Week 16: Project Complete

And there we have it..

After four months of intense, hard work the semester is complete and with it the third year of an Industrial Design Degree.

Thanks to Marianella, Yasu, Leo and Carolyn for all the guidance throughout the semester.

Product

Scenario 

Interaction

Week 15: Preparing for Presentation

Throughout this week, all our research and designing had finished as well as the stress of three other subjects, and the key was getting down to business and finishing up this project. This involved producing two models, one interactive, showing the concept of our interaction, one purely and aesthetic form model. Through the combination of these two would hopefully demonstrate all facets of our completed design.

Also, things that coincide with the completion of this project included a final design report as well as explanatory videos of our interaction, concept and scenario.

Presentation First Draft:

Interactive Model Production:

Glove Model Photos and Production:

Week 14: Design Project Progress

Understandably, this was a slow week in the development/finalising of our ideas and the production of our presentation efforts. Many team members had one; two or even 3 projects due within the week and Industrial Design certainly took the basic seat through the week.

Therefore, this week’s blog entry will be mostly focused on reconciling an understanding of interaction design thus far. This will be done by analysis of similar “glove” concepts out there in the world.


MORE GLOVES CONCEPT ANALYSISL

1. MP3 Gloves By Ryan Currier

The following concept is an MP3 Player Interactive Glove, which aims allow the user to play music on the go, through the glove to help enhance interaction.

If we run this concept through the teaching methods of this semester, the project succeeds in the product category. The design will well done and presented and is a sound design concept. However, the product fails in the interaction and scenario elements of the project (if we were to judge it against our criteria). The interaction element is not clear and a scenario is never defined

The goal of the concept was to satisfy a broad consumer market and through this gigantic market and ill-defined user group, the concept doesn't deliver. Overall, the concept fails to acknowledge any natural human behaviour and does not use these insights to make the product better.

In my opinion, this glove design cannot actually be called an "interaction" design project.

2. Digitalis Glove Concept:

Despite being very conceptual, I believe this design is a better example of interaction design when compared to the previous example. Firstly, the glove concept better understands and develops the human behaviour associated with wearing a glove / hand gestures.

However, what i think make this concept great is that all three elements of our interaction design process are covered. The Scenario, Interaction and Product are well stated and defined. Despite being very conceputal, I being this concept works.

3. Hands-On Concept – Communication Device for Autisitic Children.


The follow concept is a communication tool for children with autism. Out of the three concepts presented, I believe this is the best. It clearly defines three elements as I will explain further on.

The concept itself is brilliant, it takes on the behaviour and learning functions of autistic children, understands, acknowledges then applies them into a interactive product / concept.  The design shows in-depth knowledge of the scenario, product and interactive elements.

Early Concept Drawings of Our Glove: (Supplied by all team members)

Week 13: And We’re Going with a Glove……

Something the group had strived to NOT do throughout the whole design process, simply design a glove or wristband. We thought this was simplified, had been done before and was generally boring. However, after advice from tutors, this type of application was actually the best fit for our design project.

GLOVES vs SMART GRIPS – The following helps to demonstrate the process we went through to arrive at a glove product and why the two alternative options failed.

The Two Other options the group wanted to investigate included design either a “smart grip” that could have applications over several different tools or redesigning  an existing grip on a power tool (with the idea being that will be redesigning the grips on a whole suite of tools).

Smart Grip:

As a group, we believed this idea had a lot of potential. We envisioned a grip that could be taken off and applied to variety of tools, track data and ultimately provide feedback

This concept was generated by looking grips on Tennis Racquets 

Where it Fell Down:
This concept failed mainly due to poor ergonomics study/usability and logisitics of creating such an item . It became almost impossible to design a single grip that could accomplish everything we wanted to plus make it adaptable to a heap of different tools. If we were to move forward with this product, we would have to refine it to a particular brand or a particular type of too (i.e. a hammer)

Redesigning The Grip on a Power Tool:

Another Idea we had to facilitate this interaction centred around re-designing the grip on an existing range of power tools. The re-design would add the interaction elements as well as attempt define the grip for the product

Where It Fell Down:

Firstly, this idea was quickly shot down as it allowed almost no room for creativity amongst team members. We also realised that most power tools already had expertly designed grips that had gone through many iteration cycles. As can be seen here:

Much like the previous idea, If we did try to further develop this concept, we would have to focus specifically on one type of grip, on one type of tool, most likely from one brand of device. The Group believed this idea lacked the inventiveness and ingenuity that we strive for. Also, the application would be very limited.

NOTE ON BOTH:
Another Reason both concepts were ultimately rejected was also due to the fundamental reason that most floor tiling experts wear gloves while they work, a factor that had the potential to distort readings on the device, thus inhibiting much of the interaction process.  

The Glove Design and Why It’s the Best Choice:

The Glove was design was approved due to its vast array of potential functions and customisability as well as the added features it provides to the user. Essentially, this glove is both a protective aid and an interactive tool.

This device will give us the best result in the context and with the behaviour.

The following is an updated shot of our aesthetic model. This is it in production for week 16