DP3: Energy Conservation Progress

Since my last post, Brian and I have revised our plan of attack for this project. There was some concern that our previous ideas about using advertising to get consumers in contact with already existing energy tools was basically eliminating our role as designers from the issue. Now we are looking at making some engaging, easy-to-use tools for residential users to investigate and limit their power consumption. We have so far prototyped three ideas. The first is a fridge-magnet-sized display that shows a graphical representation of the target energy use, current use, and community demand (which correllates with the tiered cost system, showing the user when electricity is expensive and when it is cheaper). The second device is a hand-held power meter that tells the user how much power a device is using. It works by clamping around a power cord and measuring the inductance. The third device is a switch that would be mounted near the door to the house. The switch would communicate wirelessly with its associated plug devices and enable the user to turn off the TV and computer, for example, when leaving the house (in order to eliminate vampire power usage).

DP4: Energy Conservation

We are now into our fourth design project. This one is sponsored by PG&E and is centered around reducing energy use through behavior modifications, which are realistically the only method of energy reduction that can be effective in the very short term (next two years) to deal with the energy crisis. Our interim presentation is today, and I am a bit concerned about how our ideas will go over with the representatives from PG&E as well as our professor. After doing a lot of needfinding interviews and looking at what devices are currently available for home energy monitoring, we've concluded that a snazzy new interface for a smart meter is not really what is most needed right now. Instead, we're proposing that PG&E take the devices already available to monitor energy consumption (like the Vera system, for example, at www.micasaverde.com) and make then afordable and easy to access. The fact that these devices are not beautiful or perfect yet will not matter to the early adopters of home monitoring technology. There is a group of energy consumers that is quite concerned with their efficiency and very willing to try new technologies, like Peter who we interviewed. By enabling this small subset of consumers to try out these technologies NOW, instead of trying to develop the perfect energy interface first, PG&E can leverage the experiences and input of the initial users both in designing more targeted monitoring devices and in spreading personal stories from the early adopters to their larger consumer base in order to motivate the next wave of adopters.

A Few Cool Links

Just wanted to share these with y'all:

1) recycled-glass-bottle temple: http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/10/27/temple-of-a-million-bottles/

2) a design review website: http://www.notcot.org/

3) and a more techy-gadgety design review: http://www.oobject.com/

A shout-out to Kawika, Arran, and Alanna for their recommendations!

Kunga

Here is the video of our design solution for Humana's health and wellness project: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyytH_79CnM .

Hyejin was the actor, I was the puppeteer, and Andrew was the cameraman.

DP2: Health and Wellness

Our current design project focusses on needfinding regarding the general issue of well-being and health. The goal is to come up with a product or system that will make people healthier. Based on many interviews and synthesizing sessions, my group (Andrew and Hyejin, pictured above) has decided to focus on increasing body-awareness and encouraging good habits, specifically for the user group of sedentary office workers. We are finishing up our prototype tonight, and then tomorrow we will be filming a short video clip of the "product story," a week in the life of an office worker using our product, Kunga. Kunga is an Americanization of the Korean word for health. Stay tuned for next week's project wrap-up report...

Reflection: Design as a Form of Intelligence?

After reading Nigel Cross's "The Nature and Nuture of Design Ability," I spent some time this past weekend thinking about whether design ability is a form of intelligence in its own right, on the same level as linguistic, musical, or bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence, for example. Cross argues that design ability is separate from these previously awknowledged forms of intelligence. I am not so sure - it seems to me that what is special about design is that it draws on all types of intelligence. Our classes seem to be selected to help us develop fluency between different types of thinking. We spend time in Art 60 developing our visual language, in Calibrating the Instrument developing our improvisational and physical skills, and in ME 203 gaining machining knowledge. I have a hard time pinpointing something that is truely unique to design. I tried listing skills that designers use and associating them with other professions that seem to employ the same type of thinking. These skills cover a huge variety of professional fields - in any single project, designers have to be able to switch between these modes of thinking.

DP1 wrap-up

Here is a photo of our final prototype and a sketch showing how our emergency shelter can be arranged in a "circle-the-caravans" configuration to create larger communities from our two-person sleeping units. The central area is intended to be open for cooking and socializing, as well as providing a contained space for watching small children. The next sketch shows how the shelter is deployed. The user pulls on a handle connected to a string, which first tugs on the velcro holding the foam compressed and causes it to unlatch. The foam roof then expands upwards. As the user keeps pulling on the handle, it catches on the front of the foam roof and the pulling action helps assist the foam in expanding. Once the shelter has been deployed, there is a latch mechanism that can be engaged to keep it stable.

DP1: collapsible, self-deploying emergency shelter

These are some early sketches and prototypes for our emergency shelter design. It is meant to be air-dropped in a collapsed state and then easily deployed (perhaps by illiterate children) in a crisis situation (earthquake, flood, etc.). Stephanie (my teammate) also has some pictures on her blog: http://palomitasdemaiz-design.blogspot.com .

Reflections #1: Mindmap

This is a mindmap reflecting on the connections between "design" and "designer."

Favorite Tool Mock-up

I made a mock-up of my favorite tool, the Exacto knife. I like how versatile it is - good for opening packages, cutting paper, wood, metal, cardboard, plastic - and how detailed and precise it can be.

First Design Project

Our first (two-day) assignment was to come up with a way to make digital memories (photos, videos...) physical and more meaningful than a folder on a computer. My product, Memory Cubes, is designed to be a storage system that doubles as a lighted display. Each cube (2.5" tall) contains a USB storage device to hold a collection of photos (or other digital assets). When the cubes are stacked on the display platform, they light up and a picture from inside the cube is displayed moving slowly around the sides of the cube. Each stack of cubes could represent a year. Individual cubes containing stored photographs would be easy to give as gifts or purchase as souvenirs to add to one's display platform at home.