Digital Ecosystem: Self Assessment

As a whole, I feel that this project was very successful as we came up with a useful product that was not only original but also solved some common issues that arise on a typical student night out. At present there are no existing alternatives that make use of all the features that we developed and so there is a clear gap in the market. I think that sufficient funding and further development and testing would allow us to create and market an item that would be highly profitable.

As a group, we worked well as we shared out the different roles of a design team and then delivered work on time at every meeting. Using Facebook group chat, we were able to discuss ideas and keep track of each aspect of the project when we weren’t actually with each other. This also helped us to send work to each other and to Leon, who had the task of uploading our content to the shared blog.

The aspects of the project that I believe I performed well in are the concept generation and development and design communication. My use of clear annotated sketches as well as my storyboard and explanation would allow a client to easily understand the features of the product as well as its need and use in the given scenario. I was particularly impressed by how well I managed to direct and film the video as well as how smoothly it went, after assuming it would take a long time and would require several takes and video editing. By explaining my stage directions to the group, I not only made sure that they knew exactly what to do in each scene, but I also developed my team leading skills as I was required to take responsibility of the group and the completion of the video.

I could improve on the professionalism of my work by ensuring that the layout is neat and tidy and is easy to understand without an in depth explanation. This can be achieved by planning ahead and documenting every stage of the project in a logical order. This will be particularly useful during the presentation of my work. I could also improve on my presentation skills such as speaking aloud to a large group of people, making sure that the audience is engaged by not reading off of a screen. It is also important that I don’t repeat any information that I or any other group member has already stated.



Digital Eco System: Clubuddy

The aim of this project was to design a product that would make use of ambient intelligence/ ubiquitous computing to provide a gateway between a user and the digital world in order to aid them in a part of their everyday life. Working in a group of four, with fellow students David Mclaughlin, Leon Pullin and Andrew Taylor, I started by researching some common activities where the user experience could be improved.

Mind Map

 I created a mind map to help generate ideas of scenarios that a user could be in and how a product could be implemented to help solve any problems that could arise. After having a group discussion, drawing from our own student experience so far, we decided to choose a nightclub/ bar scenario to design our product for. Discussion revealed many problems that can occur during a typical student night out in a busy town or particular elements that we found annoying.

Persona

After having a rough idea of the problems we were aiming to solve, we created a persona to allow us to relate to the user and feel empathy in order to focus our thoughts.

Adam Smith is 19 year old student, currently in his 2^nd year of studying Business Management. He is often left with plenty of free time due to his course not requiring many study hours and so he and his flatmates attend sports socials and music events on average 4 times a week. Despite having a strict budget, he finds himself struggling to adhere to it due to the sometimes large amounts of money he spends on a night out. To help with this, he has a job at Urban Outfitters.

During his first year, Adam ran into trouble with a mugger on his way home from a nightclub. After having his phone stolen, he has become very conscious of his safety during and on the way home from a night out. Because of this, he has been looking for a product that could help keep him safer on a night out as well as making it easier to stick to his budget.

Brief

Using the persona as a starting point, we then created a brief. Our brief was to design a product that would help a young adult to enjoy a night out as much as possible whilst keeping safe and not spending too much money. The product should have an active role during all times of the activity whilst remaining unobtrusive.

Concept Generation and Development

I then came up with some initial ideas and used annotated sketches to explain my concepts. I decided that a wristband would be a good method of implementation as it would be easy for a user to wear and would not intrude on their experience whilst they are not interacting with the device.

Another group discussion allowed us to expand on our initial ideas and we decided that a combination of features we came up with independently would best suit our scenario. Combining my wristband concept with David’s key fob idea resulted in a hybrid that could become either depending on the situation. During the day when the user didn’t require the device, it could be clipped onto a key ring and left in a bag or pocket. When the user then went out on a night, the device could be unclipped and wrapped around the wrist.

Here are some more sketches that I did to develop the idea. I focused on the way that the strap could be manufactured/ assembled as well as the aesthetics of the product.

Storyboard

In order to cover all aspects of the user’s nightclub experience and ensure we solved them all effectively, I made rough notes on the series of events that may take place on a typical night out whilst using our product. This helped me to consider every point during the night where the product could benefit the user.

Using the notes as a guide, I then created a storyboard that would demonstrate how the product would be used during the user’s experience in order to communicate the features of the device and design intent.

1.    Adam unclips the device from his key ring which has been in his bag all day and attaches it to his wrist prior to leaving the house for a night out with his friend.

2.    He waits in the queue to a nightclub.

3.    The doorman asks for personal identification to check that Adam is over 18. Adam holds out his wristband, which contains his personal details, and the doorman scans it.

4.    After confirming he is of the legal age, the doorman takes a wireless payment from the wristband for entry to the club.

5.    Adam walks over to the bar and scans his wristband on a touch screen interface to allow him to choose and purchase drinks. Again, contactless payment is implemented to speed up the process of ordering drinks. The barman then prepares the drinks once the payment has been made.

6.    Adam and his friend then collect their drinks from the bar.

7.    After a trip to the toilet, Adam can’t find his friend anywhere in the dark nightclub.

8.    Adam then uses the “Find Friends” feature on his wristband. The wristband then begins to vibrate more and more, the closer he gets to his friend.

9.    Adam then spots his friend and turns off the “Find Friends” feature.

10.  Adam sees that he has a Facebook notification on the screen of his wristband. He then attempts to access it on his phone only to find his battery is empty. Borrowing his friends phone, the wristband automatically and temporarily logs him into Facebook to allow him to access his notification in seconds.

11. At the end of the night, Adam selects the “Call Taxi” feature on the wristband. Using GPS and his personal details, the wristband calls a taxi without Adam having to say a word.

12. The taxi then turns up outside the nightclub to pick Adam and his friend up and take them home.

Following the storyboard, I wrote stage directions in order to direct and film a video that would show a live action representation of the events of Adams night.

In the video, Adam is played by Leon, the doorman by David, the barman by Andrew and Adam’s friend by Lawrence. Making use of an empty classroom, we used simple props such as tables, plastic cups and an iPad to convey the nightclub scenario.



Plastic Fantastic: Introduction

The aim of this project is to design and develop a plastic toy that is educational, engaging and innovative. Whilst the word “toy” usually creates ideas of children playing, adults can also benefit from their use, especially if they are designed to educate. The target market is therefore left open for me to decide.

 After reading the design brief that I was given, I began researching plastics and the way their properties can benefit products and the ways they are manufactured. I also looked at existing educational toys and created a mood board, made up of images of them, in order to gain inspiration. After arranging the various images, I soon recognised some reoccurring styles that were common across the market. These products usually came in the form of a construction toy, a competitive game, a puzzle or something with moving parts that allowed a process to occur during use. The ones aimed at children made use of bright colours and fairly simple yet interesting looking shapes.

I then created a mind map to organise my ideas regarding the theme and style of the product I was to design, using my mood board as a guideline. This allowed me to think about each aspect of the themes and then evaluate them, deciding which would be good ideas. I made another mind map to organise all my research regarding plastics and their benefits.

As toys are most commonly aimed at children, the market is saturated and thinking of a fresh, innovative idea that would be educational and engaging at the same time was incredibly difficult. After a quick Google search of any ideas I had, I soon realised that there were many similar products already out there. It became apparent that if I was to develop an idea similar to an existing product, I would have to work out its weaknesses and improve on the idea effectively or take the idea in a new direction. The market for educational toys aimed at adults is much sparser and so I decided that this is the route I would take as I would have a much better chance of creating something that hadn’t been done before. It would therefore be easier to create a concept that was educational, engaging and innovative.

Using my own experience as inspiration, I thought about things I would like to gain a better understanding of and skills I would like to develop. As an amateur music producer and keyboard player, I immediately thought of music theory. Learning an instrument and the theory behind the music can appear overwhelming and complicated to someone with no past experience of the subject, especially if they decide to take up the hobby later in life. For this reason, many individuals may be put off from starting, despite often wishing they could play along to their favourite songs. For this reason, I have decided to develop a toy that will help adults to independently learn how to play a musical instrument as well as understanding music theory.