types of design. When COVID-19 hit, I was forced to re-evaluate where I would see myself in the next five or so years, and was immediately drawn to industrial design.

“I realised that the skills I learned through engineering could integrate well into product development, so a Master of Design was the best option to start building my career in this area. Since I didn’t have a bachelor’s degree in design, most universities suggested that I enrol in a Bachelor of Design or wait until the following year to look at postgraduate options. AUT was my preferred choice, and made an exception for me to enrol mid-year in the Bachelor of Design for one semester. This way, I could do some undergraduate study and, if I did well enough, would be considered for the Master of Design the following year.”

This proved to be the right decision for her and she thoroughly enjoyed her studies at AUT.

“I loved the smaller classes, and I felt that the lecturers were more approachable and students could get individual feedback. Though I can’t say I enjoy public speaking, having weekly presentations in class helped to slowly build my confidence when asking for critique and feedback from my peers. Having open design workshops also meant that labs were not restricted to specific areas of design, but any student could utilise the facilities.”

Rethinking asthma inhalers
For her Master of Design research, Laveda focused on redesigning the asthma inhaler to make it more intuitive and appealing to use. Her research was supervised by Professor Stephen Reay and Associate Professor David White.

“As an asthmatic, I initially approached the project to design a more modern aesthetic, having noticed that my inhalers have looked the same in the last 20 years. I noticed a strong reluctance to use inhalers in public, particularly by adolescents and young adults, and continuous misuse of the device by all ages.

“Since inhalers are well-established medical devices, the project challenged me to balance design and critical thinking. However, it was also vital to keep medical knowledge at the forefront as much as possible; otherwise, impractical – or worse, harmful – designs could be produced. With a human-centred approach, I advocated prioritising users throughout the project. I found compelling insight from users and clinicians to consider both form and function for an improved device instead of simply one or the other. “

She wouldn’t hesitate to recommend postgraduate study to other students.

“A lot more rigorous research is required compared to your undergraduate studies, but I believe the strengthened skills will benefit your career. Working on an individual project challenged me to be more independent. I had to learn that there isn’t one correct approach, and take charge of how I would go about the steps to figure out the best solution, while managing within the predetermined constraints.”