Pien Shyu


Josephine (2025)


Josephine is a web based archival tool that allows users to intuitively collect, archive references, and categorize digital content as they browse the web, offering ways to preserve digital traces in a system that grows alongside the user‘s daily digital habits.












Timeline

December 2024 - May 2025Role

UX Research
Visual Design
Front-End Development
Back-End Data Structure

Team

1 Advisor
1 Full Stack Designer
1 Tech Consultant Tools
React, Next.js, Firebase,
Manifest V3, FigmaContext
Web Tool, Web Design
Front-End Development, Product




I have a large collection of things I found on the Internet that are scattered, unorganized and in the back of my head that I can never pull out at the right moment in a conversation because my mind is very poorly webbed. There are over 50k local jpg and png files in my first laptop I got when I was 13 years old, thousands of Tumblr reblog posts in my five individual accounts, and many many more over on Instagram, aren.a, pinterest and on the cloud.

Before I released anything original online ever, I was heavily consuming other peoples’ art and inner worlds, which slowly nurtured my own artistic sensibility. I actively source out and save images online that speak to me or make me feel a certain way for fun til this day.

I have a large collection of things I found on the Internet that are scattered, unorganized and in the back of my head that I can never pull out at the right moment in a conversation because my mind is very poorly webbed.
There are over 50k local jpg and png files in my first laptop I got when I was 13 years old, thousands of Tumblr reblog posts in my five individual accounts, and many many more over on Instagram, aren.a, pinterest and on the cloud.

I really enjoy the experience of curating a collection of images and diving deeper into the lore of different artists and creators.  From what I've seen though, this type of digital habit has gradually disappeared with the rise of algorithm-driven platforms. The algorithm decides what we see now - each refresh serving up a carefully engineered feed that encourages passive overconsumption, and before you know it, you’ve scrolled through hundreds of whatever out there without remembering a single one or how you even get there.

The intimacy of discovery is gone - replaced by a passive stream of content optimized for engagement but not connection.





Who would I be if I stopped consuming things? 
What would be left to feel? 
We consume so much now that perhaps we don’t know what it means to exist as something unsellable.
- Rayne Fisher-Quann

Sometimes I wonder—am I creating, or am I just consuming endlessly? Is this productive or damaging? But then I think about all my favorite archival Instagram accounts—
for fashion, documentation, memes. I follow them for the account's taste and humor. I'm curious about other people’s playlist, I shop at hand-picked thrift stores and bookshops. 

I'm saying that getting to experience a unique narrative narrowed down by other people's sense is pretty special.
And I think having sense of their own realm is something worth invested in.

Sometimes, people curate simply because they appreciate what they find and want to share it. There’s no need to be the protagonist—just being a witness, a connector, is enough. 
I want to build a personal museum that collects the important pieces of my own consumption. A space where I can organize them freely, without the limitations of platforms. 
A place that lets me draw connections between them, web them digitally and in my own head with nuance and logic. A tool for slowing down, sorting through the noise and update and revisit at anytime.




I conducted exploratory interviews early in the design process with visual-driven creators and online collectors to understand how they interact with current platforms, what inspires their archiving habits, and what challenges they face when trying to organize or revisit digital materials.





Based on my key insights, I reframed the challenges into open-ended design questions to guide the next phase of defining Josephine’s direction.

Guided by the “How Might We” questions, I defined Josephine’s key objectives — what the product must achieve to fulfill its purpose for visual-driven creators and archivers.Centralized ArchiveCreate a unified system that allows users to collect and access images, links, and text all in one place.

Dynamic CanvasDesign an interactive, movable interface where users can arrange and layer content spatially, mirroring their creative thought process.

Authentic DiscoveryReplace algorithmic feeds with self-directed exploration, restoring the joy of finding and collecting intentionally.Personal AuthorshipEmpower users to curate their own narrative and claim authorship over their digital world — shifting from passive consumption to active creation.


Mindful ReflectionEncourage users to label, annotate, and revisit their materials — turning saving into a conscious act of understanding.


With these objectives defined, I began mapping out how Josephine would function as a product — identifying its core features, technical system, and how each element aligns with user needs.

Josephine stores images, text, and links—the three main components of general digital content. 
In order to save them all to one place from all over the web, I need a backend database to hold all the contents, some APIs to handle data transfer and a tool to capture and send directly from my browser and into the archive. That would be a Firebase storage and a customized Chrome extension. I hooked them up and realize how powerful Chrome extentions can do, honestly. 
I made sure that all the original sources get documented along and can be directed back straight from Josephine, because credibility is so important in the creative realm.Frontend
Built in Next.js, focusing on a responsive and modular interface.

Browser Integration
A custom Chrome Extension that captures images, links, and text from any webpage and sends them directly into the archive with metadata.

Backend
Powered by Firebase Firestore + Storage for real-time syncing and media handling.



All the data saved to Josephine can be found on the archive page in real-time and can be labeled by the user through their own interpretation using the labeling system. Mindfully practicing digital labeling helps process creative input with greater intention and clarity. Images will pop up as little windows that can be overlaid, move around, and labeled. As a visual person this is a good stimulation for my own thought process.


The little dots are all the footprints with personal meaning imposed on the collective content and I believe this is important for archivers to reclaim agency over the material in their hands. In the labeling page, users slowly see their own dictionary being built up. 
Note taking blocks also exist, and by taking notes, assets can later on spark a second round of creation. As the labeling system becomes more and more structured, the connection between the materials themselves become clearer and productive to the user.

Curation as an creative act is not just about organizing what already exists, but about constructing new relationships between fragments, revealing unseen patterns, and articulating a perspective.