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As an interior designer with over 25 years of experience, both domestically and regionally, I have noticed the phenomenon of consumers themselves replacing the role of an interior designer. In home related projects and in more economically advanced countries like Singapore, Malaysia and China.

Do We Really Still Need An Interior Designer?

SIXiDES is an interior design tech and renovation platform that uses tech to change the way people renovate their homes. Conceived as a means to safeguard aspiring homeowners in realizing their space with ease and peace of mind. SIXiDES unique features provide an integrated solution that guides the users right from the very beginning till the end of the renovation journey.

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<img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads%2F1668994328684-men-showing-whatsapp-messenger-icon.jpg" style="width: 100%;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">&nbsp;1.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&ldquo;Ok Let&rsquo;s Start A WhatsApp Group Chat To Manage The Project!&rdquo;Raise your hands, if the last designer or renovator who did up your home or the one currently doing your home, suggested to you that they will create a group chat and manage your home renovation project with that app. Chances are, you may have been added into one of those groups that claims to be the answer to how your home renovation project is going to be managed. However, I&rsquo;ve always wondered, &ldquo;How can a communication tool perform complex project management stuffs?&rdquo; To me, it is akin to being in an email loop and just because everything and everyone is inside the loop, does not make that a project management tool.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads%2F1668994350611-business-people-using-smartphone-while-together.jpg" style="width: 100%;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"> 2.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;More Than Just CommunicationAlmost all of us have in one way or another used WhatsApp at some point in our lives to communicate with our friends, family, and even colleagues. What makes WhatsApp so popular is how easy it is to exchange messages and photos with your connections. A user can be either the admin or the participant to a number of WhatsApp groups and communicate differently depending on the members and the scope of each group. It is really easy to use and effective, with no geographical constraints. But what about using WhatsApp in renovation projects? Could that work? The short answer is no. Good as it is, WhatsApp isn&rsquo;t enough for running complex projects, at best we can say it is a good communication tool, but not enough to manage a project. There are many shortcomings and I will share why.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads%2F1668994389401-builders-are-working-level-building.jpg" style="width: 100%;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"> 3.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Renovation Is ComplexTools like WhatsApp and Excel might be great for other uses like communications and data spreadsheets, but they can&rsquo;t offer you overall site understanding and control, that all homeowners experiencing the anxiety of renovation, are after.&nbsp; Since renovation is complex and its daily affairs require frequent and factual updates, people have turned to the most universal and accessible app to achieve this. Whatsapp became a natural choice for both client and renovator. The success of this, is assuming the project team updates frequently and honestly.&nbsp;In reality, the homeowner will have no real-time insight into the renovation project and there will be no clarity on who&rsquo;s accountable for what, which ultimately leads to slow and dysfunctional decision making.&nbsp; There are many drawbacks as well and below is just a small list of what we noticed: <ul><li>Chronologically, all data is stored in the WA group and you can have access to it, provided you were inside the group since day 1. Any new member joining the group will not have knowledge nor access to the information before he/she joined. This means new members serving in the project team will still be in the dark about many things.</li><li>Some people like to delete things on the app and phone so that they can free up storage on their device. This happens all the time especially when people are using older and or lower spec devices. The result to this is a loss of information and data.</li><li>Searching is difficult because while the groups exist, there is no way to compartmentalize the information so that we can retrieve the needed information easily and quickly. Users will have to rely on keywords to search, provided everyone remember the keywords.</li><li>It can be quite intrusive. Let&rsquo;s face it, we all need our personal space. Whether you are a homeowner or project person or a designer, when messages start coming in like site pictures or comments on site matters in the middle of a movie or a dinner date after work, it can be quite nerve wrecking and disruptive to whatever activity you are doing. The sender is anxiously waiting for the &lsquo;double blue ticks&rdquo; and the recipient is deciding whether to open the app to read the message. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</li></ul> 4.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;The Truth Will Set Us Free!So, assuming your project guy or designer is zealous about the reports, updates regularly with photos of your site, it does not guarantee that your project is not headed for a disaster. As everyone has a smart phone these days, some designers or project managers have been known to rely on the contractors carrying out the work to update their progress or completion of the work by sending pictures to the designers. In turn, the designers will take these pictures and resend into the group chat that the homeowners have with the designer, giving the false impression that the designer had visited the site and has seen the progress and is updating with site pictures.&nbsp; The harm that this action does, is that the designer may not be there to see potential issues like workmanship, care for other parts of the home (ie. Painters painting the ceiling and leaving paint marks all over the new parquet flooring, because the relevant contractor only captured images of their area of work and not other areas).&nbsp;&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads%2F1668994415429-ghant+chart.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Gantt Chart on a tablet and smart phone On the other end of the spectrum, we have also seen how very detailed designers and project managers use softwares like Microsoft Project or Gantt Chart apps to post schedules on when certain jobs or components of a project will be executed. It can be quite useful to see the planning and scheduling but in the eyes of a homeowner or an outsider, this is rocket science to them. What&rsquo;s more, having a plan does not equate to execution, but it does seem to minimally provide some form of expectations to dates and deliverables.&nbsp; I remember being on a site with a few contractors once and we were all looking at the 35 item gantt chart on a smart phone and it was just impossible to shift left and right to see the scope of works.&nbsp;5.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;There Must Be A Better Way To Do ThisIn truth, many of the designers rely either on a project team to manage the site or they manage themselves. However, most firm may not have a dedicated project team and so the job of sales, drafting, preparing quotations, meetings with contractors on and off site for multiple projects all happening at the same time becomes too much to bear.But, what if we can make it simpler, easier to use, more effective and have a way to plan, store and communicate faster. I&rsquo;ve thought about this for quite some time and we at SIXiDES came up with a Project tool called, &ldquo;ALMANAC&rdquo;.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads%2F1668994428326-Al-ma-nac.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"> The whole idea about scheduling and planning something is to create predictability. And all homeowners will agree with me and that renovation, is anything but predictable. Our Almanac has functions that tells the stages of the project and we used activity rings to indicate the progress.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads%2F1696401508432-almanac-highrez+%28small%29.jpg" style="width: 60%;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Screen capture of almanac beta But beyond that we figured that we needed more and so we added features into it to beef it up. Here are some of the things we added to the design of this tool: <ul><li>Easy to read activity rings. Anytime a part of the work gets completed, the rings will close and another ring will begin. These rings are easy to read, whether it&rsquo;s on your phone, your tablet or your desktop!</li><li>As the rings start getting closed. The system will trigger the designer to upload invoices to advance the project with progressive claims.</li><li>Uploading of all plans, 3D renders and site photos so that there is an archive of everything. If the homeowner or designer is on site or off site or even overseas, he/she can just whip out the smart phone or tablet and access the information all at their fingertips.</li><li>Weekly review &ndash; homeowners can grade the project execution every week. If the project continues to receive negative reviews, it will trigger red flags to the design firm&rsquo;s owner/s for immediate action and remedy.</li><li>Without being intrusive, both parties can leave notes or chats and even to do lists to each other so that messages or instructions can be acted upon expeditiously.</li></ul> These are, but some of the initial features of our Almanac Beta version. What we are seeking to do is to disrupt and change the way people project manage their home renovation. The idea is to make it understandable, predictable, and reliable. Since there is no precedent, the only way we see it, is to use our experience and to make a product that meets the needs of the consumers and service providers today. 6.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Last But Not Least&hellip;So now that we know Whatsapp is not a project management tool and we now know Almanac exist, why not give it a go? We can only get better with the product development when we have enough users trying it out and letting us learn from their user experience.&nbsp; What Are You Waiting For? Use eQuote Now, Select a Designer, And Begin Managing Your Renovation Projects With Almanac! <a href="https://www.sixides.com/equote"><img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads%2F1669039580476-Get+equte-01.png" style="width: 23%; text-align: middle;" class="fr-fic fr-dib froala-align-middle"></a> <iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SsNwbYgaqbw?autoplay=1&mute=1&wmode=opaque&rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" style="width: 100%;height: 45vw;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe>

Raise your hands, if the last designer or renovator who did up your home or the one currently doing your home, suggested to you that they will create a group chat and manage your home renovation project with that app.

Whatsapp Is Not A Project Management Tool For Your Home Renovation!

1.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Yes I Am A Feng Shui Practitioner!Before anyone flags me and call me a con-man, I am truly a certified Feng Shui practitioner and here is my certificate of practice that I graduated from since the Singapore Feng Shui Centre, under the tutelage and mentorship of Grandmaster Vincent Koh, (one of the few Grandmasters in the world!) in 2010. As such, I have more than a decade of experience and practice in combining this ancient wisdom with our modern interior design living. In fact, I had come up with a modern way to fuse modernity into the classical art of Feng Shui. In this &ldquo;WORD FROM THE NERD&rdquo;, let me share how you can &ldquo;Huat&rdquo; a little bit more with 3 simple ways to activate or find the wealth spots in your home! <img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads%2F1673573492888-article74-1.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib froala-align-middle">Astley&rsquo;s Certificate of Practice for Feng Shui 2.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Huat Is A Wealth Point?Simply put, in Feng Shui, a wealth point/location/spot/sector is an area of a home or shop or office that is associated with wealth , prosperity and abundance. You may be asking,&nbsp;&ldquo;How can a single location or spot in a space bring in luck or wealth? It does not make scientific sense at all!&rdquo;Let me try to explain this in the easiest and most modern way. Imagine you are a caveman now, and your residence is literally a cave. And in a cave, there are dark spots, dry spots, damp spots, airy spots and warm spots. Which means if you, the caveman, were to bring in firewood, would you place the woodpile at the dry spots or the damp spots? Would you start the fire at the dry spot or the damp spot?&nbsp;It is actually quite logical that if we want the best possible result for starting a fire, we would place the wood in the correct environment and yield the best possible outcome.&nbsp;Have you noticed that in restaurants, the cashier counters may have a tipping box for you to drop the spare coins in? If you just happen to not want to carry the coins, or you really want to tip the waiting crew, the tipping box will remind you to tip them. Or when you are making payment in Don Don Donki, they have a &ldquo;snaking&rdquo; pathway that they are lined with goods like titbits and snacks, for the purpose of making you do a last minute impulse purchase? <img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads%2F1673573533110-article74-2.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib froala-align-middle">Payment at typical Don Don Donki stall So the idea of a tipping box, a bunch of impulse buying displays and a &ldquo;wealth spot&rdquo; acts in the same way. They are symbolic and are there to communicate a purpose like tipping or impulse buying. If used in an appropriate location, they can be very effective, for the same logic that you should start a fire on dry ground. The theory is similar.Hence in Feng Shui, many people take the symbolic aspects quite literally and place piggy banks or water features or even FU LU SHOU figurines at these wealth spots to activate the luck. Personally, I prefer that we take a modern approach and activate in the most subtle way like plants or decoration items to activate the wealth spots as opposed to putting figurines. It has to feel homogenous with the design and theme of the home. Remember that just like the wind, good Qi (luck energy) is not seen but felt. Therefore, it should be subtle and non-intrusive.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads%2F1673573555814-article74-3.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib froala-align-middle">Tips for a Scandinavian styled home: FU LU SHOU and a designer, Scandinavian design piggy bank. Ideally use elements or d&eacute;cor items that gel into your home design. If it sticks out like a sore thumb, then it is the wrong approach. 3.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;The 3 Theories For Locating The Wealth PointsThere are many theories to locate your wealth points, but from this article, we&rsquo;ll be sharing 3 and they are:&nbsp; THEORY 1: HOME/SPACE BAGUA Simply locate the southeast location of your home. You do this by standing in the center of the home and using the compass to determine the location of the southeast. If it turns out that southeast happens to be a bathroom or a bedroom, then use the spot just before the bathroom or bedroom. However if the location is too crammed and not suitable to place any objects, move on to theory 2. <img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads%2F1673587574164-article74-4.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib froala-align-middle">Location of Southeast is in the bedroom and the exterior of the bedroom is actually the entrance of the bathroom, therefore this is not suitable to use theory 1 THEORY 2 &ndash; SELF KUA&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads%2F1673574660127-article74-5.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib froala-align-middle">Self/life Kua number chart &ndash; find your name and note your Kua number &nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads%2F1673574675346-article74-6.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib froala-align-middle">East and West House Group Chart This one is actually quite easy too. Just take reference to the 2 charts above. Find your personal Kua number. Assuming you are a female born in 1999, then your Kua number is &ldquo;8&rdquo; and for you, the wealth area is Southwest (SW). THEORY 3 &ndash; VISIBLE WEALTH POINT <img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads%2F1673587877282-article74-7.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib froala-align-middle">Visible wealth point (明财位) reference guid For Visible wealth point, it is very straightforward too! If your entrance is on the left, the right most corner is your wealth spot. If it is center, then it is actually the 2 corners. If the entrance is to the right then the opposite left is the wealth spot.&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads%2F1673615061312-article74-8.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib froala-align-middle">Wealth spot is opposite the main entrance 4.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Simple And Easy Way to Use Feng ShuiOf course, there is a whole lot more to Feng Shui than just these 3 theories. This is just a simplified explanation of how you can bring in more luck for the new year, especially since the GST got increased by another percent, we need all the wealth we can get!Keep in mind these are just general guidelines and the specific enhancements will depend on individual needs and circumstances. My advice is to still consult a professional Feng Shui practitioner if you want a comprehensive audit of your home. But if you just want to experiment and have some fun, you can try these theories out and who knows, maybe you will huat nonstop after deploying these enhancement techniques! Happy New Year to (兔) you! Huat ah!

Before anyone flags me and call me a con-man, I am truly a certified Feng Shui practitioner and here is my certificate of practice that I graduated from since the Singapore Feng Shui Centre, under the tutelage and mentorship of Grandmaster Vincent Koh, (one of the few Grandmasters in the world!) in 2010.

Feng Shui Your Home For The CNY 2023!

1. &nbsp; &nbsp;AN AI DESIGNER?With all the talk about AI bots like CHAT GPT, Discord&rsquo;s Mid Journey, every designer we know, had been talking to us about AI and whether our AI will ever replace their job and take over their livelihood. Since SIXiDES has an AI function in our&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sixides.com/equote" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">EQuote</a>, I thought it would be good to discuss this topic.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads%2F1677808073023-automation-worker-concept-with-3d-rendering-ai-robot-working-smart-office.jpg" style="width: 100%;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"> 2. &nbsp; &nbsp;WHAT IS THE BIG DEAL ABOUT AI?AI or Artificial Intelligence has been making huge strides in many industries. In Singapore, the most common AI Bot we know of, is the pop-up bot that greets us in many of the government agencies&rsquo; portals, &lsquo;Jamie&rsquo;. You either love her or hate her, but &lsquo;Jamie&rsquo; has been silently learning your type of questions, fielding your requests, and making her adjustments so that she can better serve the queries. Further to that, she is also efficiently sifting out different type of queries and either giving prepared answers or directing them to relevant departments in the agencies to tackle the queries. You cannot really deny how efficient it is and how much manpower is reduced in handling daily queries from users. With advancements in technology, it is natural to wonder if AI can eventually replace human interior designers. Can a &ldquo;Jamie&rdquo; AI Interior designer replace a real human Jamie interior designer? Our short answer to this is, NO, for now. It is unlikely that AI can completely replace the expertise and creativity of a human interior designer.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads/article83-gif.gif" style="width: 100%;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">How SIXIDES&rsquo; Equote reads the images and identify the design themes. 3. &nbsp; &nbsp;SO WHAT CAN AI DO IN INTERIOR DESIGN?The current AI technology can assist interior designers in many ways, such as providing design recommendations, generating 3D models and renders, and as well as customer data. Some powerful AI-powered software can also help designers identify new design trends, market preferences, and streamline workflow processes such as project management. With these tools, designers can create more personalized and efficient designs that meet specific needs of their clients. To cite an example, we can use AI to predict how many light fixtures and what kind of brightness is required for a space that will be inhabited by elderlies. As AI collects data from a broad set of users, this useful AI generated suggestion, will assist the designer to better plan for the lighting design of a home meant for multiple generations! 4. &nbsp; &nbsp;SO, AI IS NOT OMNI-POTENT?&nbsp;Despite the many advantages of AI in ID, there are still some limitations to the technology. For example. AI lacks the &lsquo;human touch&rsquo; that is essential to design work. As we all know, Interior design is more than just aesthetics, it is somewhat of art and science coming together. All designers had been trained to practice the saying, &ldquo;Form follows function.&rdquo; Designers are trained to use their creativity, intuition and their most important skill, empathy to design and make proposals that makes functional, aesthetical, and budgetary sense. This is something, no AI, now can replicate. A human designer can interpret a client&rsquo;s preferences and transform them into a unique and personalized design that reflects their personality and lifestyle. <img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads%2F1677762119320-Instant+AI.jpg" style="width: 100%;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Instant AI Generated renders from photos to dressed up renders Besides this, anyone who had gone through an interior design and renovation process will know that ID and renovation work, requires a certain level of commitment, collaboration, and communication that AI is still incapable of replicating. Can you imagine a building designed by an AI collaborating with an AI interior designer, or collaborating with an AI project manager? At this point in time, I cannot imagine if I would stay in such a building designed and built completely by AI. As of now, we are aware design feasibility is quite a dynamic process, and it involves the understanding and compliance of building codes, budgets etc. Human designers can build relationships with clients and communicate effectively, with empathy. These factors help create a positive and successful design experience!&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads%2F1677762149793-Image-01.jpg" style="width: 100%;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"> 5. &nbsp; &nbsp;CONCLUSION IS&hellip;My take is that AI at best, is good at being efficient and filtering out certain data. Like the AI in our EQuote, it works as a tool for homeowners to use the tool to determine the cost of certain styles and looks. It helps provide perspective and speeds up the research process between the designer and the clients. In fact, members in the family making decisions for the home renovation, can also use the tool to do fast research. But make no mistake that the AI technology now, cannot replace the emotional connection between a designer and their client. Interior design and especially home related design work is really an intimate and personal experience, which only a human can build upon to establish trust and understanding. Only when these are met, then the human designer can produce works that reflects the emotional and personal preferences of the clients. While AI has many benefits and can enhance the ID process, it is still very unlikely that it will ever completely replace human interior designers. It can provide valuable insights and assistance, but it will always need a human to empathise and put themselves in the shoes of the clients. AI does not even have feet, much less put on shoes (pun intended). As of now, the best approach is for designers and clients to embrace AI technology as a tool to enhance the design experience. Its capabilities will become more and more essential in the design process, and we are all hoping that in the grand scheme of things, new and better design works will one day, really reflect the saying, &ldquo;Form following functions&rdquo; as modern interior designers adopt this hybrid approach of harnessing AI technology into their work.

With all the talk about AI bots like CHAT GPT, Discord’s Mid Journey, every designer we know, had been talking to us about AI and whether our AI will ever replace their job and take over their livelihood. Since SIXiDES has an AI function in our EQuote (embed link here), I thought it would be good to discuss this topic.

Can AI Ever Replace An Interior Designer?

The last few days, the internet was buzzing with sinister looking lift lobbies and with bright red colour splashing our social feeds. Some creative memes came out, from Ah Long getting creative with their scare tactics to a scene from Residential Evil.

Do We Really Still Need An Interior Designer?

As an interior designer with over 25 years of experience, both domestically and regionally, I have noticed the phenomenon of consumers themselves replacing the role of an interior designer. In home related projects and in more economically advanced countries like Singapore, Malaysia and China.

Find Your Perfect ID Firm

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