London’s Royal College of Art (RCA) is the world’s leading art and design institution producing some of the most exciting and innovative problem-solvers on the planet.
In the second of two Q&As with RCA students, Caini Iris Liu tells us about Scribe Expert, her solution for maintaining “human autonomy in our increasingly digital environment”.
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1. Can you describe your project?
The Scribe Expert project responds to the enduring appeal of pen and paper, highlighting the importance of human autonomy in today’s digital and AI-driven world. Writing on paper offers a tactile, unrestricted experience that enhances mental focus and memory retention. This project is designed for those who appreciate the simplicity, directness and cognitive engagement of traditional handwriting.
The project designed a small, portable clip that attaches to specialised paper. This clip captures every stroke made with any pen, instantly creating a digital replica on an electronic device. What sets Scribe Expert apart is its AI integration, which goes beyond simple digitisation. The AI learns from the user’s marks—such as arrows, question marks, and corrections—and uses these cues to reinterpret and reorganise the handwritten content into a polished, readable, and easily archivable format. This collaboration mode reduces the need for extra steps and preserves the natural writing experience. By combining the tactile pleasure of writing with the convenience of digital technology, Scribe Expert supports a seamless transition between the physical and digital worlds, cognitive independence and AI literacy.
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2. Why did you decide to focus on this innovation?
The inspiration for Scribe Expert arose when I was studying with my cousin, who had just begun her university life for less than a year. She was studying Spanish with a laptop displaying an article, ChatGPT open in a split screen, and an inline translation software running concurrently. Next to her was a notebook, which I noticed she was only writing on it in the first hour. This was her first year of having full control over digital products and significantly engaging with the internet. She and her peers quickly adopted the digital world, utilizing various information and tools in a hybrid learning approach, yet the core knowledge they aimed to learn remained unchanged. When I later discussed this with her, she mentioned that writing in her notebook helped her retain vocabulary better. However, the instant availability of answers made her increasingly dependent on this quicker method.
This observation led me to explore the concept of human autonomy in our increasingly digital environment, especially as AI tools become more accessible and digital transformation becomes threshold for leveraging AI benefits. A professor once told me that mastering technology involves understanding all its uses while choosing how to use it independently.
Therefore, in this specific context of writing, I sought a way to balance active human engagement in thinking with the convenience and necessity of digital tools in specific scenarios. Subsequent primary and secondary research confirmed that the cognitive training provided by pen and paper can be a good tool for enhancing human autonomy. The research also shaped another core design principle for the project: users should have proactive control over AI while enjoying its benefits, meaning AI operations must be passively triggered. This is the initial motivation behind the Scribe Expert project.
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3. What’s the story behind Scribe Expert?
As I mentioned above, an observation in my daily life made me realise that we might need methods to navigate the wave of digitisation and AI while preserving our personal agency. I decided to focus on note-taking as a starting point, seeking opportunities within this specific scenario. I embarked on an ethnographic research journey, conducting in-depth interviews with students and professionals across various age groups and fields, such as education, design, and corporate sectors. I observed their note-taking and work habits, conducted diary studies, and analysed both their digital and paper notes. This comprehensive approach allowed me to gain a genuine understanding of how people acquire, digest, process, and store information in their work and daily lives, along with the underlying motivations and reasons.
To further validate and deepen these insights, I conducted literature reviews and expert interviews, including discussions with professors in education, computer systems, and neuroscience. This combination of primary and secondary research helped me understand the reasons behind the observed phenomena and the corresponding manifestations and feelings in users. For example, handwriting is a complex task that engages various cognitive skills and can enhance cognitive abilities. While typing on a keyboard is faster, it bypasses the ‘desirable difficulty.’ Comparing brain signals from writing to those from merely holding a pen on a tablet, we see that a wide network, including the primary sensorimotor cortex and various sensory and associative regions responsible for visual and auditory processing, becomes active.
These research conclusions solidified my design direction: to combine the advantages of physical and digital experiences. With the help of electronic engineers and technical literature, I discovered a method to digitise paper while preserving the authentic traditional writing experience. This led to the development and testing of both functional and appearance prototypes. Currently, both the hardware and software are still under iterating. The project as a whole is about preserving the rich cognitive benefits while embracing computer literacy. This journey has been a continuous process of learning, iterating, and refining to find creative solutions.
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4. How important was your programme at the RCA to developing your practice?
My journey in Global Innovation Design (GID) has been transformative, allowing me to rethink my role as a designer. The programme provided me with opportunities for exchange studies in different countries, enabling me to explore diverse cultural contexts in the UK, China, and Singapore over the course of two years. This experience allowed me to explore social issues, art and tech in various contexts, to delve deeply into service system design, speculative design thinking, cross-digital and physical touchpoint design, and the effective use of advanced technology.
The programme’s emphasis on systematically approaching targets as whole entities with interconnected elements guided my practice from phenomena to concept to technological implementation. I developed my ethnography-based research methodology, transforming regional cultural insights into flexible applications within a global perspective. These experiences were crucial in supporting my final project Scribe Expert, allowing me to showcase my identity through my work.
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5. What areas do you want to explore next?
Next, I want to continue explore the intersection of AI capability and human autonomy further, focusing on how advanced technologies can enhance everyday experiences in meaningful interactions. I am particularly interested in expanding my understanding of speculative design thinking and service system design, as well as continuing to innovate at the crossroads of digital and physical touchpoints. Additionally, I aim to deepen my research in ethnography, applying global insights to local contexts and creating design solutions that resonate across different cultures. My goal as a designer is to actively discover, uncover, and understand information from everyday life, using design thinking to filter this information for audience and create creative solutions that establish positive emotional connections with the people, making a tangible impact on users’ lives.
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6. How can people/organisations collaborate with you?
Regarding the Scribe Expert project, I am actively seeking research partnerships to further refine the whole service. To get in touch, people can reach me via email at irisssliu@hotmail.com or connect with me on LinkedIn. Additionally, people can explore more about my projects on my personal website. My background in industrial design engineering, design strategy, and ethnographic research allows me to bring a unique perspective to collaborative efforts. I am open to collaborations that involve uncovering and interpreting everyday insights to develop innovative solutions that integrate cutting-edge technology and aesthetics, while dynamically exchanging local cultural insights and global perspectives, replying to specific needs in various contexts.
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Susan is the co-founder of Innovators Magazine and a consultant for OnePoint5Media. Susan is also a member of the UNFCCC-led Resilience Frontiers Nexus group and the Chair of the APOPO Foundation UK board.
