IDS Students Design Award Winning App

An Industrial Design Student Team designed an app, HON, that has won 2 international design awards.

Industrial Design seniors Peter Kang, Rachel Colon, Sarah Tram, and Peter Yoo designed HON, which started as a special project last semester in studio and was initiated at the caring for the caregiver hackathon in Richmond, VA. Akshay Sharma accompanied the team for the 24 hour hackathon, as faculty mentor, and insists that it was primarily a student driven project. The student team has been working on their own to develop it further and enter it in design competitions.

The app was designed for those who care for someone who is failing mentally or physically, these people are commonly family members of the one who needs care. HON is a journaling and memory capturing application that can be shared within a private loop comprised of family. This application is not looked at by third party companies but is solely meant for private use within a family. HON has gone on to win gold for Multimedia/Interface Design in the International Design Awards and also bronze in the Indigo Design Awards which are both international design competitions.

The name for the app is derived from the Chinese word for soul, 魂 (hon), and uses Journaling which is scientifically proven to reduce stress and assist in spiritual healing.