UCD FINAL STORY BOARD AND CAD DESIGN

We made a basic story board to clarify the mechanism of the product.

-Ahana Kothari

Shown below is the the 3D model done via Solidworks.

-Jack Connery

For the final Presentation and a video format of the story board please visit our facebook page.

UCD- BASIC MODEL

UCD MODEL

After looking at the sketches and ideas we came up with a basic model made from blue-tack. This was done in order to show the client how the product would fit on the headphones and how it would look before actually making the final 3D model.

Done By Andrew Sutherland

UCD- SKETCHES

BASIC SKETCHES OF THE PRODUCT

Each member in Group 3 came up with different deigns and sketches, sticking to the theme of Jaguar Lamborghini. Below are all the sketches that we came up with.

 - Jack Connery

-Ahana Kothari

-Ahana Kothari

-Ahana Kothari

-James Fulton

-James Fulton

-Rhob Edwards

-Rhob Edwards

UCD MOOD BOARD

UCD MOOD BOARD DESIGN STYLE

As a group, we decided to take up Jaguar and Lamborghini as they have very distinctive designs. Jaguar portrays sleek elegance through curves and Lamborghini represents strength and style through sharp and angular designs. Here are some mood boards representing the two different styles that we plan on designing our product to.

LAMBORGHINI

JAGUAR

UCD- INITIAL SPECIFICATION

INITIAL SPECIFICATION

Problem I.D: Over time the casing of chargers and headphones wears out and starts to tear exposing the internal wires making it dangerous and less useful. The main cause of this is that the wire gets bent extremely often and this leads to the tearing of the external casing.

Therefore the aim of the project is to create a product to eliminate this problem, this means creating a solution that will sustain the wire to allow it to have a longer product lifecycle. This in our opinion will be a product such as a casing.

Initial Specification:

This is the initial specification of the user centered design. This will act as a first draft of the specification before focused primary and secondary research. This will be created from group discussions we have had, therefore these will be the hopes that the group has for the solution for the problem to create a form of guide for a product.

Prospective Customers -

The product that will be created from the problem will be aimed towards people that experience the problem I.D. The people that experience this will have technology such as phones, media player and so on. This can be an age range from the age of 12 to above. But generally the people that will purchase a product that covers the problem I.D will be around 12 - 24. But can also cater to people above this age also. But as 12 - 24 will be the age range that will commonly buy/use this product, the product will be centered on this age range.

Hopefully some individuals over the threshold would be able to use the product but the item will not be made with them in mind as they are not my target audience. This in effect means that the product would be easy of use/ergonomically fitting for a wide age range above the specified age range. Even though this could be a problem, elderly and young people are similar in strength so this feat isn’t hard to accommodate for, as it will be an ease of use product from the start. But the feat that will not be easy to accommodate is the aesthetics of the product to fit a wide age range, as what a person of the age of 12 - 24 may find aesthetically pleasing will not be the same a person of 30 and above. Although this factor will have to be thought out more when concepts have been made, only then we will know what affect the aesthetics will have on the product.

Knowing that the prospective customer is a very large percentage of the country that own a phone, media player or a piece of technology that requires a wire for activities such as charging or listening to music through headphones, there could be a lot of research done to know more into the aesthetics and other factors on the product.

Deliverables -

·         Brief - Firstly a brief for a problem will be used to find a gap in the market to create and develop a new product that will be a solution for the problem.

·         Milestones - These will be discussed about with the lecturer so that a schedule for the project will be developed.

·         Gantt chart - From the milestones a Gantt chart will be made for the project. To keep in schedule for the project the group will revise on the Gantt chart every fortnight or weekly basis.

·         Initial Specification - An initial specification will be created to set out the basic specification of the design and also set out the primary and secondary research.

·         Research/Investigation - Primary and secondary research will be carried out to create a final specification.

·         Final Specification - When the group has finished the primary and secondary research the group will use the gained knowledge to create the final specification, so that the design guidance for the conceptual sketches and designs is perfectly outlined. Too little detail could lead to doing more than is asked for so it is extremely important that spec is as detailed as possible.

·         Concept Sketches - After the final specification has been made, the group will have the right guidance to create sketches suitable for the project.

·         Models - Models of the concept sketches will need to be produced to see the potential of the sketches. If the models do not meet the standards needed then another concept will be needed and modeled again.

·         Detailed Drawings - After modelling and the group have a suitable design, the detailed drawings must be made, also engineers drawing and visual renderings to create a finalized product.

·         Prototype - After creating the drawings of the finalized design, prototypes will have to be made to try out different materials and processes.

·         Testing - After prototypes have been created, testing of the product will have to be carried out such as the different materials which is best. But also carry out group sessions of the target audience for feedback, to get opinion to see what could be made better and what the issues are with the product to move onto the development stage.

·         Development - This will be where small changes will be made to the final design to create a design that has been revised to fix and better the issues from the testing stage. Also in this stage the product will be evaluated to on its time constraints, did it meet its specification, Quality, and if the target audience is happy with the product (customer satisfaction).

·         Final Product - This stage is where the final design and product that is a solution for the problem has been created and finalized.

Functionality -

·         Protect wire: The functionality of the casing will be to protect the wire of the chargers and headphones from the wear that occurs over the time from the use of the user.

·         One of the main functions of the product will be to increase headphone wire lifespan.

·         Thickness: The thickness of the casing that will go over the wire to protect it will be no larger than 4mm in thickness, +/- 2mm. If the thickness is too thin then the casing will be at minimum durability and won’t be very functional to what the brief requires. Also if the thickness is too thick then the product won’t be flexible enough to protect and will most likely cause damage to the wiring. And also be too bulky and unnecessary thick. But a lot of this can depend on the material.

·         As we have discussed we would like to create a sustainable and renewable product therefore we are going to try to keep it eco-friendly and sustainable as possible. Therefore research will be used and Soildworks will be used for the sustainability features it has in the program.  Also it can be used to test the stresses of the materials can shapes used.

Aesthetics -

·         The aesthetics is a major factor towards the target market as this can be the factor that is the effect on whether they buy the product or not. Therefore the product must look appealing to the age range that we have chosen, as design a product for a large age range can be a rather difficult problem as people of different age groups have grown up with different design movements. But an issue could be people of the age range chosen could have different appealing styles than other people of the same age. But also a retrospective design could be used as it appeals to the older age range as well as the younger age range but the aesthetic will be target around the age range specified.

·         In the groups opinion we have decided that the product must represent the brand, therefore engraving of the logo of the brand could be done on the product or little stickers attached onto the product of the logo.

·         As the age range chosen can be difficult we have chosen to make the product as customizable as possible, such as the target audience can chose different colour’s or style that is target towards there aesthetic appeal.

Safety -

·         The biggest safety constraint with this product is the factor of the size which can be a choking hazard as it will be a small product. As the product would be commonly accessible around the household when in use as it would commonly be used in communal areas this could cause it to get within the hands of children. Therefore this could be a common issue if children swallow the product. Therefore it is important that if is notified that it is a choking hazard, also that it doesn’t have sharp, pointy parts that would irritate if swallow or cause it to get stunk and cause the person to choke.

·         Also from the issue above, the material if swallowed can be a toxic or irritable to the human system. Therefore, we will research into the material that would be used to create a final safe product.

·         As the casing will act as a support to postpone the wear of the wire, it can also act as an electrical insulation if the wear has happened on the original insulation, but also protecting the wires inside from breaking. Therefore protecting the user from an electrical shock from the damaged insulation.

Environmental Issues -

·         Environmental issues have been thought about and talked about in group conversations and the product is to be as sustainable as possible. It is not certain if the product can reach 100% sustainability at this point in the project as 100% sustainability is a hard feat to achieve with many products. But through research we will try to design the product to be as sustainable as possible. Hopefully through this minimizing as much landfill and pollution as possible.

Quality Control -

·         As BS standards exist from most products this will be one of the biggest constraints on the product but will ensure a good quality product. These standards that the product would have to meet to be used or sold will have to be integrated into the design of the product, but will ensure some quality in the product.

·         As quality depends on many factors, it is hard to determine until more research has been approached and prototypes have been produced.

• Also another factor on quality is the durability and product lifecycle, but also this will be hard to determine at this point without more research into materials and other factors. Until that has been approached the answer will not be available.

Production Methods -

·         The assembly of the product should be simple and cost effective but simple as the product will be required to be ease of use.

·         As the product will hopefully be sustainable, the aim of the production method will need to minimize on waste.

·         Good quality materials, will require research.

·         The production will need to be mass produced as the problem that it is used for is a very common therefore maybe there might be a high demand.

·         As the product would be mass produced, reliability is major factor as there would be a need for a low failure rate at manufacturing stage.

Materials -

·         The materials used in this project will need to a mixture of flexible for the wire as it needs to protect but also flex with the wire. But also be hard for the clasp.

·         The wire also has to be durable as it will need to protect the wire but also keep up to the lifecycle of the wire and hopefully still be usable after the wire becomes obsolete.

·         The material will also have to act as an electrical insulator, so that the material doesn’t conduct electricity so that it could cause a shock. Therefore metal might not be an option but can be sold as a separate item but with warning not to use with the electrical insulation damaged.

Time Constraints -

·         The time constraints will be dealt with be creating and following a Gantt chart which will help put a realistic time frame on the project. The Initial Gantt chart will be followed by a revised/real time Gantt chart to highlight the way the group has used the time in the project, this will highlight how far/behind the group is on the schedule of the project. It will be expected for some parts of the project to fall behind schedule but will be made up as some parts will be completed earlier.

Economic Constraints -

·         The product will be hopefully be as sustainable as can be, but sustainability can be a costly factor on a product, but the hopes of the group is to create a cost effective product not only in the manufacturing but also to the market price. As the problem can be marketed to very large target audience the price will have to be at a reasonable price that would be attractive to the target audience. As we imagine the materials and production combined would be a low price, but a major factor to the price would be the marketing, we could sell the product at a 20 - 40 % profit and the price would still be at a reasonable price for the target market.

·         Even though the factors above the product should cost less than original headphones/chargers.

·         Packaging is also an important factor in the products production as it will keep the product from being damaged while being transported. Hopefully the way that the product will transported will be in a sustainable packaging such as recycled paper or some other sustainable packaging rather than plastic wrapping.

Ergonomics -

·         As ergonomics is an important factor in most designs, but with the product in this project there is not room for many ergonomic developments as it is a small product.

Lifecycle Constraints -

·         The lifecycle of a product mostly depends on the material used, as most materials will be thrown into a rubbish heap in a landfill site at the end of its lifecycle. But also if the product uses recycled plastics then again it will become obsolete after the end of its lifecycle as most can be only recycled once. So hopefully we will acquire material that has not already been recycled but recyclable in the future.

·         But if the product is made from metal there is a major chance that the product can be recycled again after the end of its lifecycle, therefore making it more sustainable than the plastic but the materials will have to be researched and also tested in the prototypes.

Legal Constraints -

·         The legal constraints that we have discussed about is that research into patents, design rights and so on will be needed before we get too far into the project. This can be an extremely important factor.

Sketches

SKETCHES

There are a mix of product sketches, doodles and inspired drawing shown below.

Here is an update to my sketches. This drawing shows the design development of some chairs. this was inspired by the design documentary i watched in university. We learnt that designing and manufacturing different styles of chairs was a large part of the design evolution, therefore I decided to input some of my ideas of chair styles.

There are several design styles such as Modernism, Memphis and Art Nouveau. I decided to incorporate some of these styles into a product. the below sketch shows a light bulb with some angular details. these angular details inspire mainly by Memphis and Modernism provide a more futuristic look and make the product more aesthetically pleasing.

The sketch below is more focused on product formation. The product in mind was a ceiling light/lamp. In this drawing I started of with some basic ideas of what a light should look like, I then continued to develop the design to make more detailed and this resulted to the more detailed designs towards the bottom of the page.

As seen above I focused too much on product sketches, so the sketch below is more of an abstract representation of a product. In this case I took the concept of photography and put together different components of photography such as; the shutter, the light prism and the film strip. This formed and interesting final piece.

The sketch below shows a wolf mixed with shapes as a frame. this idea was inspired by some tattoos i have seen. It pushed me to think how I could mix some abstract shapes with a normal sketch. I learnt that a simple frame of shapes draws more attention to the main sketch which is the wolf in this case.

 This sketch portrays my perspectives on bikes. When I think of a particular product, in this case a motor-bike, these are the images that come to mind. the sketches at the bottom of the picture resembles a basic sketch of how bikes are usually pictured as. Building up from that sketch i went into further detail, by sketching out particular parts related to a bike such as a helmet and the chains of wheels. 

 This sketch focuses more on the aesthetic beauty rather than on the technical design. This sketch is inspired from the seaside from back home in Singapore. This may be an artistic sketch of the boats but the detail is extremely intricate and this taught me to focus on the slightest detail as it makes a difference to the entire image. I think this is a useful skill as it allows me to be more aware of the minute details while designing products.

 Since most of my sketches are pencil sketches, I wanted to go out side my comfort zone and add colour to my drawings. I noticed that using only black and white is useful and helps indicate the direction of light and shadows however when colour is added, the image comes to life slightly.

 IDEA: All good designs are born from unrealistic ideas. The light bulbs in this sketch represents ideas. The famous buildings are all iconic designs which were born from ideas. 

 MOTION: When presenting a product it is important to make it seem as realistic as possible and I think that showing movement adds to the realistic feel.

 DIFFERENT VIEW OF PRODUCT: In the sketch below I was drawing a computer mouse, and I played around with the different angles it can be viewed from. This pushed me to think of how the product should look from all sides.

 STILL FIGURE: I put random objects together in my room and sketched them. I think still figure sketching gives one a very good feel of the real life objects and of size and proportion.

 USE OF CHARCOAL: I realized in order to come up with new designs or inspirations, it is important to play around with different materials. Therefore I have used charcoal in this sketch. I feel as though the use of charcoal makes the image stronger.

 PLAYING WITH COLOUR: In order to bring attention to the main product I left the background blank but filled it in with colour. This highlights the image at the centre even more. This image has a more comical feel to it because I took an object (skull) which is usually used to signify terror, and added another object to it (sunglasses) to change the entire perspective of a skull. This goes to show, by mixing different products or styles, the entire perspective/use can be changed.

 TRANSFORMATION: The image below shows two sketches, two objects morphed together. If you look carefully, it seems as though a girl is transforming into a wolf. This depicts the transformation of designs, beauty and products over time.

 DESIGN DEVELOPMENT: The image below shows a design concept, and how that has been build upon to make it more presentable. the image on top shows a simple sketch of an eco-friendly bathroom where the basin water is reused for the flush in order to save water. the image below that shows a more developed and realistic desin of the idea

-Ahana Kothari

Mind Maps

USER CENTERED DESIGN 

 ALL MIND MAPS

MAIN PRODUCTS

PRODUCT 1: PHONE AMPLIFIER

PRODUCT 2: HEADPHONE PROTECTOR [FINAL PRODUCT]

MIND MAP FOR FINAL PRODUCT

User Centered Design

USER CENTERED DESIGN

My group and I took a few days to observe users using different products in their daily lives. We noticed that there are a few existing products which aren't completely useful or create some minor problems for the customer. We came up with ideas for four different products and then narrowed down to two main products. After formulating the design brief for both the products, we listed out the pros and cons for both products and chose the product which was most user friendly. The document below shows a step by step process of our decision and the details of our product, Headphone Protector.

Bridge Project

BRIDGE PROJECT

After a few days of intensive research on the types of bridges, I learnt that the basic designs of bridges include truss, arch, suspension and beam. Our group was given a task to come up with three different designs each. So here are my sketches.

 Suspension Bridge

Truss Bridge

 Arch Bridge

- Ahana Kothari

MOOD BOARD #2

This is my second attempt at a mood board, this is done digitally, where as the firs one was done by hand.

This board has a mix of pictures i have taken, and drawn which show beauty and design surrounding us in our daily lives.

-Ahana Kothari

MOOD BOARD #1

This is my first trial at my mood board.
A Mood Board is supposed to signify my understanding of design, and also depict my interests.
The hand drawn bridge in the center of the image showcases both the technical and visually appealing sides of the design industry.
The two logos on the top left corner, in my eyes are two of the most iconic logos. the design of each logo is so individual to it's company and is recognized anywhere.
The pictures of the cars on the top right corner denote the change in design over time. The perspective of beauty from an old jaguar to a futuristic car has changed over time. However the picture of the Afghan girl at the bottom shows that over time, although her face has changed completely her eyes hold the same beauty as before.

-Ahana Kothari

Welcome

BEAUTY IN COLOUR

IN ACTION

CITY LIFE

Welcome to my blog.
If you are interested in the beauty of culture, food, sports, design and the simple things in life... well then you are in the right place.


I am Ahana Kothari from Singapore, now currently living in UK, Newcastle, Studying Product design and engineering.