Kai Patricio is an extraordinary thinker who has taken a small idea and turned it into an idea that may be untouchable. Working towards his dream and ambitions, Kai is currently a graduate student in his second year in the Masters of Fine Arts program (MFA) at Syracuse University. He has pursued his passion for design with a background in product design but considers himself a multidisciplinary designer who works in a variety of mediums.
Last year, Kai made an app in one of his classes but soon realized this idea was brighter than any app. With an ambition to expand, Kai met with designers over the summer and began building off his design training. He then utilized the design research he had throughout his graduate program. After countless hours of dedication, thought, and hard work, Kai began Design Led No Code. He believes Design Led No Code is a great way to approach UX research and is the benchmark for an even more powerful idea he’s developing.
Design Led No Code is an intersection of UX research/design and no-code tools to create human-centered user experiences that drive innovation. It’s a multistage process that takes an idea and creates it into a prototype for design research or market. This year’s, Design Led No Code Hackathon event took place on September 23rd- 25th, 2022, and allowed students and individuals around the Syracuse community to apply their knowledge and skills to innovate and compete with peers. Competitors use the tools they have and combined them with no-code tools to create a product; they can then use it in the future for themselves and others who can benefit from the product. As a result of students and individuals building these prototypes, it’s progressively improving the potential user’s experiences.
At Hackathon, LaunchPad had a small group of motivated and dedicated students who had a wonderful panel of judges from the Intelligence ++ Program, Newhouse, Whitman, and LaunchPad. These participants were evaluated on their work and the efforts to create their prototype which challenged their presenting skills, and commitment to their idea.
Kai stated, “The competition went well, and the participants enjoyed the opportunity to build connections, use new tools and code, and the interview process.” Moreover, Kai was very pleased with the group’s great work as well as the support and collaboration with one another. Furthermore, the only limitation that the competition may have had was only having a few days to complete such an amazing experience and environment for competitors. Kai is taking into account all the feedback he’s received, along with his personal experience with the competition, to improve and make for the best experience at the next Design Led No Code event.
The countless hours Kai had spent building and executing the program, have brought him great success. He is thrilled with a new ambition to expand Design Led No Code into the spring and hopes to provide another opportunity for students to build off their ideas and for Kai to incorporate more fantastic features to enhance digital interface development.
Kai is one of the most driven and aspiring creators with an ambition to take his ideas further. With this, he is developing a website for the Design Led No Code approach, and he wants to be the author of this methodology, and implement more design into the no-code space. He believes that no code and design together can create a brighter future for students, users, and workers. The next steps include continuing innovation, applying the process to real-world applications, and reaching higher goals to use in the world.
Moving forward with his methodology, he’s hoping to take this idea further than just software development and make it a new approach for designers. In the coming years, Kai is planning on patenting his idea and is hopeful that Design Led No Code can enhance the role of other designers everywhere.
Story by Sydney Gross ’23, Blackstone LaunchPad Global Fellow