Week 10: Concept Approval

WEEK 10: CONCEPT APPROVAL

Throughout the Mid-semester break the design team found it incredibly difficult to confirm our concept as to head into further design development. It was absolutely vital that during this session, we completely finalised our interaction, concept and scenario.

At this point, the team was thoroughly confused about the direction of our project. Different tutors had different opinions about where the group was. Some believed our product and scenario were solid, therefore debating our interaction. However, other tutors believed our interaction was good, with out scenario and product severely lacking. Although relatively ambiguous, the questioning of the design from all angles allowed the group members to open their mind to new possibilities. This led the team on a rapid design exploration in order to find out what we needed and how the elements worked together.

These insights resulted in a better understanding of our original concept and the fact that we were looking into an industry that was far too subtle. Movements and interactions within this context were incredibly difficult to differentiate from normal movements. Therefore, we believed we had to move into a context that had more obvious and specific movements.

From Group brainstorming, we shifted our focus from a subtle office context into the realm of manual labour and its associated behaviours and interactions. From here, we decided as a group to spend the next week exploring these ideas

Note: I was personally away for these studio and Ideation session due to urgent medical reasons. Therefore, most the recount of our design process, particularly during the studio session is based on Blog Entries from Team Mates; Phil Pappas, Nick Kallinicos and David Buchanan.

**Revision** Additional Concept Work – Understanding A New Context, Product and Scenario.

At the point, the group had struggled trying to get this idea to work and a complete revision was required. Despite this massive re-work will still retained what the group believed was the core of our context. The relationship between a employee and management, the hierarchical structure of a business. This was a context/concept generated from concept bomb activities several weeks ago.

From what information has been supplied to me by teammates, the group re-focused our interaction onto a context which will have more obvious physical behaviours and interactions.



Therefore, the following sections of the blog will look into a variety of manual-labour intensive professions.

1. Fruit Markets Operator – Rocklea Brisbane:

Like most labour intensive jobs, working as a physical labourer at a fruit market is highly physical demands and stressful job. The job usually consists of shifts up to eleven and a half hours of calculating orders, receiving loads from suppliers, assigning loads to specific places and palettes, stacking/building the palettes, preparing them for transport and transporting the goods to retailers.

Potential Design – (Using Old Focus: Hierarchical Interaction)
A potential problem for employers in this context is managing resources to where it is needed. As personally witnessed, employers need to be able to respond to the supply of employees at any given time, managing the most efficient workers and marshalling them to create the most efficient and enjoyable workplace. A potential solution to this problem could be a roving/mobile management tool that tracks workflow. The idea above sees workflow as a steam (or flow of LEDs), which displays current output of the working station. Through physical interaction, the display will respond to

This is facilitated through data systems already in place at most distribution centres. This data will be exploited and transferred into this display system. The interaction element with the physical in the concept is lacking, yet it is believed that this will enhance interaction and co-ordination with the physical world rather than simply with a product to work in tandem with enhancing workflow.

2. Roofer – Brisbane

Roofing jobs are labour intensive and often very hazardous. Due this relatively high-risk profession, they adopt strict protocols and ways of operation. Therefore, by understanding this profession, we can exploit the fact that this one has strict and regmented operations and movements.

Potiential Design: 

As a result of understanding the profession and its numerous hazard risks, I envisioned a product that could be designed to protect the user as the complete his or her roofing work day.

The device would be able to monitor movements of the user through an accelerometer and sense that all safety equipment and elements be in order and operational. Essientially, this would be a glorified monitoring system, providing feedback both to the individual and employer. This could also be used to legally protect both employers and employees.

3. Fire-fighter  - Brisbane

Along a similar line to the previous idea, I thought of a product that could be used in two ways. Firstly, to communicate between the co-ordinator of a search and rescue as well as a communicate tool between rescuer and person in distress. This would come in handy mainly due to the fact that rescuers generally have difficultly in  being able to communicate with people in distress. Usually, this is because of a variety of masks as used by these professionals, particularly in a fire emergency situation

What would be needed would a device that could respond to the distress of person of person with the aim of calming them down during this situation. Many hours of psychological research would be needed for this to actually work!

The disadvantages of this idea present themselves in three forms. The communication device between fire-fighters and co-ordinators already exists on the market and change to this system is highly unlikely due to the safety factor and high levels of ingrained training associated with the profession. Secondly, the addition of another device into an already stressful situation would be pedantic and unnecessary. Thirdly and Finally, to make this a viable design, it would most likely take months of comprehensive ethnographic research to understand the interactions of such a specialisted profession, however, this concept was useful in making me think.

RESULT:

An understand of professions with more obvious and strict movements. These ideas will be taken back to the group for further consultation, refinement and hopefully design development.