Experience enrichment

M'whix

The M’whix is a designed to break away from the drab impressions of a kitchen utensil which one would only care when needed. The design evolved through various stages of research and experiment clearly identifying the problems and purpose of a whisk. M’whix is no revolutionary design in terms of how to use but it is in fact a simple innovative step which adds personality and pleasure in usage in various aspects.

The target market is for young to middle aged females who enjoy decorative craft work as well as making delicate deserts and food crafts as a hobby. The vibe of this product is to capture a certain feminine elegance in form which ultimately attracts its target.

Given their fondness to decoration a simplistic aesthetic whisk would be a suitable and inevitable piece which fits well into a kitchen environment not only being a tool (in terms of usages on food craft), the whisk is to give the kitchen a sense of completeness without being just another coiled up metallic wire sitting on the bench. The form of the whisk follows a very organic flow with subtle floral references without being too literal. Its curve not only makes the whisk more ergonomic but also embraces the usage of line and direction; with an unexaggerated bulge as the handle end balances the product without being too heavily weighed on the head. This also semantically hints the user where your hand goes. The extension of the handle also allows users to easily hold the whisk for close and precise mixing jobs.

The M’whix differs from ordinary whisks for the existence of a collar; the collar holds each strand of wire giving the roots of the wires rigidness. The collar eliminates difficulty in cleaning as per normal whisks all wires centre to one pivotal point where sticky liquid may be trapped (not to mention it is an unused area of the whisk). With rigid foundations the whisk can have independent flexible wires. The wires are bent to mimic a tulip; this not only differentiates from normal balloon whisks it also increases affectivity in air aiding, this idea was taken from the Matcha bamboo whisk which is specific and precise however the idea is now simplified and more versatile in terms of use (not only for tea). All wires curve inward to a centre point, its flexibility allows one to reach in for easy cleaning, the flexibility of the steel wires maintain its original shape. The overall curves of the wires still follow the shape of a bowl and vary from top to bottom to maximise used areas being used.

The whisk has two materials, the handle made from moulded polypropylene and the wires made from flexible steel rod shaped by CNC to give it the variations as mentioned above.

Video reflection4: objectified

This featured film, explains the various steps or to me layers of being a designer. It showed example of why we as designers do this and that, and what we really design for. The film takes me around these various aspects of being a design and good design telling me about what many people define as good design also what the next step there is to design. Amongst the myriad of important design information I found the above two points most useful in terms of giving direction to my design career.

First lesson for me was from Alice Rawsthron and Jonathon Ive, the interesting fact that good design should look as if it hasn’t been designed. Confusing concept to grasp however through explanation with plastic containers it makes sense. Good design should also be taken for granted and unnoticed, this I define as being able to let users experience ease and simplicity when using the product. It essentially emphasises the need for simplicity, which ultimately makes mass production happen. Jonathon’s talk also touches another important aspect to good design. I often over complicate or over engineer a design. It’s sometimes hard to think of simple ideas without feeling drabness and incompleteness. But from the Apple examples good design really should be simple. This caused me to realise the less there is to do there less space for error or in this case difficulty to use.

From Smart designs and other speakers of this feature film, I was informed of the demands of companies as well as how these designs are comparatively made available to consumers but the dominant take home messages yet remains to be simplicity. Davin stowell demonstrated simple solutions with the peeler example, the fact that their solution was really taken from a problem which has been solved by another area of use. The bicycle handles; designed for comfort in long durations. This not only tells me the effective and simple approaches to good design (off the shelf innovation) but also makes links to standardisation. “If a design is targeted for the extremes the middle will take care of itself” quoted in the video, essentially stating the importance of standardisation; designing products which anyone can use. Dieter Rams further adds to the emphasis of good design being simple, simple by means of user reaction.

In conclusion good design should be for the masses and must be understandable, easy to use and agrees with one’s logic. These factors influence our decisions in design but also the consumers. It’s a feedback system which can only be perfected slowly by eliminating unnecessary discomfort or unease with simple solutions.

Task 5: Design confusion

For this task I chose my mini handheld vaccum cleaner as it really confused me at my first attempt to use it. As mentioned in the poster the design is simply going against the usual logic, well in my terms at least. The catcher, bag or collecter is actually catching dusts using its convex part or bottom which is also a pain when emptying the cleaner as all the dust spills out when I try. I really suspected the design so I tired loading the catcher the assumed way and of coruse it failed. I also realised that while I'm carrying the cleaner around bits of dust manange to pollute my clothes which really confused me. I later realised this occurs as the direction of the plastic rim of the bag create gaps which lead straight to the gap where the front detachable part meets the end half.

So in order to solve or prvent this enigma for users I have decided to simply reverse this irrational design making it clear which direction it operates. I also decided to add an additional handle to the product which makes it clear which way to unload as well as making it easier to unload not having to fumble with your fingers trying to pick the plastic edge to be rid of the catcher. To solve the dust slipping out I also encorporated a plastic or rubber rim around the bag so no dust manages to exit due to the direction of suction. I hope this succesfully solves the problem!

Experience enrichment stage 2: sketch model

Video reflection 3: The story of stuff

The story of stuff at first reminds me an important part of our everyday behaviours. Simply to raise our attentions to the environment sounds simple as described in the video however hard to achieve. With US as an example, it clearly shows what has been told and warned isn’t enough to change our attitudes on everyday consumptions.

From the beginning of the video I thought this was just another greenie production to point out the obvious as it began by retelling the basic assumed processes and stages of a product which eventually ends up as waste. However the story builds as further emphasis and elaborations have been included about who is causing this inefficient and unsustainable cycle. To just an individual making a difference doesn’t seem to have one slightest chance, especially as mentioned throughout the video; the major causer or players to this wastage system are the government and the corporations with the power. But it reminds us that if each and one of us all think as such there will be no change as we as a world play part to the change.

As the video continues it gives more in-depth definition to this production and consumer cycle however the result is always the same. It concludes to say no matter the power spend to extract resources, the workers labour and the money spent by consumers it all ends up being trash within 6months. This made me think closer about the product than our behaviour. Ultimately I realised design does have a major impact on how the user will treat it mentally and eventually determine how he/she will use it and throw it away. As mentioned in the video this doesn’t count the disposable items such as paper cups and plastic bags, it was bigger products like electronics and other large material demanding products. If a person treats the product depending on its value then it is possible to design things to make people treat it better.

In essence the biggest heads up from this video is to relate this known sustainability problem to our design career not just our daily lives. To be aware of our impact and ability to change a person’s judgment on a product can most definitely affect his/her options on treating a product well and the desire to keep it for longer. This might be a first thought for us against planned obsolesces.

Video reflection2: Emotional design

Don Norman makes the message clear to me that design isn’t totally about function anymore. For something to work is already taken for granted in this day and age so the new idea now is to look at the spaces for work there are in functional products. Throw his speech he gives a great many examples of products which don’t necessarily work one hundred percent efficiently but simply pleases people whilst they interact or visualise it.

Fun and beautiful in essence, is purpose of emotional design. Don Norman mentions the famous lemon juicer by Philippe Starck; it doesn’t work too well and he clearly stated that he doesn’t have it in the kitchen but instead at the front door. To why people would even want to buy it may be simply the fact that it’s different to other lemon juicers. Don explains that it’s simply good to look at, putting beauty at first makes people have an emotional response that the product is fun or pleasant to have due to the fact that we’ve never had one as such. Similar explanation was given to the Hummers which remind me the importance of how a design can stand out amongst the experiences of each person with past products.

Don mentions behavioural responses created by design is what makes people enjoy using it as they feel in control and quite frankly people become satisfied or pleased when we feel we are in control of things. But in my opinion an even greater pleasure is being fun by being aesthetically pleasing; if two of the same products do the same job except one is ugly and one is not, the answer is obvious that the aesthetically pleasing one would be more popular. It is very natural that our minds react in such a way; always hoping to enjoy what we do so if our minds tell us the item in hand is special and stands out of those usual impressions we should enjoy using it (depending on whether it actually is pleasing to look at or interact with).

This Ted talk has raised my attention to every possible reaction a product has to us when we look around. I hope to be able to use these experiences and apply them into my future design practices to attempt to join the pleasurable design hype which I believe to be the vibe of modern product designs.

Sydney design Sketches