Flow Ideation Tool by Suryun Hyeon Wins the A' Design Award in Interface, Interaction and User Experience Design

Suryun Hyeon acknowledged for interface, interaction and user experience design by the international grand jury of the 2024 - 2025 A' Design Award & Competition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COMO, Italy, April 18, 2025 /DesignNewswire/ Flow Ideation Tool by Suryun Hyeon has been granted the A' Design Award in the Interface, Interaction and User Experience Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. The award was conferred within the 2024 - 2025 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who assessed anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.

What the A' Design Award Means

The Iron A' Design Award is awarded to good designs that meet the rigorous professional and industrial standards set by the A' Design Awards. This recognition is reserved for works that demonstrate a solid understanding of design principles and show creativity within their execution. Recipients of the Iron A' Design Award are acknowledged for their practical innovations and contributions to their respective fields, providing solutions that improve quality of life and foster positive change. These designs are a testament to the skill and dedication of their creators, showcasing their ability to address real-world challenges through thoughtful design.

About Flow Ideation Tool

Flow is an ideation tool designed to mirror the natural process of human thinking. Users can record ideas as keywords, sentences or drawings. Pressing the flow button connects related ideas. Ideas developed by the user are arranged vertically, while connections created with the flow button are placed horizontally. User made notes, online references and suggestions generated by artificial intelligence are linked within one view. The responsive interface works on mobile phones, tablets and desktop computers.

About Suryun Hyeon

Suryun Hyeon is a visual interaction designer whose work bridges the gap between emerging technology and human emotion. Her practice centers on creating intuitive and responsive experiences, often focusing on on-device AI, contextual interfaces, and future-facing platforms like XR. With a background in design research and a keen sensitivity to human behavior, she explores how visual and interactive systems can support self-expression—especially for those who face challenges in communication. Hyeon’s multidisciplinary approach allows her to craft thoughtful, emotionally resonant designs that empower users and envision a more inclusive, connected future.

Award Record

Suryun Hyeon is a winner of 2 A' Design Awards, including this recognition. The awards were granted in the 2024 - 2025 edition of the A' Design Award & Competition.

About the A' Interface, Interaction and User Experience Design Award

The A' Interface Design Award is an international design competition recognizing good user interface designs by the best UI/UX designers worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to interface designers, interaction designers, user experience designers and digital product designers from all countries. Typical entries include websites, mobile applications, software interfaces, game interfaces, wearable interfaces and virtual reality interfaces. The awarded interface designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/interface

About A' Design Award & Competition

Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com

Press Resources

Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/167327
A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/167327
Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!167327
Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/363469

Media Contact

Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953

###

Fact Sheet

The Work

Project: Flow Ideation Tool
Function: Ideation Tool
Category: Interface, Interaction and User Experience Design
Discipline: Communication Design
Industry: Software
Colors: Black, Dark Slate Gray, Lavender, Dim Gray and Gray
Images: 5

The Recognition

Laureate: Suryun Hyeon
Country: Republic of Korea
Recognition: A' Design Award
Edition: 2024 - 2025
Design ID: #167327

Design Details

Unique Properties: The 'Flow' project stands out as an ideation tool that mirrors the natural process of human thinking. Users can freely jot down ideas in various forms, such as keywords, sentences, or drawings, and by pressing the 'flow' button, related ideas are seamlessly connected. Intentionally developed ideas are arranged vertically, while connections made using the 'flow' button are linked horizontally. This allows user-created ideas, online references, and AI-assisted suggestions to organically interconnect.
Inspiration: The note-taking apps we commonly use in daily life are not well-suited for free-form ideation. This is due to their linear and mechanical structure, which contrasts with the natural flow of human thought. Traditional applications organize ideas into sentences and arrange them chronologically, making it difficult to capture the scattered and divergent nature of ideation. Recognizing this limitation, I felt the need for a tool that mirrors the free-flowing process of human thinking, leading to this project.
Research: Type of Research: A study on creating an ideation tool that captures the natural flow of human thought. Research Objectives: To improve the usability of existing linear and mechanical note-taking applications. Methodology: User in-depth interviews and functional research based on insights. Data Collection and Research Tools: Insights gathered through interviews. Participants or Experiments: Mainly designers and students who frequently engage in ideation processes. Results: The majority of participants expressed dissatisfaction with current note-taking and ideation tools, stating they were not conducive to free-flowing ideation.
Challenge: It was challenging to reinterpret familiar application functions with a new usability. To visually and interactively represent an organic and free-flowing ideation tool, we explored how human thoughts flow and operate. Ultimately, simple dots were used to symbolize ideas, as they naturally converge to form a flow, evolving into a central idea. This process mirrors human thinking, making the tool feel intuitive and easy to use despite its novel functionality.
Realization and Technology: The project was developed based on feedback from students and designers who often face challenges during ideation in their design work. Through in-depth interviews, we gathered user insights highlighting difficulties in organizing scattered ideas and managing diverse thoughts during the ideation process. This led to the realization of the need for an ideation tool that captures the free-flowing nature of human thought, forming the foundation for this design.
Operation and Interaction: It can be used in various scenarios, such as organizing free-flowing thoughts or seeking inspiration from the web. It helps overcome challenges like structuring ideas or expanding diverse thoughts. Through 'flow,' various ideas are connected based on their relevance, and the AI-powered expansion feature allows users to freely broaden their thinking.
Project Duration and Location: This project started in December 2024 in Seoul and was completed in early January 2025 in Seoul.
Specifications: The 'Flow' project is compatible with all electronic devices, including mobile, desktop, and iPad. While the design is primarily submitted for mobile, it features a responsive design, making it adaptable across the mentioned devices. By leveraging AI, the tool automatically organizes highly relevant ideas into a single flow and provides suggestions for diverse ideas, enhancing the ideation process.
Keywords: UI, Ideation Tool, GUI, Application, Free Ideation