Yuhan(Sissi) Shan – SDCA Degree Show 2026

Mind The Nest

Mind the Nest explores how calm technology and ecological design can help protect vulnerable urban birdlife through non-harmful behavioural intervention.

Mind the Nest device installed outdoors in wet soil during rainfall, demonstrating waterproof ecological deployment in a natural urban environment with subtle matte texture, perforated acoustic surface, and rain-resistant construction.

The packaging is designed to support simple transportation, installation, and long-term maintenance. Modular components allow the system to adapt to different urban environments while reducing replacement waste and improving deployment efficiency.

The weather-resistant housing and sealed structure allow Mind the Nest to operate reliably in changing outdoor conditions. The system is designed for long-term ecological deployment with minimal human intervention.

Park staff installing the Mind the Nest device into soil within a shared urban green space, demonstrating ecological deployment, ground-based positioning, and low-impact integration into natural park environments.

Stakeholders

Park Managers
Urban Wildlife
Free-Roaming Cats
Cat Owners
Local Residents
Conservation Organisations
Maintenance Teams
Urban Ecologists

Illustrated storyboard showing the Mind the Nest ecosystem, including bird nesting risk, device installation methods, park-wide deployment, remote monitoring interface, and ultrasonic wildlife protection within urban parks.

System Overview

Mind the Nest is an urban wildlife protection system combining physical infrastructure, monitoring interfaces, and ecological deployment strategies to support safer shared environments for birds and wildlife.

Mobile monitoring interface for the Mind the Nest ecological infrastructure system, showing park-wide device deployment, battery status, maintenance alerts, and remote management tools for urban wildlife protection.

Illustrated system map showing multiple Mind the Nest devices distributed across an urban park to protect vulnerable bird nesting areas while reducing cat disturbance through coordinated ecological monitoring.

Monitoring & Maintenance Interface

A lightweight management platform allowing park staff to monitor device status, battery levels, and deployment locations remotely.

Ecological Deployment Strategy

Distributed device placement designed to create protective zones around vulnerable low-nesting bird habitats within urban parks.

Exploded technical rendering of the Mind the Nest device, showing internal component structure including the solar panel, outer housing, ultrasonic module, battery, PCB with onboard microphone, acoustic mesh grille, and ground spike for ecological outdoor deployment.

Technical Prototype Exploration

Early technical experiments were conducted to explore ultrasonic behaviour, sensing logic, and directional sound interaction before final system integration.

Breadboard-based prototype developed to test sensing logic, ultrasonic triggering, and real-time behavioural response.

Early-stage Processing and Arduino experiments exploring stereo audio movement, dual-channel sound behaviour, and directional ultrasonic interaction to investigate how moving acoustic signals may influence cat navigation and spatial awareness.

Early Processing experiments testing stereo sound movement and directional ultrasonic interaction.

Product Feature Video

About Sissi

Work Experience

• Matillion Product Design placement — Aug 2024 – Sep 2025
Worked on UX/UI, design systems, and enterprise digital products.

• Tencent Product Experience Design Intern — Jul 2026 – Sep 2026
Supporting product experience and user-centred digital design

AI-generated childhood-inspired portrait imagining me in London holding a cat, expressing my long-standing interest in animals, travel, and emotional connections between people and cities.

An illustrated self-portrait inspired by my life in Shanghai, combining my love for cats, cute visual storytelling, and creating warm, playful, and approachable design experiences.

I’m a designer from Shanghai, China, who finds inspiration in everyday life. From animals and nature to travelling, baking, and the small moments people often overlook, these experiences all shape the way I design.

I enjoy using illustration to capture soft and playful details from daily life, and I hope to create thoughtful designs that feel warm, approachable, and emotionally connected to people.