Xiaofeng Gao

During my study at RCA, my project topics involved charity shops, ocean conservation, the mental health of the elderly (feelings of loneliness and long GP waiting times), social concern, Alzheimer's disease, and an ongoing service aimed at raising awareness for family health.

During my initial project at RCA on charity shops, I reflected on the following:

If everything follows the Second Law of Thermodynamics, the prosperity of the Earth is solely due to the continuous increase in entropy of the Sun. But even with the Sun's existence, resources are always relatively scarce. Some naively believe that resources will naturally flow where they are needed, but the ultimate realization comes at the expense of other resources, much like sunlight. Sunlight may persist for a long time, but other resources might be fleeting. If we are guided purely by self-interest, the balance will only drift further away. The goodness in human nature may help to restore balance, but how can we maintain and spread this goodness? Here, I discovered the value of service design, and realized that we need to design for good.

I am devoted to the issue of people's wellbeing and I believe there are numerous things I can do. However, at this point in time, I wish to tackle this subject from the perspective of healthcare, which I see as the goal for the first half of my life journey. Currently, I am exploring these ideas in the Healthcare Challenge Lab led by Alex Barclay.