Cookie riot
I mainly chose this project due to the targeted audience. I was interested in designing a product for a distinct group with a different mindset. I was also motivated due to the challenging reality of the problem. I believed it would accelerate my development, and it did. I was responsible for the “User focus and perspective” and “Integrating technology” aspects of the project. We decided to approach the problem in an iterative format. We made many prototypes to the point where I feel very confident working with my hands in many of the different facilities. This processes really benefited us as we were continuously stimulated in finding the better idea. We experimented with different forms of ideation and communication where I was able to develop my drawing and software skills (I learned to use Adobe Flash to make a video of a proposed idea). This project also added to my interest of interpretative design where we experimented with many metaphorical approaches of communication, ranging from the magnetically repulsive spoon displaying a sign of rejection, to the magnetically attractive spoon displaying a sign of improvement. During the last phase I learned a lot about personification in design where we experimented with the spoon imitated free will and character. I was also able to accomplish one of my previously set goals (PDP) of designing a product one does rather than use. You play the game that is designed to make you finish your plate. Overall I feel as if I have benefited a great deal working on this project where I developed many of my competencies and became accustomed with many new interesting concepts and possibilities.
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Designing for the Here and Now!
This assignments main focus is the competency “User focus and perspective”. Although I did not enjoy the timeslots format, I did enjoy the course very much. The assignment was set up to be an iterative design process where we had to present our design progress every day. For every presentation the class was encouraged to point out possible flaws and/or improvements. I believe this format worked very well to improve my awareness over this competency. I chose this assignment to improve my understanding of an experience through design. I wanted to learn about how factors such as, motion, fluidity and focus affect the feel of a product. I was interested in how one designs a memorable and immersing interaction. I feel I gained a complete new scope of view on design that I was missing. I am even more curious about this topic than when I had started. I learned a lot about what I came for, but I’m surprised by the additional valuable knowledge I learned. I learned that the primary way to improve your design is by having others test it. We received a lot of feedback on our progress that really helped shape our design for the better. I learned to be more patient of criticism by empathizing with their experience. I learned to involve and see the user as part of the design process rather than a consumer. I also learned to critically make form choices based on the mapping of the function. Among others I learned that if the idea is radical it must be apparent. Something I wasn’t fully aware of and that I will try to keep in mind for future designs, is to maintain the natural beauty of interaction by enhancing, rather than digitizing feedback due to the human ability of picking up on subtle changes over longer periods of time. I appreciated and recognized much of the logical points mentioned on design throughout the course, but one thing that will surely stick is that it’s all about the details and harmony. Towards the end of this course I started appreciating elusive human behavior and began to recognize the intimately natural mechanism in our project.
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Creative Programming
I am very happy with my choice to learn programming through this assignment. This mainly covered the processing language with one class covering Arduino. I considered myself to be a very weak programmer before I began this course, I might even go as far as to say I intentionally avoided it. I did pick up some knowledge before, but my whole understanding was scattered. I would struggle to understand fundamental programming protocol such as loop while being capable of building long nested if statements. Throughout this course I have greatly benefited from learning in a systematic manner as I realized how crucial it is. Even so, I often found myself eagerly branching far ahead only to later discover the pitfalls.
I’m happy to say I couldn’t have chosen a better introductory programming course as implementation of little knowledge yielded thrilling results. Having the ability to instantly see progress in my programs was very motivating. Having your program run in an unexpected manner was often more inspiring than frustrating. Already a few weeks in I felt very capable owning to this language’s simplicity. I was very curious to learn more.
At first I had a lot of trouble writing code for a visualized action from scratch. It was very difficult to come up with the right tactic without any examples. I realized I was a lot better finding the closest matching code and adjusting it to my needs. Over time I realized this was not a necessarily bad approach as the results were more often than not impressive. Due to this I have greatly enhanced my ability to visualize code results. I became very good a manipulating code to fit my goals. Throughout this process I have also learned many new approaches to solving problems not covered in the curriculum. I feel as though this has accelerated my progress as I have applied them with success. Because of this approach I have also developed my debugging skills narrowing down my options to what could be causing a certain problem. I have experienced this often which at least saved me a lot of time and at most an entire concept.
For the final challenge I made a controller that was composed of an accelerometer and a button to control the orientation and color of a line being drawn around a sphere. None the less I learned a lot about the content of a library and its elements. I was proud of the final challenge as I feel as though I have combined everything I learned including Arduino, Processing, debugging and serial communication.
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Modeling from scratch
During this semester I followed the basic course modeling from scratch specifying in regional care demand. I found this course to be quite intensive and educational. I can comfortably say I have learned to make a complete model from scratch. It requires a lot of work but the results could prove to be very useful. I learned to ask the most important and relevant questions when making a model. I learned to find unexpected relations between different factors. I have learned to choose between assumptions and detect their possible impact. I have learned to calculate estimates and approximations. I learned the application of verification and validation. I have done extensive research for our model and learned the proper way to reference. I also learned how to effectively present results without bias. I learned how to use ACCEL to make calculations. I learned how important models are in the real world where they can serve as valid proof to your designs future. Finally I taught myself to make a complex Microsoft Excel graph for our models purpose.
For our model we were tasked with finding what the cardiac care demand would be for a hospital within a 10 year period. We were very happy with our result as we were only 5.5% off. We received an 8.5 for our report.
Ethics and History of Technology
This course has broadened my view on the impact of design on our society. I have learned from many past examples the different types of relationships engineers, corporations, governments and consumers have developed. I have also learned how these relationships have shaped our present. As a group my team and I have selected a technological dream to study and apply ethical arguments to based on past forerunners. This exercise helped me see how important it is to think about a designs future on society before it is released into the market. I learned that no one perspective is enough to decide upon a generation’s future and to always listen to the public’s thoughts.
Human technology interaction
To accelerate my development as a designer I have chosen to take this course as an elective. I really enjoyed this course and definitely recommend it for Industrial Design students. I am very interested in interface design and felt I could already instinctively tell apart good and bad design choices. Many great examples of bad interface designs were given that provided me with a concrete background to rely on. Some of the important things I learned include the differences and applications of physical, cultural and logical constraints. I also learned the importance of mapping functions intuitively. I appreciated examples of consistency and affordance. I learned how important it is to provide feedback in digital interfaces. I learned about prioritizing usability goals. I learned how response times and short term memory affect a user’s experience. Finally I learned about how users perceive interfaces and form a mental model.
We were asked to develop a remotely controls a thermostats temperature and schedule by applying the knowledge we have acquired. We worked in a group of 3 and I took responsibility for the user interface and visuals. Through this process I learned how difficult it is to make an interface from scratch. I realized how crucial it is to have your design tested by multiple users to understand how people interpret your design.
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BNO packaging talent award
As suggested by my coach to accelerate my competencies development, I participated in the non-food category of the BNO packaging award contest. To improve my form and senses competency I set out to design an environmentally conscious soap dispenser for a supermarket client called Marqt. I focused on designing for a unique metaphorical experience. Once I realized the concept, I designed and rendered the bottle container using SolidWorks. I focused on designing a functional container before focusing on the aesthetics. I’m happy to say I was one of the selected nominees. Due to my nomination, I had the chance to meet with Stijn Heijdenrijk, a designer from Pepper Design who coached me on improving my 3D model as well as incorporating the branding. I learned quite a lot from this experience. Stijn Heijdenrijk guided me in maintaining consistency throughout my design, from the experience to the form. He also explained how fillets (roundness) are important throughout the form, even at the bottom, to give a more striking look and experience (sound). He taught me how to design in proportions and to follow standards. He also brought my attention to all sorts of technical issues that could arise and their possible solutions. He advised me to look at Marqt’s design language to better my design. Not only did I develop the competency I was aiming for, I also received real world experience that taught and interested me in branding and business’s competitions. Overall I benefited a great deal from this experience and hope to win the competition. I will be attending the Marketing and Design Congress where the winner will be announced. I will use this opportunity to further develop relevant competencies as many experienced business representatives will be making appearances.
Below you can find my submission to the competition:
VISION and Design:
Sustainability can be simplified into 3 phases, selecting a source, using that source and finally recovering it; we tend to forget the last step. People usually lose interest after their needs have been satisfied, as the consequences are not instantly clear. My soap dispenser design aims to highlight this cycle. It conveys the importance of order, discipline and prospect. It requires a little more effort for greater satisfaction. It teaches you the progressive habit of reaching equilibrium. Through repetition, this could establish ones ideology of sustainability and impact other areas of life.
My design is extremely simple, it relies on the generic hand pump system, with the exception that the pump stays compressed when pushed down. The idea is that once the user is finished with washing and drying his hands, he is to press the pump down once again, to have it rise to its operational position for the next wash (it would function like a compress and hold hardware button). This symbolizes a thank you to nature. The pump is very slow to rise up taking 30 seconds to a minute to have suctioned enough soap. This could serve as a punishment for when the user forgets to push the pump again after done washing. The second pump press is intentionally manual to signify recycling the source as it always requires effort. This whole process represents a sustainable lifestyle by reminding the user to think of the consequences.
The soap bottle’s form is a rotated concave down on the y axis with a flat top and bottom. This is a very stable form with a simple and elegant look. The pump is a large cylinder on the top center of the bottle that falls flat with the surrounding edge when compressed. This creates a large surface area to push comfortably while looking unique. The pump falls evenly flat with the edge to be easily distinguishable between the two states. The surrounding of the cylinder is colored in light green that only appears when the pump is ready to be used. The top of the cylinder and edge of the bottle are dark green. The whole bottle appears as one piece of thick plastic for ease in recycling. When the pump is raised, it could be rotated to open the container.
Engineering and Feasibility:
The entirety of the bottle is made out of corn plastic. It must be at least 2mm thick to feel sturdy. It will be 76 mm high with the base being 80 mm wide and top being 55mm wide. It could be in any size as long as it closely resembles this form. It being thick and sturdy is needed to give the consumer a value of being worth a lot to the environment. Surrounding of the compartment holding the soap needs to be see through with a tint of choice. The top of the bottle should be preferably dark green but could be anything, while the surrounding of the cylindrical pump should be light green or a see through where the color of the soap is seen. There should be no papers stuck to the surrounding with the logo being engraved, information and barcodes should be placed on the bottom of the container. There should be a maximum of 3 colors utilized on the bottle. There will be no packaging added to the pump showcased as closed.
The pump will be the same as any generic pump with the exception to it being strictly plastic and an added latch to keep the pump compressed. The tubes will be thicker and longer to slow down the suction process. If using more tubes a better option there is plenty of space in the cylinder.
Because of the requirements of this soap dispenser I Imagine it would cost a little more than the average bottle. This means that the soap would need to be sold for a higher price which I believe is possible if this bottle is marketed as more than a bottle. The consumers need to be convinced that it has the ability to enhance their awareness of sustainability and improve their life. They need to be convinced that they are buying into a lifestyle and the future. They must feel better about themselves for being more considerate and humane.
Brains award
I also participated in the Brains awards where I presented an idea I had during the project, influencing taste by aroma. I saw great potential in this idea and wanted to pursue it as an individual project but unfortunately found it difficult to develop further. I experimented with this idea home to verify its potential before deciding to submit it for the Brains Awards. This mainly served to develop my ideation process. I was also keen on using it to develop my form and senses competency due to its interesting sensory combination. I would like to add that I recently found out the same concept implemented in a slightly different form. This motivates me further to pursue my ideas.
Other
Workshops I took this semester include Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Flash and Solidthinking. I was able to implement my illustrator skills in my Human Technology Interaction course. Unfortunately I was not able to implement the knowledge I’ve acquired on InDesign. For my BNO contest I’ve tried my best to use Solidthinking but found it to be very difficult and limiting, instead I chose to improve on the Solidworks skills I acquired last semester.
I also tried to attend lectures given by Studium Generale on Thursdays. One that particularly stuck out was Micromechanics: It’s Alive. It was very interesting to learn about advances in complex material classification that could potentially lead to controlled new purposes.
Finally over the SDL weeks I chose to learn HTML5 and CSS and become familiar with jQuery to be able to build this website myself.
Self-directed and Continuous Learning
Joining late into the first semester, I did not have enough time to figure out the Industrial Design system on my own before taking full control of my learning path. It was only by the very end of the first semester was I comfortable and knowledgeable enough to make a concrete long term plan for my development. From then on I knew I had to act quickly to make headway. I made an ambitiously extensive PDP to follow. And I am happy to say that I satisfied nearly all my wishes except for the personal project which I replaced with contests. I also did not continuously update my reflections as I realized reflecting was not a difficult task for me and I could better use that time working on projects and assignments. I was fully in control of my learning path and aware of my progress throughout the second semester. I stayed organized and efficient throughout the semester. I tried to attend all the workshops, lectures and activities I could to accelerate my progress. I do not think I ever lost track or interest in my progress but was continuously pushing myself further. Throughout the semester my confidence level boosted due to my accumulative accomplishments allowing me to be much more focused and engaging. I believe that my professional attitude has really developed and feel that my motivation can only increase.
Teamwork and Communication
During this semester I was much more willing to share my opinion. Although I do sometimes appear quiet, if I have a valid point to share, I do so even if the majority might disagree. I tend to stand my ground and provide strong arguments to convince other team members of my point of view. Since the start of the semester I was aware of my sometimes persistent behavior to disagree (not without reason) and thus tried my best to give other’s ideas a chance before immediately disregarding them. Having worked with 5 teams this semester, sometimes 3 simultaneously from within varying departments, with quite a successful outcomes proves my inputs influence and quality.
I have also developed my communication skills improving my sketching and learning new forms such as flash to best communicate an action. My 3D design skills have improved quiet a lot with practice and familiar with 3 programs. Taking the illustrator and indesign workshops will definitely benefit my communication skills. Finally I believe the frequent reflections I wrote throughout this semester improved my verbal communication skills.
Ideas and Concepts
I’ve a lot of practice and success in this competency as I was finally able to show off my creativity. This competency can be found playing a role into all my activities, especially my project. During the project we spent a lot of time in this phase, perhaps too much time. From this I’ve learnt something I will surely share with future teammates, perfecting an idea is more important than finding the perfect idea. I’ve learnt that one could turn an idea with potential into a great idea and design through the iterative design process. I’ve also had a lot of success developing this competency during my contest participation where I implemented newly shared techniques of playing with possibilities for inspirations. I’ve learnt you are inspired by your surroundings, and that if you get your hands dirty early on experimenting with random ideas, you’re much more likely to find the idea you are looking for.
Integrating Technology
I’ve, without a doubt, developed this competency. My creative programming assignment really motivated me into using technology in a creative manner erasing the line between my limitations and possibilities. Through trial and error and countless hours of research I’ve been able to make very nice prototypes that communicate our concepts purpose. Other than the work I’ve done on many Arduino programming iterations in my group I’ve also been involved in the electronics. I was able to manipulate the Hall sensors we used to turn them into digital sensors. I have researched into pull up resistors and was able to connect them in the right fashion to fit our purpose. I’ve also experimented with reverse current in circuits to get a desired outcome. I’ve done some soldering and worked on various sensors and components throughout the semester. I am capable of completing the whole process myself as I have proved in my final creative programming assignment.
User Focus and Perspective
I’ve worked with and for very unique customers in this semester. For my project, the users we were designing for presented unique characteristics that made us really think about this competency. Using the user test results we were able to design specifically for them. An example would be where the repulsive spoon might have been more interesting as a game to play as it is very explorative and relies on sensory feedback did not give us desired results. We learned we had to limit and define clear boundaries for the children to fully appreciate our design. I also developed this competency through programming while experimenting with different behaviors and personalities the spoon would project. For my BNO contest I had to design for a specific customer who would appreciate different elements in a product. I have learnt to design for an experience rather than solely for a function. My course on human technology interaction also taught me how to apply this knowledge in many different environments. I’ve learnt the more natural the interaction felt the more complex emotions one developed for a product.
Form and Senses
For this competency I feel I have developed it from many different angles. Mainly through my BNO contest design and coaching I was able to really see the underlining reasoning behind the form of designs. I learned how one broadcasts an identity and message through the form of designs. I also learned to apply this in my human technology interaction final project and understand the different rules that apply between physical and digital designs. Finally I played a role in my main project form design where I suggested a more subtle way of communication between the plate and the user. I wanted the lights to take a more background setting in such a way that the spoon movement was the main focus. I also learned a lot about possible shape changing materials and possible applications through a wearable senses expert called Simone van der Waart.
Designing Business Processes
As I have mainly focused on this competency during the first semester, by making the business plan of the first semester project and taking the assignment corporate entrepreneurship and design where I also made the business plan; I have chosen to focus on other areas of development. I did although get the chance to refresh my memory helping my project teammates understand the role and format a business plan must take. I also had the chance to develop this competency during the BNO contest where I learned new insights into marketing in combination with design. I expect to further develop this attending the Marketing and Design Congress the 24th of June.
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Design and Research Processes
I always tried to validate my ideas through research in every activity. In the main project I benefited greatly by periodically verifying prototypes through user tests. I have learned how to set up and evaluate user test results through different formats. I used the experience of knowledge of both user test expert, Linda Valk and a master students user test experience to interpret results. I’ve also done research on the type of games children enjoyed where I found out the first choice was character personification and the second being instructive games. The character personification induced laughter while the instructive games served to create a sense of accomplishment. We have taken into account this research while developing our game. Finally I have done a lot of research for my modeling and use course where I learned the professional way to use literature and reference it.
Descriptive and Mathematical Modeling
I believe I have achieved a lot of progress in this competency due to the great work we have done as a team in our modeling course report. I learned to translate a real world problem into a logical and reliable model one is able to use as proof in supporting design decisions. I have learned to use and select mathematical statistics and data, process it in a formal model that takes into account all possible influences and output a number I can translate to a real world solution. I could also argue I have learned to model working on the programming and electronics. I had to use the electronics sensors values and translate them into a model in my code that would present an output in the form of an action that is finally interpreted by the consumer.
Social Cultural Awareness
Due to my background I did not focus as much on this competency. I am familiar with many cultures due to the different countries I lived in. My inner family is very diverse with all of us speaking different languages, being integrated within different cultures and thus share our own unique cultural habits. European high school that was a melting pot of cultural interactions. I understood different mentalities, cultural boundaries and different tastes. None the less I decided to read the book “The Design of Everyday Things” but soon quickly realized I was familiar with all its contents as it seems the human technology interaction elective I took was based on it. For information about what I had learned please refer to aforementioned category. Taking the USE ethics and history of technology has also benefited me in this competency. I am much more aware of the evolution of technology and design and their impact on society. I have also watched many documentaries including Objectified, Urbanized (which I really enjoyed) and Smasara (very beautiful). I have also become interesting in cradle to cradle design and watched a few videos of William McDonough. Interacting with Dutch children during our user tests has also benefited this competency as I was able to see a new part of this society I was not previously familiar with. I learned a lot about the Dutch’s cuisine culture that helped me make a better final product.
Future
To improve my Self-directed learning competency I would like to do something adventures that takes me out of my comfort zone. I am very interested in traveling possibly during the summer to work on a real world design problem with a team or by myself. I would like to maintain the momentum I built during this semester and maintain a wide range of relevant extracurricular activities.
To improve my Teamwork and Communication I plan on taking a lead role in my activities during the following semesters. I would like to become more confident and further more considerate of peoples input. I will also work further on my communication skills by becoming more comfortable in sketching and Photoshop. I would also like to use processing for future illustrations.
To improve my Ideas and Concepts I plan on instead focusing on the concepts rather than ideas by choosing an idea with a good potential and continuously improving the concept to near perfection. I am now more interested in the quality of the concept leading to a thorough experience.
To improve my Integrating Technology competency I plan on further understanding the electronics and experimenting with interesting sensors. I plan on building more complex circuits with a better integration between form and electronics.
To further develop my User Focus and Perspective competency I plan on focusing on an interpretive design that communicates different meaning to different people. I want to improve my understanding of this competency as I find very intriguing.
To improve my Form and Senses skills, I would like to take a lead role in the next project to get a more hands on experience. I would like to really investigate further into the use of materials, and will try and make an interesting use and combination of materials into something unique.
To improve my Design and Business Processes, I have chosen a business centered USE package where I will have the chance to interact with and learn from experienced entrepreneurs. In that course I would like to aim to develop a project ready for the real world.
To further improve my Design and Research Processes, I would like to actively involve users in the design of a product (rather than passively as in this semester). I would like to further incorporate research papers and conclusions into my design and report and possibly come up with my own correlations.
To improve my Descriptive and Mathematical Modeling, I aim to combine the research I find with a model suited for my purpose, justifying my design decisions.
Finally to improve my social and cultural awareness, I plan on working on a project this summer in a drastically different environment and culture. I would like to solve a problem based on the culture constraints and compare how the solution would have been in the Netherlands.
Past
For more information about my development in the first semester please visit my old showcase