Interfaces That Listen: REWEAR’s Approach to Emotional-Aware Interaction

YU TING YU has been awarded the Gold Prize in the category of UX/UI & App Design at the Golden Arc Design Award 2025 Season 3 for the project REWEAR, a user-centered digital solution that explores how interaction design can reduce emotional burden, ease cognitive overload, and support users through more humane and empathetic experiences.

Grounded in research and emotional awareness, REWEAR demonstrates how thoughtful interface design can move beyond functionality to actively support users’ mental and emotional states—making everyday decision-making clearer, calmer, and more approachable.

Q: A short introduction to yourself

YU TING YU: I am an interaction and UX-oriented designer and a senior undergraduate student with a background in learning and media design. My work focuses on translating complex ideas into clear, approachable experiences through research-driven interaction and thoughtful interface design. I am currently in an ongoing learning process, continuously strengthening my skills through practice and design exploration.

Q: Background information and inspiration behind your award-winning work.

YU TING YU: This award-winning project was inspired by observing how emotional burden and cognitive overload often prevent people from taking action, even when they are motivated or well-intentioned. I became interested in how design could reduce hesitation and stress, and how emotional states could be acknowledged and supported rather than ignored. This perspective shaped the project’s core direction: creating a system that feels supportive rather than demanding.

Q: Please describe the design and/or implementation process of the project, and its practical impact.

YU TING YU: The project followed a user-centered design approach. I began with qualitative research, including observation and user journey analysis, to identify key pain points in both functionality and emotional experience. Based on these insights, I structured the interaction flow and interface logic to prioritize clarity, ease of use, and reduced cognitive load.

Through iterative prototyping and refinement, the design was gradually adjusted to improve usability and efficiency. Each design decision focused on helping users complete tasks more smoothly while feeling understood and supported throughout the process.

In practice, the project improves efficiency by simplifying decision-making processes and reducing unnecessary friction. The interface is designed to be intuitive and easy to learn, even for first-time users. More importantly, the work demonstrates how integrating emotional awareness into interaction design can create a more humane and effective user experience.