Week 3: industry critique

Feedback

Christina Le

Christina provided some good feedback regarding the functionality of the mechanics, there was some misunderstanding from how this product is actually going to be a packaging instead of an "add on". This has allowed me to know i need to strongly work on the presentation of my work to make it easier to understand. Something else that was address was how it may turn on when on the shelf and something i found very interesting and useful was a comment she made regarding the recommendation of a "lock" function.

Rachael Sigley

Richael was complimenting the mechanics but something she recommended was how i should work the form, make it look more friendly instead of so mechanical. She promoted to me how somebody with arthritis would like this thing to be welcoming for them to use, also a recommendation to work on the colors was important. As well as Christina she recommended a "lock" functionality

Lecturer (scott)

Scott admired the work that was there but thought there were too many moving parts, one of his key recommendations was to establish a method of having the switch move with a "living hinge" the idea of using a thinner wallstrength to my advantage could very well work. This has been very helpful to me.
Another bit of advice was to make it look less mechanical, more user friendly, he believed this was designed by an engineer, not an industrial designer, and because of this he recommends i work with the form alot, smoothing edges and making it much more friendly, but he warned me that one of the big problems with this is that i have to keep the materials down. Another part he explained was how the bottom clip to hold it in place may not be recommended

Lecturer (Mar)

Mar struggled to accept that this was packaging instead of an accessory to the product, it was not until i explained further about my design is sold already pre clipped onto the package making it part of the packaging. He also thinks that the mechanics of it may bend off to the side when pressed. Alot of work is needed, and from what i learnt from this is that i need to put alot more effort into my presentation, making it easier to communicate my design, and also not to break copyright infringements!

reflection

After today i got some mixed fealings about my work, some good, some bad. after Mar's comment i feel i have gone way off course but after showing some other people my work i feel i can still do this i just need to work on it a bit more, making it user friendly, less "complex" and actually make it with a can instead of showing this being adapted to any can. Still alot of work and i really need to make sure my model/prototype conveys everything i have learnt.

LCA lifecycle analsys video reflection

Video responses

Greenfly: Design greener products video

The service that greenfly offers appears to be very convenient, although having experience in the industry I just do not feel confident with what is provided. It seems too simple, and there are too many other considerations to be taken into place. Very similar to the concept of how people say a product is “recyclable”, just because somebody says something is recyclable doesn’t mean it’s going to be recycled. Just because the methods here on greenfly exist doesn’t mean it is how it is going to work. I feel it would be more responsible if there was an actual job position available for this, somebody that their pure job is to lower the environmental impact on these products (which already exists!).

Autodesk: whole system and lifecycle thinking video

Very informative, I like this video as it shows you a rough and easy way to just asses the whole situation YOURSELF, it comes in very easy as it’s something that can be done from such an early phase in the design process, this can be done in the basic concept stage. This happening at this point in time comes in very useful as you can have a rough assessment if your design is going to have a bad impact before actually making full commitment of commencing the design. I think another thing that comes in useful about this process addressed is the simplicity of it. It can be thought of by an industrial designer, but then it can also be done by an architect, or an artist, or just somebody that is experimenting with a design in their garage. Very intuitive video enjoyed it.

Autodesk: improving product lifetime video

The idea of this video is good, designing something with a longer lifecycle, or designing something that majority of the parts can be re-used or recycled is all a great idea. Fortunately this is all information I have already known, and when I look back at this to the realistic world, it is great for a designer or an engineer to come up with these designs. BUT the next problem that is the entire reason this is not currently being applied was not addressed, and that is the marketing and finances! Realistically a company wants to make a product that is cheap to make and easy for a customer to buy again, that is how the world works, designers have come up with many products that have great end of life but the problem comes in that the marketing wants the product that will earn them the most money instead of the one that is best for the environment. This video has a good idea in mind but financially it is not the best option.

Autodesk: light weighting video

This idea is good and I like how they demonstrate the waste involved. Light weighting is a great and innovative option. Something I feel they missed out on this video is how it is actually helpful for the costs in production, as that is the big determination on if a product gets made. It puts more pressure on the designer but for a very good reason. One of the things I like most was how they explained that they don’t want to lightweight design if its manufacturing method does more of an environmental impact.

Autodesk: green materials selection

Informative, but way too short a video, was expecting it to start getting into some depth explaining the green material selection further but it seemed to cut it very short. That being said from what they did say using the cup demonstration was very useful as coffee cups are something most people use every day and it’s something everyone else can relate to.

Autodesk: Energy efficient design

Explaining the process of electricity from the ore all the way to the product has already helped a lot as many people don’t understand the process and effort that is required to get the power out of your wall socket.  This already gave myself and others a good idea of how key it is to have energy efficient design. Although I feel the explanation of solar panels was not necessary. But knowing the concept of Watts, joules, and energy comes in very useful for design. Fortunately I already knew most of this from being a previous physics and engineering student, although what I got told here I can still see it as something that is simpler even for the basic designer to understand.

Week 2: Mid-phase

After last week i went back to the drawing board and explored more issues with people with arthritis, something i noticed that had considerable problems was how body spray deodorant is applied and after interviewing people with arthritis they emphasized the pain involved with stretching and twisting your arm to spray the deodorant, then on top of that the next problem was the difficulty in pressing the actual nozzle

Feedback

Alexander Jackson
"Of the three concepts, I think that the third one shows the most potential. The overall shape is most reminiscent of existing designs which needs to be considered to cater for existing users. The side mechanism offers a much easier and more practical solution to deodorant use, as does the swivel ball at the top. The challenge will be trying to get all the bits and pieces to work together. textures will be important to the shape for better grip when using."

Sarah Howard

"blue and orange concept looks ergonomic and easy to use, good spread of load, obvious functions, would look good if manufactured, add on idea is ok but too many materials? arthritis suffers would have to buy both products? know how to use etc. you would need very good labelling and design graphics "

Lecturer
After showing my work to Scott some information i gathered was that my idea is on the track, scott felt that i should explore methods of this being something that can be used with current aerosol and spray cans, so instead of the manufacturer having to totally redesign the can and throw a heap of money into it i should explore a method that allows them to still use their same can design they have put so much funding towards.

After this week i am very pleased with my feed back and i am confident in the direction i am going in, still plenty of work is required but knowing that i am on the right track is very helpful and i already have a brief idea of what i want to have for next week

Week 1: research

Student feedback:

Lubar han:

"In depth research into arthritis which clearly shows your understanding of how much arthritis sufferers have problems. The solution to the problems you outlined are shown in your concepts. The concept which i liked the best was the coffee dispenser. Its something new and is easy to use by the arthritis sufferer by just twisting to dispense a serving of coffee. Another design which i think is fun and interesting is the tape like dispenser. That would be interesting to see as a finished concept when refined."

Debbie Tram:

"You have put the research in, but one of the designs,in particular the tape i feel will not work mechanically. Most of this has to do with how it has to fold down and roll into there. This being said if it was achievable then it would be very suitable to those with arthritis" Lecturer feedback: Mar From what i found out after Mar's feedback is that most of my work requires too much material for too irrelavent a product. Something very important to me he stated was how packaging can be clunky and expensive if its there to protect something that is very expensive or very important, he used an epi pen as an example and this really assisted in my knowledge of this assignment.

What i learnt

My research is good, but i need to continue it. But i need to totally rework my idea of innovative packaging, i should really observe what people with arthritis are struggling with be actual observation instead of just searching the web. I am going to go back to the drawing board and come up with a couple of other designs for a different requirement. This week feedback did help alot, although it shows i was going in the wrong direction its better i found out now than later on in the project.

Matthew Patane

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