Project II Design Interviews

Interview Subject #1 - Female, Age 40 +

Good things about...

Function
-best tool for hot dogs, spaghetti - getting things out of hot water
-allow you to get a better grip

Appearance
-silver blends with other utensils

Safety
-hand loops adequate size, allows distance from boiling water

Bad things about...

Storage
-awkward to store, wide and tall - would store vertically in a jar v. flat in drawer

Safety
-metal will get hot

Appearance
-look awkward, not graceful
-look cheap

Function
-top heavy - long in the front
-grippers don't meet well - tips meet straight on instead of at an angle
-no textured surface for gripping
-handles too close together

I learned from this interview that the consumer values long tips so her hands are a good distance from hot surfaces. She also prefers angled tips and a textured surface so they can get a good grip on items. She wants tongs to look and feel graceful, not top heavy.

Interview Subject #2 - Male, Age 40 +

Good things about...

Function
-good size for all hands
-works to pick up most things

Design
-stainless steel - doesn't rust
-easy to wash
-industrial-looking

Store
-compact, store with other utensils
-long and straight - can be stored vertically

Safety
-guard against pinched fingers
-no sharp edges
-rounded construction

Bad things about...

Safety
-doesn't grip well, things could slip out
-not easy to grip larger things

Storage
-long and wide - may not fit in utensil trays
-no way to hang them with handles together

Design
-straight bars are not the most functional
-handles - being all metal is not the easiest to hold onto
   -could be slippery with wet hands
-tips don't grip very well

Possible improvements...
 
-rubber handles for improved grip
-textured tips to hold items better
-bowed bars to pick up larger items - tips come in at an angle
-better way to be able to hang - tension in handles

I learned from this interview that the user values the ability to grab items of all sizes. He likes the rounded design, but desires handles that are easier to hold and tips with a better grip.

Interview #3 - Female, Age 17

The subject thought the tongs should have tension in the handles to make it easier to hold objects in place. She thoughts the tips should be a different shape or rubberized to grip objects and not let them slip. She also thought the tips should come in an angle.

I learned from this interview that rubberized tips may be a good solution to improve the grip of the tongs.

Project II Brainstorming Session

Our first brainstorming session with our project II teams was Thursday during our class time. These are the poorly-designed items that our team members brought to class for consideration:

Mackenzie
1. Can Opener
-small metal piece used to turn blade is hard to grip
-not enough leverage to turn the blade and open a can
2. Stapler
-when the bin was full of staples, the top would not shut all the way
-would not staple in this state
3. Ear Buds
-produce a lot of audible static when plugged in and while listening
-uncomfortable shape
-do not stay in ear very well - fall out often

Alex
4. Whiteboard
-originally had a black plastic frame, which soon fell off
-appears to be mounted on a sheet of corrugated cardboard, now visible from the sides
-surface is scratched, stained, and dented
-overall not very durable or high quality
5. Pringles Can
-can't reach the last chip!
6. Gloves
-touch-screen compatible, but only a small pad at fingertip
-if fingertip does not reach to very tip of glove, touch-screen pad can not be used

Lizzie
7. Whisk
-rusting
-not durable (gets dented and bent)
-handle not comfortable to use
8. Nail Scissors
-fingers holes too small for most fingers
-flimsy tip - bent before scissors were ever used
9. Tongs
-no tension - tips bang together and make a clacking sound
-no grips on tip to help hold items
-shape of tip not well thought out
-metal handles get hot from steam/smoke
-handles are close together and uncomfortable
-unbalanced - heavy in front, hard to hold

Erin
10. Utility Knife
-poorly contoured
-chunky
-finger hold is too close to blade - makes user uncomfortable
11. Pizza Cutter
-wheel rotates inside of semi-circle holder - hard to clean entire product
-slippery plastic on grip
-spike on one side of handle - finger hold? extra cutting edge? - doesn't make sense
-plastic wheel - too dull to cut pizza
12. Glue Stick
-large grooves in lid make it harder to open
-slippery plastic surface with no ridges also makes lid hard to grip

We narrowed these options down to the two that we thought needed improvement most - the pizza cutter and the tongs.

Our first brainstorming exercise - identifying major problems and possible improvements.

We then created mind maps to generate new ideas and sketches to clarify our design improvements

After these exercises, we decided that the tongs had greater design problems than the pizza cutter and that we had the most innovative ideas for their improvement. We became attached to the idea of rounded handles - the handles seemed to be more comfortable to grip when they were farther apart, and the aesthetics of the design were very pleasing. We even imagined a logo and branding based on our design!

Design gold!

We got a little stuck after that, so we got a fresh sheet of paper and each drew sketches of how we visualized our final product.

My mock-up sketch.

We also researched similar designs to see what had already been done and to seek sources of inspiration.

An old found design for ice tongs - we thought the diamond-shaped hinge may be worth considering.

Next class period, we will prototype a few of our ideas to help us understand how they will work in 3D form.

IDEO Deep Dive

IDEO is a design company based out of Palo Alto, CA.They have done designs for a number of famous clients (including Apple's first mouse) and are a leading company in the industrial design industry. 

The IDEO design studio in Palo Alto, with worker's bikes hung from the ceiling and an airplane wing prominently displayed as decoration. As you can see, their workplace is a little "off-the-wall." :-)

They were challenged by the folks at Nightline to redesign the shopping cart in 5 days. The series of videos that we watched documents that process. Those videos can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M66ZU2PCIcM  ,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVZ8pmkg1do&feature=related  ,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyugyrCQTuw&feature=relmfu  .

Much of the work at the front end of a project is "Deep Dive" brainstorming sessions of "focused chaos." The purpose of this phase is to gather a sheer quantity of thoughts and ideas related to the item or design problem at hand. IDEO has set some ground rules to govern this important stage:

-- think of your product in terms of verbs rather than nouns.
-- concentrate on one conversation at a time
-- stay focused
-- encourage wild ideas
-- go for quantity (no editing)
-- be visual (visual words or sketch)
-- defer judgment (no stopping to say that isn't going to work, isn't a good idea...)
-- build on the ideas of others

At IDEO, they believe that it takes a group to generate the best ideas. They say that a "lone genius" could not explore the depth and breadth of ideas that they do in these group sessions. As Deiter Rams said in Objectified, design does not happen in a vacuum.  The ideas and interactions of others must be taken into account throughout the design process. The best idea for improvement may be the one that you never thought of, or someone else's idea might complement and improve yours. The design process is all about keeping your mind open to the ideas of others and knowing that there is always room for improvement.

The next step in the process was to break into groups and prototype. I thought it was important to note that although they encouraged a period of off-the-wall, unfiltered brainstorming, they had to step in at some point and encourage their groups to move forward with certain ideas. They recognized that they had to stop the idea-generating process at some point or it would never end. Because the "best possible" improvement to a design is such a subjective ideal, ideas could be tossed around forever at this stage. I think it is important to set a deadline for the brainstorming period and move forward with one or several of your best ideas at that point. Otherwise, your brainstorming ideas would never lead to any finished products.

Finally, all groups compared their prototypes and combined the best elements from each into a refined finished product. Not every product goes to market or is produced extensively, but the process goes on.

I think the most important element of this process was the number and variety of sources consulted along the way. Before any brainstorming was done, they sought out retail workers, cart manufacturers, shoppers, and other "experts" who had experience working with carts and knew some major problems that could be improved. Brainstorming was done as a large group, prototyping was done in teams, and these prototypes were brought back to the large group for a final design review. Once the finished product was prototyped, they brought it straight to Whole Foods to ask for a couple of workers' opinions on the appearance and functionality of the design. Seeking experts who have experience with the product and real people who use the product seemed like a very effective method of obtaining information and feedback.

(Sidenote: I saw this same video when I was in probably 5th grade, and have wanted to be an industrial designer ever since! As you can imagine, IDEO is very near and dear to my heart. I would love to work in a collaborative design firm such as IDEO some day.)

The Writer's Toolbox - Writing for the Design Process

Writing helps designers develop ideas more thoroughly and leads to a more cohesive and clear finished project. “Private writing” includes documenting thoughts and working through ideas. When done as part of the design process, it can lead to more effective public presentations, such as proposals, briefs, blog entries, and comments

Da Vinci’s extensive sketch books included diagrammatic sketches reminiscent of today’s mind maps and brainstorming webs. His knowledge of art and science worked together in his ideas and invention. He encouraged “whole brain” interdependent thinking – an idea I enjoy. As an industrial design and mechanical engineering double major, I don't exactly relate as a strongly left- or right-brained thinker, but as an even mix of the two.

The Writer's Toolbox introduced many different writing strategies for idea discovery and development in the design process.

Mind Maps

 -mind maps take advantage of brain’s associative processing – good for visual learners

 -useful for initiating ideas or along the way

 -should be questioned and organized after completion, not during process!

 -can be pen and paper – use big paper! 

     -or web based – long distance collaboration in real time

 *associate to nouns at the first level – carry more associations than verbs or adjectives

 -don’t be concerned if you end up far off topic – can spark new ideas!

 -incorporate icons, images, symbols for visual thinkers or to influence connections

Afterwards, discuss idea that emerge, patterns, and relationships – re-map any concepts that merit further exploration.

Concept Maps

-ideas developed from general to specific – linked by PHRASES

     ex: depends on, could be, made of, etc…

i. water

ii. living things

iii. link with “needed by”

-consider shape, scale, proximity, and color to aid organization

 -can serve as a tool in understanding and analyzing complex information

 -can be a jump off point for further writing/explanation

Freewriting

  -“allowing your thoughts about a subject to flow on paper, without any judgment”

 -“energetic” discovery process – avoid rules of writing, critical evaluation

 -consider it private writing – not often disclosed

 -unfocused freewriting

     -flow general thoughts and feelings about a project

     -similar to journaling – good for expressing anxieties and questions

 -focused freewriting

     -addresses a specific question

     -ex: “what does the exisiting logo represent?”

 -elaborates on ideas discussed with colleagues 

-makes ideas concrete

-documents ideas for later reflection

Process:

-set time frame – 10-15 mins

-relax and write freely

-don’t take pen off paper or fingers off keyboard

-don’t think too much

-don’t worry about spelling or clarity

 -write what you know, question what you don’t

Ideas: 

-write about the problem, why you chose this idea, what it’s about

-write for 10 mins about everything related to the project

-write about 3 significant words

-midway through the project, write about what concept development and idea searching you have done, write about what more could be done, pose a specific question and answer it

 -looping- circle most intriguing idea from original freewrite – start with this sentence and write for another 10-15 mins. Delve deeper.

Afterwards, formulate new ideas or questions and repeat the exercise, creating a collection of writing to reflect on. Then read over completed freewrites and highlight sentences or phrases that will aid further development or pose significant questions/insights into a problem.

Brainwriting

 -a group experience similar to brainstorming

-includes quieter members of group or those who express ideas better in writing 

Process:

 -create a template for all members to follow

-pose a problem

-6-3-5 rule - 6 people write 3 ideas for 5 minutes apiece

 -use complete, concise sentences – can use other’s ideas for further development

Afterwards, discuss ideas with group.

Word Lists

-lists are comforting when hit by a barrage of information – gives us a sense of control

 -distills a given problem down to its essential elements quickly

Process :

-start with a general concept word then list associations in categories

Ideas:

-descriptive words

-metaphoric words

-oppositional words

-use a thesaurus for reference to help expand ideas

     -Thinkmap’s Visual Thesaurus is good for visual thinkers

Afterwards, circle words that stand out as novel, interesting, or important, and explore with different exercises.

I have used mind maps and words lists previously, but I had never heard of concept maps, brainwriting, or freewriting for design. I look forward to incorporating these strategies, especially freewriting and brainwriting, into my group design sessions and my personal idea development, not only in this project but for the rest of my career. I found concept maps a little confusing, but I think they could be worth exploring and could introduce a new way of thinking of related ideas. Freewriting seems extremely helpful in idea development and clarification. Stream of consciousness is always a helpful way to explore one's thoughts. I love writing, and my thoughts are often better expressed in writing, so I'm excited to explore these new design strategies.