Author: Yinuo Wang

For Project 6, I need to take practical action to develop my project from a concept into a more specific and testable prototype. My project, Desire Trace System, explores how individuals understand their desires and reflect on lifestyles that truly suit them. Because the project involves desire, uncertainty, decision-making, self-reflection and game-based experience, the network I need to build must include both potential users and creative or professional practitioners.

My existing network includes my tutors, classmates and the MAAI learning community. This academic network helps me refine my research question, methodology and communication. My project is also supported by an intellectual network, including theories of uncertainty, desire and social structures, such as Bauman’s liquid modernity, Lacan’s theory of desire and Bourdieu’s habitus. These theories help me keep the project connected to desire, uncertainty and decision-making, rather than reducing it to a simple lifestyle game.

The first stakeholder group I have engaged with is potential users. I invited a friend to give feedback because she is also facing questions around life choices and personal desires. She said that the most attractive part of the project is that it does not ask players to reflect through a didactic or psychological-test format. Instead, it allows them to naturally enter a character’s life situation through a game experience. She felt this approach would be more immersive and less boring than a conventional questionnaire or written reflection. She also said that Desire Trace System reminded her of real-life moments of uncertainty, when people often know what they do not want, but cannot clearly identify what they truly desire. Through everyday choices, desire tags and monthly reviews, she felt players could more directly see how desire influences decision-making and how repeated decisions gradually shape a lifestyle.

However, her feedback also identified areas for improvement. She suggested that the monthly review should include narrative and emotional atmosphere, otherwise it may feel too mechanical or tool-like. She also reminded me that the questions should remain open and non-judgmental, so players do not feel analysed or evaluated by the system, which could reduce their own judgement and agency.

The second network I need to develop includes people from game design, interactive narrative, illustration and UI design. Since the project will be presented as a small game-based reflective prototype, these practitioners can help me test whether the system is clear, visually effective and engaging. I have already invited an illustrator to help me develop the initial appearance of character, which is important because the character and visual world make the reflective experience more accessible.

The third network I hope to build includes people from education, career support or psychology-related fields. They can help me consider the ethical boundaries of the project, especially how to keep it as a reflective tool rather than a diagnostic or judgmental system.

Through conversations, prototype testing and feedback sessions, I hope to collect evidence of two-way communication and build a stronger foundation for further development.

This project builds upon my exploration in Project 3, where I examined how desire influences decision that making under conditions of uncertainty. In that phase, I used simulation-based on The Sims 4 as a contextual tool to observe how individuals navigate different life choices. Through this process, I found that individuals do not primarily rely on rational calculation to eliminate uncertainty; rather, their actions are continuously driven by desire. This reveals a cyclical structure in which desire leads to choices, choices generate new uncertainties, and these uncertainties in turn give rise to further desires.

This insight led me to reconsider the nature of uncertainty itself. If uncertainty is not something that can be eliminated, but is instead closely intertwined with — and even produced by — desire, then the issue is not simply how to make the “right” decision. Nor is it only about whether individuals understand why they make certain choices. Instead, it becomes necessary to rethink how desire participates in constructing life trajectories and experiences of uncertainty. In this sense, uncertainty is not purely external, but continuously shaped through the projection and pursuit of desire.

Therefore, the change I aim to bring forward in Project 4 is a shift in how individuals understand decision-making and life pathways. Rather than viewing decisions as rational judgments, I propose that individuals recognise how desire drives action, generates possibilities, and simultaneously introduces new uncertainties. Desire, in this context, is not only a motivating force but also a mechanism that provides direction within uncertain environments.

This research is situated at the intersection of contemporary youth and digital media environments. Young people today face increasing uncertainty in areas such as career development, identity formation and social mobility. At the same time, social media and digital platforms continuously reinforce narratives of “ideal lives”, shaping desire through comparison while offering little opportunity for reflection. Research shows that social comparison on social media significantly affects self-perception and decision-making (Vogel et al., 2014), while OECD (2021) highlights the widespread uncertainty and anxiety experienced by young people when planning their futures. This positions the issue not only as a personal concern, but as a broader social challenge.

Building on the findings of Project 3, this project develops a more structured Decision Reflection System as its core intervention. Rather than relying solely on simulation as a research method, this system expands the previously observed “desire–choice–uncertainty” cycle into a framework that allows individuals to actively record, analyse and reflect on their decision-making processes.

The system consists of three layers. First, a simulation layer introduces uncertain decision-making scenarios, making behavioural patterns visible. Second, a desire projection and mapping layer captures the motivations behind each choice, including emotional states, perceived desires and potential social influences. Third, a reflection layer encourages individuals to compare simulated or hypothetical decisions with real-life situations, allowing them to recognise recurring patterns in their behaviour.

In practice, the effectiveness of this system lies in its transformation process: simulation makes behaviour visible, reflection generates understanding, and this understanding influences real-life decision-making. The aim is not to predict or optimise life outcomes, but to make decision-making processes more visible and interpretable, enabling individuals to better understand how they act under uncertainty.

The primary stakeholders of this project are young people navigating transitions in education and early careers. By engaging with this system, they can develop a clearer understanding of how desire shapes their choices. Secondary stakeholders include educational institutions and digital platform designers, as the system has the potential to be developed into a reflective learning tool or inform more ethically conscious digital design practices.

However, the project also presents potential risks. Excessive self-reflection may lead to decision paralysis, where individuals overanalyse rather than act. There is also a risk of misinterpreting desire, potentially reinforcing short-term motivations at the expense of long-term values. Furthermore, if the system becomes overly standardised, it may fail to account for individual differences. These limitations highlight the importance of balancing reflection with action in future development.

In conclusion, this project does not aim to eliminate uncertainty, but to transform how individuals understand it. Rather than attempting to control uncertainty, individuals navigate it through desire. By developing a structured Decision Reflection System, this project proposes a new cognitive approach that enables individuals to engage more consciously with uncertainty in both personal and social contexts.

ReferencesBauman, Z. (2000) Liquid Modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Bourdieu, P. (1984) Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Kahneman, D. (2011) Thinking, Fast and Slow. London: Penguin.

Lacan, J. (1977) Écrits: A Selection. London: Tavistock.

OECD (2021) Young People and the Future of Work. Paris: OECD Publishing.

Vogel, E.A., Rose, J.P., Roberts, L.R. and Eckles, K. (2014) ‘Social comparison, social media, and self-esteem’, Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 3(4), pp. 206–222.

This project originated from a reflection on the limitations of rational models in explaining human decision-making.

With a background in accounting and finance, I was trained to approach problems through logic, structure, and predictability. However, when applying this framework to significant life decisions—such as career paths, relationships, and identity formation—it became clear that these choices are rarely made through purely rational calculation. Instead, they are shaped by a complex interplay of psychological motivations and social influences.

From this observation, the central question of this research emerged: How does desire influence the way individuals navigate uncertainty in their lives?

To situate this question within a broader context, I engaged with several theoretical frameworks. Bauman’s concept of liquid modernity suggests that contemporary society is characterised by instability and constant change, requiring individuals to adapt without long-term certainty (Bauman, 2000).

In this sense, uncertainty becomes a structural condition rather than an exception. Meanwhile, Lacan argues that desire is structured around a sense of lack, meaning individuals are continuously driven to pursue new goals without ever reaching complete satisfaction (Lacan, 1977). Bourdieu’s concept of habitus further complicates this by showing that desires are not purely individual, but shaped by social and cultural contexts (Bourdieu, 1984).

Together, these perspectives suggest that desire does not resolve uncertainty; rather, it shapes how individuals engage with it.

To explore this relationship in practice, I designed an experimental intervention using the life simulation game The Sims 4. Simulation environments replicate key aspects of everyday life—such as work, relationships, and personal development—while allowing decision-making processes to be observed under relatively controlled conditions.

In the simulation, I created a character with a defined background, including economic status, education, and personal aspirations. As the game progressed, the character developed evolving desires—such as career success, relationships, financial stability, and personal fulfilment. These desires directly shaped decision-making. For example, prioritising career advancement improved income and status but weakened social connections, while focusing on relationships introduced uncertainty in professional and financial stability. Each desire-driven decision opened new possibilities while simultaneously generating new uncertainties.

Over time, a cyclical pattern emerged: Desire drives choices, choices generate uncertainty, and uncertainty gives rise to new desires.

An additional layer of reflection emerged through my role as the researcher. During the simulation, I used cheat codes to alter conditions such as money and emotional states. This revealed that the experiment was not neutral. My own desires—to optimise outcomes, reduce risk, or create an ideal trajectory—actively shaped the simulation.

This raises a critical question: Can the act of controlling a system itself be understood as a form of desire?

The use of cheat codes reflects broader social behaviour, where individuals rely on external tools to manage uncertainty (Beck, 1992). However, even when uncertainty was temporarily reduced, new desires and decision pathways quickly emerged.

This suggests that desire and uncertainty are not opposing forces, but mutually generative. Desire produces possibilities, and these possibilities inevitably introduce new uncertainties. At the same time, uncertainty stimulates further desire, driving continuous engagement with different life trajectories.

By combining theoretical frameworks with simulation-based experimentation, this project not only deepens the understanding of decision-making under uncertainty, but also demonstrates the potential of digital simulation as a creative research method for exploring complex human behaviour.

References:

Bauman, Z. (2000)

Liquid Modernity.Beck, U. (1992)

Risk Society.Bourdieu, P. (1984)

Distinction.Lacan, J. (1977) Écrits.

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