People of Design Showcase Series: COMMUTE

Client

Singapore Design Week 2024

Year

2024

Designers

Alistair Norris, Clarissa Edeline Yu, Madeline See, Tee Jia Yu, Wong Eng Geng

Brief

COMMUTE is part of the People of Design Showcase Series, a key event of Singapore Design Week curated by Hans Tan together with a team of designer-curators. Ten showcases presented across the Bras Basah.Bugis Design District creatively examines the rituals of daily life through the lens of design, where each showcase delves into a specific activity such as Eat, Sleep, Shop, Read, Heal, Make, Plant, Commute, Display, and Design. Through new works and collaborative projects, visitors will discover imaginative design possibilities shaped to offer fresh perspectives on the world around us, inspiring new ways of thinking, seeing, and experiencing daily life.

*Curated by Hans Tan Studio, in partnership with DesignSingapore Council, Land Transport Authority (LTA) & SBSTransit

Project Description

COMMUTE offers an interactive experience at Bencoolen Station located within the Bras Basah.Bugis Design District. Crafted by observing the behaviours of everyday commuters, “My Riding Tribe” brings to life the diverse personalities of Singapore’s MRT commuters through both physical and digital installations.

Exploring the quirks of Singapore’s commuting culture through the lens of everyday design research.

Most of us think of commuting as a dull, time-consuming routine. You hop on the MRT, zone out, and arrive at your stop—but what if you paid attention to the people around you?

For Singapore Design Week 2024 (SDW24), we wanted to spotlight Singapore’s rich commuting culture, while also introducing the public to the power of ethnographic research, starting with its simplest method: observation.

As we observed, patterns started to emerge. People scrolling endlessly through social media, catching power naps, chatting in groups, or simply lost in thought. These observations formed the basis of seven recurring commuter archetypes that felt uniquely Singaporean: The E-Citizen, Bobblehead, Reflection Gazer, Conversationist, Hugger, Workaholic, and Stylo Milo.

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Transforming the Singapore-specific commuter archetypes into an interactive, analogue-digital experience for SDW24.

As a public shareback of our research, the seven Singapore-specific commuter archetypes were translated into a playful personality quiz. Hosted at Bencoolen MRT station, the experience invited visitors to discover their 'commuting tribe' through a nostalgic, exam-style setup that blended both analogue and digital interaction.

By filling out OAS-style quiz sheets and scanning them on the spot, visitors can instantly discover which commuting archetype they belong to. The result can then be stamped onto the sheet using a custom two-part stamp, creating a personalised memento of their role in Singapore’s commuting ecosystem.

By transforming these observations into a playful, hands-on activity, we aimed to make design research memorable and accessible, sparking curiosity and encouraging participants to see their daily commute with new eyes.

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Leaving with new eyes and a deeper appreciation for the ordinary.

COMMUTE invites the public to explore design research through the simple act of observing. By demonstrating that anyone can engage in design research simply by observing, we hope that COMMUTE bridges the gap between professional practice and everyday experience, showing that design research is as much about curiosity as it is about process.

After all, some of the most meaningful insights are hidden in the everyday moments we often overlook.