Task 5 - Design Confusion

The Story of stuff

At the start of the video, we were introduced to how ‘stuff’ moves through linear system: Extraction to Production to Distribution to Consumption to Disposal. This system is doing a lot of damage to our earth.

From the start of this system is extraction, extraction meaning taking out resources from forest, mountains, rivers etc. As there are more and more trees chopped down, a lot of water used up in part of the word, animals wiped out, and resources on earth is decreasing very quickly. As some countries are running out of resources, they decide to take resources out from another part of the world as we call them the third world, a country that is not really developed. Which after some time, the third world is also trashed.

The second part of the system is the production, using the materials that were gathered together with a lot of toxic chemicals manufacturing toxic contaminated products in factories, these toxic products will affect us when we use it, after the watching the video I realize how scary it is to buy stuff that looks perfectly fine now, like the pillow example, it has toxic chemical added into it and we put our heads on it, this might cause cancers or problems towards our brain. The other example was the how the breast milk is contaminated, things that are so basic like the breast milk has already been affected, which means the babies are going to have contaminated stuff put into their body already. Third world people were forced to work in toxic factories even though they know it’s really bad for their health. As there are a lot of pollution produced from factories, countries like US decides to move the factories to the third world, but due to the wind current, it is blowing right back to US.

Distribution, trying to sell the toxic contaminated junk asap, selling them cheap so that people will keep buying and the shelves will always have new products. A lot of products can be sold so cheaply is because a lot of people from each part of the progress have sacrificed some part of their goods in order to make it so cheap.

Consumption, known as the golden arrow which makes the whole system work, I am surprised when I knew only 1% of the consumed products are still in use after 6 months, others were all thrown away. There are two kinds of way that gets us buying all the time, one is called the planned obsolescence which means products that are designed to be throw in the trash as soon as possible so that consumer will get a new one. The other one is perceived obsolescence, persuade us to throw away products that are perfectly new by changing the looks.

The last step of the system is disposal, disposing trash into land fills or burn in incinerators and then dumped into the landfill which releases the toxic chemical that was used in the factory into the air. One of the most powerful toxic was released during this step too.

In order to make the world better, like how the video showed, we should have more people changing each step of the system in order to make it better; turning this system from a linear to a cycle system. I think one of the steps that can really help out the whole system is by designing better and non-toxic, eco friendly products.

Emotional Designs by Donald Norman

In the video ‘Donald Norman on Emotional Design’, Donald Norman started off by telling the audience how his new life is to understand what beauty is about making things neat and fun. He gave an example of stuff he thinks is pretty to look at like the Philippe Starck juicer and a cutting knife that’s made from Japan. The Knife has a really beautiful aesthetics, it feels really good to hold onto and it performs really well when cutting. This example leads to his theory of emotion, which includes three components – Visceral Experience, Behavioral and Reflective.

He explained how the subconscious mind happens with an example on Google’s website, how they show the pages of results with the amount of ‘o’s which makes it looks pleasant but we do not realize. “Pleasant things works better”

He talked about a psychologist who did an experiment on two groups of students, and how one group was just told to solve the problem whereas the other group had a box of candy before the experiment which made them happier and that made them solve the problem. He explained that when a person is happy, they are more susceptible to interruption, which makes the person think outside the box, which means when you’re happy, you are more creative.

Visceral level, you look at the aesthetics of a product, not the function. Like the example Don made in the video, some people buy the water bottle for the bottle, not because of the water. They use it as a decoration which is called a visceral experience.

Behavioral level, when user uses a product, they feel like they are in control of it when using. He gave an example of a teapot which has three steps to use it. Putting it horizontally at first which means the tea is brewing then it’s put slanted which means it is done brewing. And when it is finished, it’s put upright which gives out an emotion, a signal to the waiter for more water.

Reflective level, a little voice in your head that tells you if it’s good or bad, like an environmental friendly car, you buy it because you want to show that you care about it.

Design Excellence

The product I had is called the SentiCare PillStation, It reminds patients to take the right medication at the right time, with trained advisor following up your medication and response to questions with a on touch call up system.

For this poster, I used shapes and curves to make it simple, easy to read and understand and will also suit the product's style more. By adding a green curve around part of the poster just like the curves and the colour on the pillstation. I had a gradient on the green so that the poster won't feel as boring over all. I had cropped out parts of the product in a eclipse shape to prevent having shapes that will have corners and that the eclipse has curves that are just like the pillstation. I tried to make it stand out by adding contact shadow below the shapes and the product.

I've chose a font that I think well suited the product called 'Gulm'. The letters are simple to read and I think it looks really nice with the product and that it won't be too childish that may ruin the poster's appearance.

Human Centred Products

In the online video ‘David Kelley on Human Centred Design’ (http://ides1031-2010.blogspot.com/2010/07/video-david-kelley-on-human-centred.html) the first thing that was introduced was the new products and technologies in a new store, I think the new devices had brought shopping to a more convenient level. The use of RF tags around the whole store allows staffs to easily access the amount of stocks, where it is placed and all data needed on the product. Scanners in the changing room collects data of what cloths are inside the room, I think this is a really useful way to keep track of the products in the store. One thing I especially liked was the use of liquid crystal display in the changing room, as it is so much more convenient for consumers. The ‘magic mirror’ was also one of the products I really liked. I think it is well suited for consumers in the changing room and that the use of camera is very well integrated with the mirror.

I quite like the interactive wall that was built inside the museum; I like how it was built with similar look as the London subway map. With the idea of having the use of the subway system to show messages that people left in the museum and the light going around the tubes looks really nice.

I think the pavilion is quite interesting; I like how the aim was to make it quiet and peaceful, which I think is well suited with the water flowing sound and the use of glass made the whole pavilion feels so calm and peaceful.

Finally, the last product was the Spyfish, I think it’s quite a well designed product, how it seems really user-friendly was one part that I liked the most about this product as it was designed mainly for consumer. I like how the advanced technology in this product allows people to see clearly what’s under the water and can even reach deep water where not much sun light can get. I think this product is a really good design for a lot of people who are not capable of scuba diving. The shape of the product was formed similar to a fish; build with shiny silver metal on the outside.

My Design Career

Since I was small, I’ve been interested in looking at attractive products. A product with good aesthetics or special functions always catches my eye.

I started to enjoy designing products since high school when I first had a chance to do a product design project in the D&T class. I chose to design a salt and pepper container for the project. I had enjoyed every step of designing and manufacturing of the product. As I went through the project, I realize a lot of things that I learnt from my outside school courses like 3D Animation and art lessons had helped me a lot with making my container even better. After the school project, I started the interest in designing products; I would sometimes design a product like teapot and make it out of ceramics during my art lesson. Another thing that motivated me even more are the documentaries in Discovery Channel, videos like ‘How it’s made’ was one of the favorites. It shows the whole manufacturing process of the product. Since then, I had targeted myself to become an industrial designer.

I’ve always wanted to study abroad since high school, as I’ve been researching for Universities, I realized UNSW has a good reputation and that being able to study here allows me to broaden my horizon as every day I am exposed to different cultures. The other reason why I choose to study in UNSW is because the industrial design course gives student a really thorough knowledge in designing a product, theories and all kinds of design thinking that is needed in order to think like a designer so that at the end of this course, we will have the knowledge and the right techniques in order to work in this industry.

As technology is improving quickly, I believe in the future, as an industrial designer, we will be able to design products with less concerns in the limits of materials and mechanisms; materials with only a certain properties will not be used as often since by that time we will all be able to create a material which will best fit our own products. Technologies creating better mechanisms allowing fewer limits in size for products.