​PROTOTYPING - PHYSICAL OBJECTS

INTRODUCTION

It's often thought, designers merely make the things engineers invent, beautiful; put a pretty package around some ugly wiring; some glossy iconography over lines of indecipherable code. While this is true, often it's the designers who have the invention that engineers resolve problems to bring to fruition. A great example of this is when Jony Ive in Objectified says, "we spend a lot of time designing fixtures that facilitate making the thing, not just the thing." This is true in the world of glass screen experiences as well as everything else. Designers re-imagine how we use things, interact with things and one another, all while executing with, say an elegance.

We can ask questions of what elegance means, but some of this takes decades to develop a discerning eye and understanding of material properties.

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PROGRAM BRIEF

Design a physical, 3Dimensional object which conveys, expresses TIME.

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CONSTRAINTS

DO NOT use a Clock or any other similar time-keeping convention. THIS is overtly simplistic and lacks intellectual challenge.

The object MUST be STATIC, it may NOT have any moving parts which are mechanically engaged in order for time to be described.

Use found materials around your home. See Sketching User Experiences: The Workbook, Bill Buxton as a starting point.

• Chapter 8.4. Part One, Collecting Objects as Idea Triggers [PDF],
• Chapter 8.5. Collecting Objects to Build With [PDF]

The object should have solidity, mass, volume to it. It should not be thin, 2dimensional, like a ribbon.

The SIZE of the final object should be large enough to have physical presence and should have enough elements to

An integral part of the Design Process is Prototyping. As a Human Experience Designer of Interactions, you will need to create visuals that convince the public of your idea(s).

In this assignment, make a crude physical prototype for a conceptual idea.

s can be made using a variety of tools and can include everything from early crude physical prototypes that test proof of concept and preliminary ideas, and it can also include imagery intended to convey an initial idea which may lead to generating investors and revenue which will help see the product to the light of day.

 

Physical models (crude models then go through refinement iterations)

 

Take something familiar from your home and re-imagine the thing performing a very different job. for example, a coffee mug as a form type for a bike mounted head lamp

Using a material you have plenty of laying around your house (takeout chop sticks, for example), build a prototype of an idea you have, for something the world does not already have, but might benefit from.

Take photos of this new object (use a very neutral background to make your life easier) and insert the new form into your previous composited Photoshop image

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EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDIES

OXO Good Grips. Fast Company. The untold story of the vegetable peeler that changed the world.

Things We've Learnt About... Microsoft HXD Research Group

• Memories < TAKE A CLOSER LOOK
• Digital Possessions < TAKE A CLOSER LOOK

Ocean Cleanup

GoPro (original idea > first beta > first consumer launch > today)

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PROCESS

Crude model.

See Principles of 3D Design

Your "Object" will need to be a new assemblage AND be a primer for a potential new thing we don't already have in the world.

Think BIG. Think DIFFERENT. Think VISIONARY

 

Crude Study (rough draft, maybe works some, craftsmanship less important) > Refine Forward (here craftsmanship does matter)

See: Kinetic Sketches, Theo Jansen,

Consider, aesthetic strategies, step-transform-repeat

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DELIVERABLES

1. Insert photographs of your form studies into your Proposal Document template
2. Publish as a PDF following the guidelines established.
3. Submit to Dropbox.com by deadline

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EXAMPLES

Architecture and Developer Proposals

Developer Proposal

Microsoft > Things we've learnt about....Memories

 

"We spend most of our time trying to get design out of the way."

—Jony Ive

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STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Develop content for design communication based on research and understanding of contemporary design issues as demonstrated in multi-media and written assignments.

2. Demonstrate understanding of Genre and Disciplinary Conventions through writing projects specific to the discipline of design as demonstrated through appropriate writing styles across a range of discipline specific communication tools.

6. Prepare communication media based on a structured design process as demonstrated through the adherence to design-specific, professional-level-document conventions.

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EVALUATION BREAKDOWN

​points20

20


2020

20criteriaAdherence to project instructionsFormat & Structure of Document (shows process)Content/ResearchAbility to satisfy requirements of BriefAdherence to Design Conventions