Design: Creation of Artifacts in Society

To select the concept I'll be developing further, I made a small survey among my friends, asking them to pick from the three concepts I created.

To do this, I made a very simple document on Word and sent it to my friends via facebook. Here's an image of the document:

I sent the document to a total of 30 people, and here are the results:

Concept A - "The measuring tape" : 15

Concept B - "The Yo-Yo" : 3

Concept C - "The cassette tape box" : 12

People really liked the idea of headphones with a retractable mechanism for its cord, but I'm really not sure if I'll be able to pull it off. I'll try though.

I'll also be developing the "cassette tape box" concept, which came second on the survey, since it is a simpler concept.

QUESTION 4.2. - Prototyping

CONCEPT A - "The Measuring Tape"

Concept A was a complete failure. I may have gone over my head thinking I could pull off a retracting mechanism.

QUESTION 4.2 - Prototyping

CONCEPT B - "The Yo-Yo"

I actually found a very similar product to what I had envisioned, although quite larger than my concept.

I couldn't build a spiraling reel. It is a very difficult shape to make... So I decided to test the product as it was, with my over-the-head headphones.

QUESTION 4.2 - Prototyping 

CONCEPT C - "The Cassette Tape" box.

This was the simplest of the bunch. I just glued 2 pieces of a pencil on an old card. 

QUESTION 4.1. Concept Selection

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to come up with 10 concepts last week.

QUESTION 3.1 - EXPLORATION - 10 CONCEPTS 

Concept A: The "measuring tape"

Concept B: The Yo-Yo

Question 3.2 - VISUAL EXPRESSION III - 2 POINT PERSPECTIVE

The headphones are portable 

The headphones are easy to carry around in a bag or in my pocket

The headphones are easy to roll up

! The headphones' cord doesn't get tangled up 

! The headphones are easy to find when I put them in my purse

! It's fast to start using the headphones and to put them away afterwards

The headphones are safely storeable

The headphones' cord doesn't bend in a way that may harm it

The headphones' jack is sturdy, so it doesn't bend

The headphones' ear buds and cord are sturdy

The headphones have a container to keep it safe

The headphones are comfortable

The headphones' ear buds fits comfortably inside my ear

The headphones' ear buds don't slide off my ear

The headphones' cord is not irritable to my skin

The headphones are easy to use in any situation

! The headphones are easy and comfortable to wear when I'm running

The headphones resist sweat

! The headphones' cord is not too long, so its not loose when I'm listening to music with my mp3 player in my pocket

! The cord doesn't tangle with me when I'm using the headphones with my laptop

! The headphones have a mic so I can use it with my cellphone

Its easy to wear the headphones with its cord under my t-shirt

! The headphones' cord is long enough for me to watch a movie in my laptop

The headphones are easy to use on the go

The headphones sound good

The headphones' bass is not too pronounced, but not too weak either

The headphones don't leak out sound

In what way might I ...

Listen to music anywhere I'd like?

Store the headphones safely, on the go?

Carry my in-ear headphones without its cord getting tangled up?

Keep the headphone's cord straight and aligned?

Visual Expression

Model 3107 sketch.

"6. It is very difficult to carry my in-ear headphones around, since it gets tangled up. I think there should be an easier way to carry it around, instead of rolling it up."  This is the gap I chose for my project. I think it is something most people have experienced that would be relatively simple to solve. 

I was unsure abou picking a gap that wasn't really material, like a process, since I don't think it fits the objective of the course.

Here is a list of gaps that I have experienced these past days:

1. I bring a side bag to work, and iI usually take things like a pencil case, notebooks, folders and books. Sometimes I like to bring my headphones to work, or I need to bring a coat, since the weather is crazy where I live. It is almost impossible to accomodate all these different sized things in it, not because the bag is not big enough, but because the subdivisions inside make it impossible. I usually have to carry one or two books off of it, I hate it. I would like to see a bag that had customizable subdivisions, or better designed subdivisions, so that I could fit everything I needed to carry in it. 2. I currently go to law school and I work as an intern in a law firm specialized in arbitration. Arbitration is a kind of alternate dispute resolution proceeding, and it is fundamentaly based on the party's freedom of choice. In other words, it is customizable to the needs of each dispute. Each party selects an arbitrator, and these arbitrators select another person that will act as the chairman of the arbitral tribunal. The tribunal usually obey the rules of an arbitration organization chosen by the parties. Most of the times, the selected arbitrators are very experienced, so there's not a lot of room for new arbitrators to bloom. I would like to see a kind of summary procedure for simpler disputes, that would give the oportunity to young arbitrators to get experience. 

3. I hate umbrellas. They are difficult to carry, and they never protect your whole body - I'm relatively tall, so my legs usually get soaked. I would like to see a new kind of rain protection device that would cover your whole body, and would be easy to carry around, when you don't want to take any bags.

4. I realize designing some kind of new rain protection device is kind of far-fetched. So I would settle for something that would make umbrellas easier to carry around.

5. I have a relatively extensive CD collection and it is hard to keep it organized. I don't like the shelves sold at stores, because they're usually ugly, and I think they take too much space. I would like to see somekind of shelf, or container for CDs that looks good and takes little space.

6. It is very difficult to carry my in-ear headphones around, since it gets tangled up. I think there should be an easier way to carry it around, instead of rolling it up. *

(ugh, coming up with these is kind of hard)

7. I have a lot of books and magazines. I put most of them on the shelf, but I have a difficult time storing the books and magazines I don't like that much but don't want to throw way. I'd like to see some kind of portable archive for books and magazines. 

8. I have a dog, and he absolutely hates his coat for cold days. He nibbles on every loose bit of it. I think there should be some kind of dog apparel that would be easy to put it on, but also fitted for the dog's body, so it wouldn't be able to nibble on it.

Sorry, the task was to list 10 gaps, but I could only think of 8.

Question 1.1

This is a japanese toothpick. It is designed so that the end of it is easily detachable to show other people at the table that that toothpick has been used. It also creates a neat little rest for it, as shown in the picture.

I first saw this kind of toothpick in the 2009 documentary "Objectified", directed by Gary Hustwit. One of the main themes of the film is to show that every single object you see and interact with has been thought of. Even something as simple as a toothpick.  

I don't usually use toothpicks - I actually think its kind of disgusting - but it's simple functionality really impressed me. Now everytime I go to a restaurant and see the regular kind of toothpick, I cannot help myself but to bring the japanese toothpick to the conversation or to start looking for other interesting product designs that are around. 

Question 1.3