Revealing the Selkie

There are many stories, inspiring case studies, research journeys to come -  on research and design from different perspectives.

Today, as it is our first entry, we would like to briefly introduce you to a beautiful elusive idea that incrementally emerges, while we keep on with the good research work.

Stay tuned to Selkie News.

***

Selkie appeared quietly. It just happened, she suddenly emerged and waited for us to stop arguing over our “fresh design research agency” name.

K: For the last time! “Hipoteza” suggests quantitative research and we are working mostly qualitatively, or we mix approaches. It gives a wrong impression.
A: But there is no such web domain and it sounds nice…
K: Agata… please…

For the record, I still think it sounds nice...

Selkie kept herself aside, watched and waited for Us to notice her. When we finally saw her everything started to make sense.

***

The legend behind the name 

I first got to know Selkie 3 years ago. She came in a movie. It was beautifully made animation, called “Song of the Sea”, based on a celtic folk-tale about magical creatures, which can change into seals. Even though me and my friends were the oldest kids in the cinema, we were still absolutely impressed with the quality of the film, the story, the concept - the whole experience. We couldn’t stop discussing it the next day, over the business dinner with our clients from UK (at my previous job), who came to visit their Polish team and check on the project development progress.

Being sure that they definitely know what I am talking about, I was expressing my complete amazement over the folklore, mythology from the Scottish Islands, and bubbling about “half-human half-seal” beings. In response I got a quite fair, analytical question,

 Ok, but which half?!

Good question!

Is it top or is it bottom?

Actually, it’s neither, and be careful to mistaken Selkies for Mermaids or Mermen! I think both of species would be deeply touched with such comparison.

So why we choose Selkie as our symbol? There are at least three reasons for that.

According to legend one of the main Selkie capabilities is its shape shifting quality. Selkies can become human while on land, and dive deep into the sea when turned back into seals. Adaptation, working in changing environments while getting the best out of them, is a great feature that we especially value at our research work. It is not by accident this creature appealed to Us instantly.

What’s even more charming is that Selkies, are said to be coming to human houses when everybody’s asleep. They arrange everything and make the whole place tidy again before anybody wakes up and sees them. We wouldn't want actually to collaborate with sleepers, but this metaphor of making things accessible and contributing to the overall human experience, so everybody feels “at home” … well, that is exactly what we address with our work. 

There are different versions of the original legends, but all of them underline the big need for Selkie to become a seal and go back into the sea. Experienced cross-cultural researcher and psychoanalysts Clarissa Pinkola Estes, who focuses in her work on human nature expressed through legends and folktales, wrote in her analysis:

"If you love the sky and the water so much you almost cannot bear it, that is a door. If you yearn for a deeper life, a full life, a sane life, that is a door."

 She claims that seawater’s true nature symbolises spontaneous and natural creativity and deep inspiration.

It strongly resonates with Us.

This is how we feel when we focus on the research challenge and explore. This is where we find true emotions - excitement of yet another surprising discovery, satisfaction and happiness when our partners find our research meaningful and build empathy towards people and their experiences, encouragement to go deeper with our investigation and create better concepts… but also sadness and doubts when something does not go the right way. This is design research process. This is our natural habitat and we love it here.

Even though, so far it all sounds quite abstract and dreamy, we can be also very rational creatures. We’re a great team, that explores and shapes research processes by reason and heart.

What you'll find at Selkie News?

At Selkie we do the professional work, here at Selkie News we share some bits and pieces of our inspirations, discuss case studies, present interesting events, people and new ideas. We write about experiences and discoveries that touched us in our studies. We show things we’ve found curious, peculiar, inspiring but sometimes also exaggerated and problematic.

We are far from communicate with “language of profit”. It is not how we operate here, especially that we are not fluent in this particular jargon. We’d rather present various perspectives and give our readers space so they can pick up what they think is valuable for them at certain point, at certain context.

We will write in English, but also sometimes in Polish. There will be drawings and sketches. Probably we will not escape from “post-it content”, as it is a big part of design research culture. But it’s fun too!

You can definitely expect some postcards from Cyfryka - the Island of unconventional day on artistic research, Badacze our cooperative project and struggles with Polish educational system, and WUD Silesia - our root UX initiative and longest journey together so far.

You can always contribute to the discussion, ask questions, notify if something is not understandable enough, criticize (constructively) when something is doubtful of simply not correct. It is a constant learning process for all of us. We’d love to get to know you better!

Best to all of you in your research journeys,

Agata & Kasia