Design for Professional Practice - Week 1
Starting off this project we were issued a brief in which we were instructed to research different examples of brands. The brands could be local or national, big or small but were to demonstrate some form of interactivity with their audience.
We were shown examples in class of multiple ways in which brands interact with their audience, ranging from LED boards at bus stops, on the street, dispensable coffee at a zebra crossing, a chance to win a free North Face hoodie by being forced to climb a wall and leap for it. The beginning of this project was solely to research more examples of these and put together a powerpoint for the following week.
Lots of images have been copied and pasted for the presentation and will leave writing on screen to a minimum. I feel that my level of work is sufficient for the powerpoint, I have also typed up a script which I will use when presenting. Right now I feel confident enough to present this without feeling nervous.
Design for Professional Practice - Week 2
Following this week's class I got a chance to see most of the powerpoints the others had put together. From this viewing I was able to give my own presentation a critique and improved upon it. We ran out of time before everyone could finish, so I will have to deliver my work next week.
However, our tutor gave us additional work to add on to our current brief which was to home in on one of the brands that we researched. I have decided to chose Genesis Crafty Bakery, as it it local and they have a clever and unique way of engaging their market.
Design for Professional Practice - Week 3
This week I have engaged in group work as the internet was inaccessible for our tutor. I did not manage to present my findings to the class but I was able to send them along with the voice over to my tutor.
We used a UX design method with the subject being Brexit to practice applying our methodology of our chosen brand to our work. I know next to nothing about the Brexit situation so I feel that I wasn't able to pull as much weight as I would have liked to during class.
Upon returning home I got stuck into work, drawing out lots of circles and thinking about everything that came to mind when thinking of the Genesis Crafty brand. I also accessed their Twitter and visited their website to learn more about them and where they stock.
I also went deeper and found that Genesis Crafty bakery also do a lot of charity work and are friends of the Cancer Centre Charity. On reflection, I believe that my chosen brand is more than suitable.
I have also developed three user profiles for people that use/engage with the brand, (myself included). I delved a bit into their personal information, occupation and location etc and I have highlighted how they discovered the brand, why they engage as well as their issues and concerns with it.
I feel that I've gone into great detail with my work, to the point where the detail is exhaustive, in my opinion. This work will benefit me in the future, especially when I enter the conceptualisation stage of this project.
Design for Professional Practice - Week 4
Reflecting on last week's work on UX Workflow, I feel that my capabilities in this area are developing. To follow up from last week, I have chosen Genesis Crafty Bakery as a brand. It is local and there is a substantial amount of information that can be found online through their website and Twitter.
We continued building on this technique by practicing it again in class. We were put into groups of three and were given the task of finding out as much as we could about Kellogg's in 30 minutes.We used our laptops and began researching and writing down on post-it notes until our time had lapsed. We were able to compile a short history of Kellogg's as well as a bit of info on their brands, stocks and shareholders Afterwards, I was chosen by the other members of our group to explain our findings to the class. We had to create a user profile based on someone who would use that brand. I am intending to create a physical moodboard centered around my chosen brand.
I took the liberty of taking a sharpie and writing up the user profile, whilst taking suggestions from my group. I felt confident that I was pushing myself forward as I am typically a shy person who leaves the role of leader to others. I also pushed myself to read out aloud some of our research.
After class had ended I approached my lecturer and showed him the start I had made on my user profiles. He said that I had made a good start and liked the formula I was using, however he informed me that I could include a little bit more info regarding what brings the user back.
I visited the library and acquired books recommended from my tutor's required reading list. The book is titled "The Art of Looking Sideways"
I feel confident that I am getting on well with my work and the fact that I am pushing myself to improve.
Design for Professional Practice - Week 5 - Reading week
Class had a reading week this week so I continued with my User Profiles.
Design for Professional Practice - Week 6
I was absent this week and was unable to attend class.
Design for Professional Practice - Week 7
Upon returning to class this week, I was lucky to hear from a friend that we were expected to list as many ways as possible for us to advertise for our users. I quickly made a word document and put in as many ways that I could think of. My tutor was happy with this and then spoke to me about what I wished to do for my end result. I wished to create a pancake ATM concept, where the user could pay for Genesis Brand pancakes at a reasonable price.
I uploaded a video to my YouTube channel showing an example of a "Sprinkles" brand cupcake ATM located in New York. The video was recorded myself from a trip to NYC. Initially I loved the idea of developing this concept for my project however, at this time it seems that my tutor wants this to coincide with another possible final outcome.
My tutor asked me about my user (Student support provider, 50, 2 kids, wife, travels from campus to campus, Derry, Coleraine, Jordanstown etc). Based on this information, my tutor suggested that since the user has children that the idea of a branded lunchbox could be very successful.
With this in mind, solving the problem of finding a way to create a fun, interactive experience for the children was one of my top priorities. The tutor also suggested that the two ideas could tie into one another through the use of a barcode that could be scanned, this could allow for discounts, signing up to the brand etc.
I spent part of my weekend developing simple sketches with some notes on how I would like my branded lunchbox to look for the final outcome. At the moment anything is possible.
Design for Professional Practice - Week 8
Over the weekend, I spent some time developing my project further by developing some concept sketches for my user's product. I had a bit of trouble thinking about what to develop at first but I was given the direction of designing for one of the user's children.
I feel that this was just what I needed to progress as developing for children allows you to have lots of crazy ideas and anything is possible at this stage in the project. My initial idea was to design a pancake ATM, now it is a lunchbag that is robust, ergonomic and compressible.
My first sketches are exploring all of the possibilities and demonstrating what could be achievable for myself, based on my skill-set. I looked at a lunchbox that had a pancake stand that would pop out of the side of the box. The bottom of the box would be made up of Jigsaw pieces to allow for interaction, extra compartments would allow for more food to be stored too, as well as holders and pockets for the parents to insert notes/reminders etc.
I was also considering designing lunchboxes that could allow for interaction and independence, allowing the child to slice their own apples with heavy-duty plastic apple slicers. The blades would be made of hard plastic and the handles heavy enough to slice through with ease, without the danger of cut fingers.
A lunchbox that allowed a child to make their own sandwich was a bit out there and a little bit difficult to achieve in my opinion. The idea was that there would be four sliders that would push the bread and filling into the middle of the box. These ideas would be pushed to the side as I began to develop stronger ideas after this.
I looked at branding the lunchbox idea and also associating the box with my chosen brand. I designed a lunchbox made to look like the Genesis Crafty mascot. In this concept, the hat would open and contain the packed lunch, I also considered that interaction could be achieved through the child creating new faces for the lunchbox. A bag of sticky eyes, hair, mouth etc wouldn't be terribly expensive to produce if it was a marketable product.The friendly face and fluffy baker's hat would definitely attract the attention of a child, but I felt more drawn to my next idea.
I was thinking that the lunchbox could be shaped like a loaf of bread or a sub roll, this could be developed further by using the packaging of the bread itself. I touched on this idea briefly but did not add much to it as I was out of creative juices at that stage.
Design for Professional Practice - Week 9
Based on my feedback in class, I was able to develop a few more ideas to develop my current approach to the lunchbox idea. I am now hoping to design a lunchbag that compresses down so it can easily fit into a Schoolbag.
The design will resemble a loaf of bread still in its packaging with some additional features to allow the child to interact such as picking its own menu, i.e "Eat cheese on Monday, or a healthy sandwich on Tuesday, have a Freddo on Wednesday" The idea is to encourage the child to eat healthy, balanced portions each day but not taking them away from their favorite treats.
My tutor and I spent a lot of time thinking of what could be achieved with this concept and considered how the child could store drinks in their lunchbag. Taking inspiration from a hard-edged wine case/box, we felt that the child could pour their own drinks from a tap at the side. I thought about different scenarios that could arise from this such as different flavours, changing the location of the tap to make it easier to use, allowing the parents to fill the bag with their own choice of drink etc.
There could be recipes or meal deals from Genesis Crafty on the side of the lunchbag that could inspire the parents to make up new, exciting and healthy dishes for their child.
The middle of the lunchbag is the compartment in which the food is stored. From experience I know that sandwiches can get squashed or soggy so I am hoping to demonstrate a way in which this can be avoided. Plastic dividers could allow for the bag to be compressed down to as compact and manageable a form as possible whilst protecting the food at the same time. You could keep sandwiches between the top dividers, and fruit between the next dividers. Insulation for frozen treats is something that I may consider down the line.
Over the weekend I finished a loaf of bread (not by myself, gotta' watch them carbs). I took the packaging and got some cardboard. I then began to fill out the packaging with the cardboard to get a feel of size and how to work with the material. My sister bought a wine box, we emptied it into another container and attached it to the bottom of the bread package to make my first prototype. Through my family, I acquired some more feedback on future ideas. I sketched out a few of their ideas to show a gradual progression for my design process and photographed the materials I have been using so far.
I also done a bit of research on the materials used for Tesco's "Bags For Life" which plastics are safe for children and what plastics are not safe on a scale from 1-6. I feel that if my product were to be marketable, it would need to be waterproof, made from a biodegradable, recyclable material. I feel that Jute was a possible consideration however, it is not waterproof.
Design for Professional Practice - Week 10
After receiving feedback from my tutor the previous week, I continued developing my prototype and pitch that I would present to the class the week after. I gathered more materials and began to think about the size of my lunchbag. Working with the materials wasn't the easiest task but I feel it was manageable, all things considered.
I found it tricky to get the box in which my product's liquid would be contained to fit better underneath the main body of the lunchbag. After working with some materials such as card, plastic and a box I had lying about I worked on improving the size. After a few attempts I feel that the size of box that I came up with was suitable for the second prototype, however, I think I will use an actual box for the final prototype to fit my product together in a more professional way.
My second prototype was more of a success than my previous I feel. It is smaller and allows for more compatibility. An issue that is prevalent in many lunchboxes is that most of the time people end up with squashed sandwiches and leaking drinks. To resolve this issue I created dividers out of card, so that when my lunchbag is compressed down no harm comes to the food and drink.
During class I showed my tutor the 1st draft of the pitch I had put together. He was happy with it and helped me remove things that weren't relevant and to help me with my timing. My tutor gave me feedback and suggested that flash cards may be a suitable way of managing my time, as each student would be allowed 5 minutes each.
Design for Professional Practice - Week 11
I attached a pocket and a selection of menus for the child to choose what they would like to have on their Schooldays. My rationale for this was to promote healthy eating in more Schools by allowing the parents of the child to get their children interacting with the product. They could chose a healthy option on a Monday such as an egg and onion sandwich, and have a Freddo bar the next day. The idea is to encourage healthy eating without forcing the children into an uncomfortable situation where they feel they aren't allowed a sweet now and again.
I included a pocket to allow the parents to include a note, reminding their children that they have a healthy option in their lunchbox. I also felt that a personalised name tag would encourage the child to feel attached to their lunchbag thorough the School term. I made a simple name tag and glued it onto my prototype to showcase what I intend to include for the final design.
I was unsure at this point if the drink being at the bottom of the lunchbag was ergonomically suitable, so I placed it on the side of the box this time around to see how it worked. The positive points of this development was that the faucet/tap was higher up, allowing the child to put a cup underneath and fill their cup easily. I am still unsure how I feel about this idea. I created it by using a making a small box, measuring it just slightly taller than the middle compartment, and placed a hand sanitiser lid and nozzle at the top (I didn't have another tap as I only purchased one wine box in Week 9)
I practised my pitch about 7 times before I felt at ease with myself. I used a timer that would ring after my time had elapsed. I wrote down key points from a script I had put together the week before onto the flash cards. I found this to be really helpful and was glad that I decided to use this method.
All in all, I feel this prototype looks good, but as for suitability, I feel that I will still need to create another prototype before all of my issues are resolved and the needs are filled.
Design for Professional Practice - Week 12.
Over the Christmas holidays, I have been tasked with completing my project. I have structured my design development journey into a powerpoint presentation to be submitted in January. I have finalised my prototype. I have decided to call my creation 'Crafterz' as it incorporates the Genesis Crafty name and also brings an artistic element to the item.
The lunchbag will consist of a pocket on the side of the plastic that contains daily menus, suggestions for parents on what their child could have for lunch that day. The menu also contains an empty space which the child can use to draw on during lunch.
On the other side is a bottle with a flip lid. There is also a straw included in the lunchbag, and the drinks bottle is refillable and washable. At the front of the luncbag is a name tag for the child to personalise.
The lunchbox portion has two compartments, with the top part split into two to divide space. Also included in the lunchbag are a sheet of stickers, suitable for both male and female, which the child can use to decorate or 'Craft' their lunchbag.
Ideally, the product would be made from a transparent plastic. However, due to limited resources I could not create such. The main feature of the lunchbag is the plastic that compresses. Again, due to resources, I could not source the appropriate plastic to do this.
Things I've considered throughout this project
http://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/health/why-bpa-free-plastic-isnt-necessarily-safe-20140611
