Portfolio 2012 Hanchung Huang
Portfolio of Hanchung Huang 2012
Content 2 Introduction
Strategy { Design Strategy }
14 Strategic Models of Software Development 18 Tech Solutions for Internal Collaboration 20 Solutions for Ruukki Innovation Process 26 Project Management of Azigear Product { Aava Design }
34 38 40
Business Model for Aava Design Business Analysis for Agriculture Park Business Strategy for Dairy Franchiser
Research { Design Exploration }
46 Inbetween, for Enhancing Creativity 52 Treasure Scope, service design for Fujitsu Cloud { User Study }
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Implicit Emotions in the Family Contextual Study of Construction Industry
Design { Digital Product }
72 82 92 98 106 108
Flow Shuttle XPC XPC Micro Microsoft SideShow XPC Display XPC Accessories { Creative Design }
116 122 124 126
Unconscious Design Untitled 5 I.AM. Salt & Paper
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Portfolio of Hanchung Huang 2012
About Me
Brief 1) Education degrees in industrial design field. 2) BSc in Taiwan and MA in Finland. 3) Senior industrial designer of Shuttle Computer for two years in Taipei. 4) Wrote thesis and later counselled on information technology related subjects for Rautaruukki in Finland before moving to Shanghai. 5) Diversity in design skills developed through different projects. 6) Innovative minded and passionate in learning new paradigms of design.
Eduction
Skills
I first finished bachelor degree in Industrial Design from National Cheng Kung University during 1999 to 2003. Later in 2007, I went to Finland for higher education in Aalto University (previously known as University of Art and Design Helsinki). My major is Industrial and Strategic Design while minor is International Design Business Management (IDBM). Besides formal degree studies, I also frequently attended different workshops and training programmes. For instance, I participated an one-month design course organized by CIDA and Pratt Institute in New York during the summer of 2001.
Besides being a satisfactory product designer, I also possess skills in user study and had been practicing in different projects aforementioned. I have experience in contextual interview, focus group, and design probe. I am capable to analyze the data and synthesize them into persona and scenario for further use.
Experience I worked as a product designer in Shuttle Computer during 2005 to 2007. I have acquired extensive knowledge and skills in product design from ideation, prototyping, to manufacturing. I contributed in launching M1000 and M2000 products in 2005 and 2006. During the time in Finland, I widen my scope to other design fields such as service design and user experience design through school-industry projects. For instance, in “Collaborative Solutions for Rautaruukki“ project I worked in the group and we tried to redesign working process for internal collaboration of this company from the construction material industry. Later I also wrote my thesis for them on improving user experience of their structural engineering software. Moreover, I worked on my own design project individually and have had exhibitions with other designers in Taipei (Taiwan Designers’ Week, 2007) and Milan (Posture of Time, 2008).
Through “Project Management of Azigear Product ” project with ABB Marine, I started to learn project management. I led a team of nine to create safety equipment for maintenance works on ocean liners. I am innovative minded and generally interested in learning new design paradigms. I like to explore different design-related subjects and find chances to participate different innovative works. For instance, I helped to establish an entrepreneurship club in Aalto University, Aalto Entrepreneurship Society in the summer of 2010.
Interests and Expectations I like collaborative works among different disciplinary experts. I was analytical minded and always intended to create a holistic framework based on analyses in my past projects. I usually have short learning curves of new subjects and always try to learn from the basic. Although I am experienced in digital product design and user studies, I am still expecting that I could contribute more across other design fields. I would like to learn more rigorous working process and design methods. I also expect myself to take responsibilities in project management in near future.
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My Design footprint Through different past projects I had attempted to learn various knowledge and skills. This is a graph about all the subjects I have entailed in the curriculum vitae. I would like to show my heuristic experience and exhibit my knowledgeable characteristic and potentials.
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Project TIMELINE
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&strategy
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Design Strategy Design strategy is not only creating the strategy for design work. It exceeds
beyond that scope and hope to contribute to other fields by implementing design
methods. I worked with Finnish companies, ABB and Rautaruuki. One is in the
marine industry and the other is in the construction industry. I created strategies
for their business and technology development from a designer’s perspective. 14 18 20 26
Strategic Models of Software Development Tech Solutions for Internal Collaboration Solutions for Ruukki Innovation Process Project Management of Azigear Product
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Strategic Models of Software Development This is about using user study methods to create strategic models of software development for Rautaruukki. The ultimate goal is to improve the customer experience in the business-to-business world. Master Thesis | Rautaruukki COmpany| 2010
Project I was invited by Product and Technology Department of Rautaruukki company (thereinafter as Ruukki) to conduct thesis research on their software applications. The original idea was to re-design the user interface that has been used for over a decade. After the discussion with my professor and company stakeholders, I decided to focus on the customer experience and the added value of software applications in the construction business sector.
Concept 1. Addressing the Scope Metaphorically, Ruukki’s software offers the last mile solution in their business offers. Ruukki produces steel construction materials and provide related software to its customers. These applications are used
after architects and structural engineers have designed the buildings, for calculating material requirement and proceeding purchase. Therefore, it can be seen as the interface between Ruukki’s business system and customers’ business system. The value produced by two systems are transferred through this interface. The improvement on software functionality and user interface will create added value to two business system. 2. Improve functionality To improve the software, the Internet technology evolved by the development of myriad Web 2.0 web services and mobile applications can provide a great resource for use. Ruukki’s software should be built upon three principles: Internet enabled, multi-platform access, and data fullinteroperability. For instance, it should be able to plan and place the order of Ruukki’s products anywhere, anytime, and through any Internet-enabled device. The digital data
of this order information should be able to read by other commonly-used construction software such as Ravit and ArchiCAD. This will enable engineers and architect to keep on track on their work constantly. 3. User-centered Besides providing sufficient Internet technology and other functional features, new software must fit into users’ working behaviours. For instance, structural engineers averagely use Ruukki’s software to analyse snow load once two month in their work. What they have been working in this two months period and what they attempt to do the next is important for interaction design. Using Ruukki’s software should not be an extra burden but a step to suffice the needs and to improve productivity.
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»»Three Models for New Software Pictures above are the depictions of three models for developing new generation software for Rautaruukki. These models were created based on the user study. The user behaviours and their work process indicate Ruukki’s software is the key element for better business interactions. (Check more on the working process on page 64.) To empower this business interaction fully functional, certain technologies should be implemented. The philosophy and components of Web 2.0 provide the most sufficient solutions such as Web Service and Service Oriented Architecture. New interface design will take the advantage of the foundation of the business and technology models. It will focus on realworld user data and fulfil design needs in order to create better business interactions.
Conclusion
Learnings
A good user interface design of Ruukki can improve productivity and avoid hidden obstacles during business interactions.
This thesis work has been about to deliver a suitable solution to the Ruukki’s business while fulfilling the requirements from three different stakeholders. The company expected to have a re-design of user interface, the school required academic contribution more than design implementation, and I wanted to satisfy my interests in user experience field.
“Thus user experience become the added-value to the businessto-business interaction between Ruukki and other companies.”
To improve user experience relies on good understandings of users’ working processes and goals. This will also transcend into insightful knowledge for business. Moreover, by implementing the philosophy of Web 2.0 and its technological components will create a simultaneous link between different stakeholders and workers.
“People in the User Experience field attempts to create a better interface in terms of increasing software performance, improving productivity, and eliciting positive emotions.”
I saw through this scope and tried to applied the same methods in the construction industry, a business-to-business oriented
world. I learned to utilize user data to find suitable components for creating business, technology, and design models. The result was a compromised tryout and there were many unsolved hiccups. However I believe my approach of conducting user study and creating models based on user data will provide an inspirational insight of what and how design can contribute to business and technology domains.
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TecH Solutions for Internal Collaboration Following the previous project, I facilitated a workshop for Ruautaruukki. The aim was to find new ways for their internal collaboration. Workshop | Rautaruukki COmpany| 2011
Project I was invited by the vice president of Rautaruukki, Wilhem Wolff to facilitate a workshop inside the company. The workshop was the extension research of my thesis. The purpose was to provide ground knowledge for different managers to come up better ideas for internal collaboration. The theme was “how to re-define working process with new technology.“ I did a onemonth research and presented the insights of new Internet world to the managers. Then I facilitated the brainstorming session with the help of the vice president.
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The construction industry is complex in tradition. Thousands of people work for the same project and the complexity of these working process is beyond description. What we were trying to achieve in this project is to improve the internal innovation process of Rautaruukki company.
Solutions for ruukki Innovation Process The construction industry is complex in tradition. What we were trying to achieve in this project is to improve the internal innovation process of Rautaruukki company. With Laura Nilsson, Paula Rahtu, Tuomo Kuikka Industrial Design Business Management project| 2007
Project This is an industry project offered by Rautaruukki (hereinafter Ruukki), a Finnish steel construction material company. We were asked to conduct research on Ruukki’s sandwich panel products and the industry, to provide innovative ideas for future business development. »»Photos, left row on Left Page Excursion to the construction site. A demonstration
We had a multi-disciplinary team of four students. Two from business domain and the other one is from material science.
of how sandwich panels can be properly installed.
Process »»photos, Right rows on left page From top to bottom. We also visited factories and a construction fair in Tokyo. We also tried to think in terms of business models to came up ideas. We used IKEA as our case study.
»»Photo, Up We used image maps to organize different types of steel structure buildings.
We had little knowledge about the product and the industry before we started the project. Thus we decided to approach the topic from a general view, and to visit as many places and people as we can. We had excursions to the factories, construction sites, buildings that used Ruukki’s products,
and Ruukki’s product exhibition centre. We even flew to Tokyo in March for the “Construction and Material Trade Show” in the Taiba Centre.
Finnish Speciality There is something special about Finnish buildings for the extremely whitish winter. The thermal insulation, the air ventilation, and the heavy snow load roof, all create a special condition for the construction. To name a few, the construction period is not yearly long, walls and windows have to be double-layered by regulation, roofs have to be durable from the snow and easy for cleaning during the winter time.
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“During the research phase, we realized our client didn’t lack good involving way to convince people to work together to make th
d ideas. They need an he ideas happen.” DESIGN STRATEGY
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Insights
»»Photos, Left Page We used Playmobil toy figures, paper, and clay to create a story that interweaves our ideas.
»»photos, Top These are the screen-shots from the intermediate presentation. We spent only on afternoon and created ten footages. The result was surprisingly well perceived among Ruukki internal people.
There were consensus inside Ruukki about the difficulties to promote and launch new sandwich panel products into the market.
The reason is that the industry is dominant by the dealing force of construction companies and other project stakeholders.
Safety and cost-effectiveness are the two main factors for material purchase. The performance and the aesthetic value of any Ruukki product become the least concern in most of the projects. Consequently, people inside Ruukki face dilemma between doing material innovations or striving to satisfy market demands.
of them are more feasible such as an online tracking system for material purchase and construction planning. We wove these ideas into a story and presented it by using toy figures and paper models. The result became surprisingly convincing across different departments inside Ruukki. Thus, we re-evaluated our objective and decided to demonstrate how we did the presentation and how it might help internal innovation process of Ruukki. As a result, we created a stop-motion video with title of “Future Ruukki” and also made a tutorial of the making. We believed this provide Ruukki an example of better ways to foster new innovations internally among different departments.
Solution In our intermediate presentation, we came up ten draft ideas of the future Ruukki business. Some of them are futuristic such as automatic construction robots, and some DESIGN STRATEGY
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Project Management of Azigear Products This is a project dedicated to create safety gears in the dangerous working environment. It was a challenge both for the team, and me as the project manager. With Jonne Saarelainen, Olavi Kuivanen, and other six students Product Development Project Course| 2008
»»A Rescue Mission To immerse ourselves into the subject, we took several approaches. We interviewed one group of workers from a Croatian ocean liner to grasp their first-hand experience of working inside the Azipod. Then we took indoor climbing course to quickly familiarize ourselves with every equipment that might be essential for our design. Finally, we took several rescue practice in Marine Simulation Centre. Photos on the left page show our practices. It was difficult to pull out an unconscious adult from the Azipod simulator. The body weight, the narrow space for any movement, and the time pressure are the factors that make rescuing a person inside Azipod complicated.
Project Project Azigear was about designing safety equipment for maintenance work inside Azipod™. We were a group of nine students from industrial design, textile design, mechanical engineering, vehicle engineering, and marine engineering majors. This industry project was hosted by ABB Finland in the Product Development course.
Danger Three conditions make working inside Azipod hazardous. First, it is a confined space, dark and narrow. The internal walls are often dewy from the coldness of the ocean water outside. Second, the way to descend down into Azipod is a narrow path through a five-meter shaft. Workers often climb down with handful of tools and replacement parts on their hands. This distraction might cause accident more easily. The long shaft also makes communication more difficult. People usually shut through the tunnel if
they didn’t have an extra hand for walkietalkies. Third, people tend to save time and troubles by equipped lightly and skip wearing harness before descending down. The underestimated risks are ubiquitous among ocean liners’ staffs.
Concept Our idea of creating a safer working environment involves three objects, a helmet, a tool bag, and a pair of trousers. The helmet is integrated with LED light and bluetooth-enabled headset. The tool bag has another LED pad inside. These two equipment provide hands-free light and communication. Workers can climb down into Azipod more easily without distraction. The trousers are integrated with a set of harness. It is as easy to have this harness on as wearing the trousers. In the extreme situation, the rescuer can use the integrated harness to lift the victim out of the Azipod.
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From Ideas to Product We collected tons of ideas and created drawings to image how a person will look like with the ultimate protection when he goes to work. After discussion, I divided the team into three task groups that each focuses on one equipment. Photos on the right show our progress. Each of the final product required two to three times of prototyping. The process involved finding available components, integration, and the testing. The final products may not seem aesthetically pleasing but certainly provide the expected function of safety. These results were demonstrated to ABB and hundreds of other people in the PDP Gala 2009 (http://pdp.fi/?page_id=59).
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Project Management My major learning of this project was the skills and the experience of project management. Thirteen of students were selected as project managers from twenty applicants. We undertook an intensive one week training hold by teaching staffs and an alumnus from Semat consultancy. As a project manager, I divided my responsibilities into three categories, the team, the task, and the communication. Team To build up a team, we selected suitable members from one hundred students
according to their majors. Additionally, I spent two weeks to recruit an extra student from the textile department since there wasn’t enough design students in the course. I tried to know my teammates personally, what they can contribute and what they want from the project. I used Belbin test and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to assess their team roles. I hold two workshops for team dynamic building. Task For the project, I wrote a project plan including requirement specification, work breakdown structure, schedule, budget, risk management, and communication
plan. I used Basecamp as an online project management tool and introduced it to my team to keep track on the project progress. The most difficult part of project management for me was task delegation and time tracking. To know these strangers in a short time and to understand what they can do specifically made task delegation become difficult. This also affected the time tracking and the schedule when the outcome came unsatisfying in some steps. Not until the last one month did I feel a little bit in control. Communication The communication means to communicate among three groups in this project for
Photo above This is the team photo from our final gala in 2009.
me, the team, teaching staffs, and ABB company. The language might add some complexity in this project since I was the only non-Finnish speaker in the team. We often had different understanding about the technical terms and the project process. Also as a design student, those I thought as general practices such as brainstorming, sketch, idea presentation were somehow difficult to be comprehend and perceived as necessary by others. Otherwise, we had one schedule meeting every week besides the group work. I made reports to teaching staffs and the company every month and more if it was needed.
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AAVA Design In 2011, I moved to Shanghai to help establish Aava Design Consultancy. I
created Aava’s business model and later worked on several consulting projects.
They included brand strategy, user study, and business analysis. 34 38 40
Business Model for Aava Design Business Model for Agriculture Park Business Strategy for Dairy Franchiser
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Business Model for Aava Design Aava is the design consultancy about connecting users and the business. We envision our rigorous approach will help our clients in their operations. Business Model | Aava Design Consultancy| 2011
About Aava
Contribution
Aava is a Finnish word. It comes from the phrase of “Aavalla MerellĂ¤â€œ which means a wide open sea.
Here is the list of what I did for the brand.
Aava represents our cultural and educational background from Finland. It also envisions for the business success. This company started the preparation in 2010 after Shanghai Expo and established in the summer 2011. We focus on bringing approaches and methods of user study into practice to help our clients create business strategy, provide better service, and design better products.
1) Business strategy and design approaches. 2) Brand name and the logo. 3) Business cards, and other printed publications included flyers and posters. 4) Content and design of the website: http://www.aava.co/en/ Business model Photos on the right are the notes I drew to create the strategy model for Aava Design. It includes the business model, the working process, and the evaluation of the market.
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Visual Identity Photos on the top are the notes I drew when designing the brand visual identity. The visual elements of Aava Design are the contrary of day and night, the forest, the white snow, and the aurora borealis.
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Business Model for Agriculture Park Food safety has been a serious issue in China. We helped our client to create a business proposal for government and stakeholder’s evaluation. Business Consulting | Aava Design Consultancy| 2012
Project Our client attempts to create an ecological agriculture park for organic food production and related research. This project has been started for months but still need approval from the government and other stakeholders. We helped to conduct a twoweek research on consumer behaviours and local governmental policies. We wrote the business plan with an architecture firm and presented to related stakeholders.
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Business Analysis for Dairy Franchiser Our client was seeking ways to introduce new brand to Chinese market. We helped them to analyse the consumer market and created the business strategy. Business Consulting | Aava Design Consultancy| 2012
Project Our client was franchising a French dairy company into the Chinese market. Our mission was to team up with their marketing department to create a business proposal for use in their business meetings. This report focused on the business model in China, brand assessment in the competitive market, and the branding strategy. We did SWOT analysis for the current market, brand competitiveness, and business model generation.
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&research
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Design Exploration Design has become a multi-disciplinary subject. We not only create
graphics and objects, but also try to plan for services and improve our society. These two projects are about research and generating ideas to
improve our creativity and the school education of Japan.
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Inbetween, for Enhancing Creativity Treasure Scope, service design for Fujitsu Cloud
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! THE SPARK “The needs to create, to self-fulfilling, and to self-actualizing.” Abraham Marslow
“To connect the source of inspiration and will to overcome the blindspot.” Otto Sharmer
THE BLIND SPOT !
Inbetween, for Enhancing Creativity Where does creativity come from? Can it be enhanced? We attempted to answer these questions and offered a plausible solution. With Eeva Campbell | Design Strategy & Innovation course | 2008
Project This is a study project in Design Strategic and Innovation course.
»»Image, Up This map illustrates the process of creativity. In the physical world we interact with other people to get stimulated and inspired. Simultaneously, neural connections create new ideas (patterns) in our mental world.
»»Photos, Left Our source of inspiration came unexpectedly when we played and tossed the orange in the kitchen. We took it as a metaphor to express the possible end result and created several paper prototypes.
»»Image, Left “The hierarchy of needs” from Abraham Marslow and “The U Theory” from Otto Sharmer composed our theoretical ground of creativity.
It was about to find the source of creativity dwelled inside our unspoken mind. First, we tried to absorb insights about creativity from fields of design thinking, philosophy, and neuropsychology by literature reviews. Then we attempted to get more findings through introspections, discussions, and observations from ours and other classmates’ collaborative behaviours. Consequently, we propose a conceptual tool for brainstorming that aims to enhance our creativity.
a collaborative work. How to build up a good chemistry to motivate a team? How to stimulate teammates and create a chain-reaction effect for inspirations? These are the puzzles we must solve if we want to enhance our creativity. Therefore, we found out the answers lies “in-between” our conscious mind of physical world and the subconscious mind inside our head.
Contemplation Generally speaking, the creativity of a person can be indicated by the amount of the ideas and the novelty of them he generates. However, the “eureka” moment always comes unconsciously and arbitrarily. How can we intentionally be more creative? Furthermore, a creative work is also often
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The Spark To enhance creativity for individuals and for groups we proposed a brainstorming tool, the “Spark.” It is a palm-sized, icosahedral paper ball. Photographs on the left are the demonstration of how the tool works in a brainstorming session. First, write the problem or the initial idea on the “core.“ Then start the brainstorming and write as many ideas on the surface of the ball. Toss the ball to others and to see if they will be inspired to write more ideas for you. Soon, it will be filled with ideas and you can start to consolidate more thoughts for the problem you want to solve.
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Findings
»»Photo, Right Row
“Creativity is a new neuronal connection...that triggers a new insight, a “Eureka” moment in self and others.” -by Susan Greenfield
A demonstration of how our brainstorming tool works. The first two photos show how you can do brainstorming with it. The third photo show the tryout process of creating concepts.
»»Photo, Top In every idea icosahedron, there is a special icosahedron represent the source and original inspiration for the brainstorming.
Through research, we think creativity has three major components. First, the drive of creativity is our inherent needs of self-fulfilling and self-actualizing (Marslow, 1943). Second, creativity takes place when a new neuronal connection triggers a new insight. To be more creative means to make dissimilar connections. Thus, we will be able to generate the “Aha!” moment, see the world and the problems in a new way (Greenfield, 2003).
and the creation of the solution. To overcome this step, we have to connect the source of our inspiration and will, then let the inner knowing to emerge (Scharmer, 2007).
Proposal We created a brainstorming tool that attempts to enhance our creativity. It is a palm-sized, icosahedral paper ball. It has a core for documenting the initial inspiration, the desire, or the objective. During the brainstorming, we can write or draw ideas on the facets. Then we can organize these written facets, see through potential connections, and create new concepts with wills.
Third, Scharmer argued to solve a problem, we will unavoidably encounter the blind spot between the comprehension of the problem
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»»Photos, Top Left 1& 2 We had an excursion in a Finnish comprehensive school. Students made some masks for their masquerade event.
»»Photo, Right Row Brainstorming of the project.
Project This is a workshop project with Fujitsu Computer and students from Chiba University of Japan. The objectives of the workshop are a) to provide insights to improve Japanese pedagogies from Finnish education system and teaching methods, b) to design new learning experience with the aids of Fujitsu Cloud computing service.
Treasure Scope, service design for Fujitsu Cloud When “cloud computing” became ubiquitously available, how will we shape the future learning experience for elementary school students? With Federico Poggioli, Kazuki Takano, Saori Kato Fujitsu Workshop | 2010
approach. Each children is entitled and encouraged to create his/her own study plan and to choose reading materials. Language, sports, art and craftsmanship are strongly emphasized as well. Comparing to other countries for instance, Japan, students from the same class are obligated to attend the same course and to study on same subject. No difference can be made.
Insights
Our Japanese teammates also expressed the hindrance of Japanese authoritarian teaching style could decrease the potentials for creativity.
We visited a Finnish comprehensive school to interview teachers and students.
Concept
Finnish education in the elementary school phase is well known for its unorthodox
Thus, we strived to create an exploratorybased learning service for our target users,
third grade students. Children learn based on their curiosity. They use “treasure scope” to discover contextual information of objects in the classroom. Objects are either naturally in the classroom or provided by teachers. The information is related to science, history, nature, or sociology. Learned subjects will be stored and presented as a daily treasure map through cloud computing. This service attempts to bring fun and to encourage children to explore study subjects spontaneously. Achievement This project was selected in Fujitsu Design Competition 2011 and exhibited in BODW 2011 (Hong Kong) .
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»»Images, Top 1 & 2
»»Image, bottom left
»»Chart, Top Right
Students use the hand gestures of telescope to
The results of “Treasure scope” learning
This service was enabled by cloud computing
explore different objects in the classroom. The
experience will be stored and presented on
devices as main computing and data storage
sensors embodied in the space will be triggered to
mobile devices (tablets for instance) as study
units. It is a system combined with students’
send image data to the cloud computing units. It
diaries. Children can edit their diaries by
portable devices, teachers’ and parents’ terminal
performs image search and send back the result,
adding pictures, notes, or draw mind maps.
systems (mainly PCs), and an augmented-
mainly the contextual learning materials. This result will be projected on the surface near the object. As the images shown above, when Satoshi looked into the milk box, a picture of cow will be presented. If he looks more deeply, move his hand around, he will see other contextual information such as cheese (fermented from milk) and prehistoric cave painting (with aurochs on it).
reality installation inside the classroom.
»»Image, Bottom Right Students can share different findings with each other. They can explore more from other students “treasure maps”. They can create connections of all those contextual results to make sense of the studying materials.
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User Study What I understood of user study is that to execute research process
rigorously and often iteratively that leads to contribute to the final
design. Here are two projects presented from my previous study in Aalto University. I used different research methods and both gone through
analysis, persona, scenario, and making conclusions.
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Implicit Emotions in the Family Contextual Study of Construction Industry
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Implicit Emotions in the Family We wanted to look into the intimate moments between parents and children, capture the state of presence, and identify the design opportunities. With Ella Kaila, Momoka Kitano, Salil Sayed, Senni Kirjavainen User-Inspired Design Course | 2007
Photo, left
Ella was delivering our probe kits to one of the interviewee.
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»»Photo, left on Left Page We offered our target users a set of probe kits: a poster, several post-its, markers, and glues. The results were interestingly diverse. Taking this poster as an example, the mother used the line to indicate the involvement in children’s life. Post-its are the event description and the red-green stickers represent the mood.
»»photo, Right on Left Page We used mind maps to summarise the interpretation of the interviews. Later, we did brainstorming to generate ideas.
Project This is a study project from the course called “User-inspired Design” tutored by Tuuli Mattelmäki. It was about applying the user study method, “Design Probe” and creating design concepts based on the research results. The general theme assigned for the project is “presence,” and we chose to look into the interactions between parents and children.
Research In short, design probe is a self-documentary tool deployed to target users during research.
“Probe is a story-telling tool that helps users to illustrate their personal experience with certain products, services, or people in a deep and meaningful way.” Our design probe is a poster-liked chart. We invited five families, and the parents to make notes about presence inside the family and interactions with children.
Findings
mood asked their their
After one week, we collected back these posters and had interviews with the parents to listen to their stories.
A shared topic these parents mentioned the most was the absence counter to what we asked about the presence. It is an unavoidable factor inside family interactions and quite often creates tensions among family members. Another interesting thing we picked up during the interview was “the failure of express feelings.” Parents might try very hard to create “quality time” with their children, but the interaction was not satisfactory every time.
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Ideation We created personas and scenarios based on our findings and understandings of user study. Two main questions we tried to solve were 1) how to lower the unease feelings of children when parents are away, and 2) how to enhance mutual understanding when the conversation fails on its own purpose.
There were three scenarios we created along with design ideas. In the photos above, the idea on the left is about giving children an talking bear doll that can receive voice mail from Mom remotely. The idea on the right is using some visual or acoustic hint to express implicit feelings.
Concept Our final concept is called “Emo.� It is an ambient light that can be installed indoor in your home. It aims to be used by family members to express implicit thoughts and feelings. The transitional change of the light colour is the cue for family members to notice the emotional needs from others and to raise conversations.
For the final presentation, we created an eightpage comic to describe the using scenario. Images on the right are two of the pages.
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Contextual Study of Construction Industry By studying the context of software users, I attempted to illustrate core workflow and work interrelationships among different specialized users for future software development. Thesis Study | 2010
»»Photo, Right row From top to bottom. Interview with architects from JKMM. Items used in interviews were picture collages, recorder, and other paper sheets for aiding physical touch in the interviews.
»»photo, Bottom Left An example of mind maps I did for summarizing the interview findings.
»»Photo, Top Left After creating mind maps, I organized different findings into categories such as users’ goals, tasks, and insights.
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Project
interview with Ruukki’s employees.
This user study was conducted for my thesis work with Rautaruukki (thereinafter, Ruukki), a Finnish steel construction material company. The objective of thesis is to improve the user experience of Ruukki’s software applications. These applications are made for structural engineering and design. Core users are structural engineers, while architects and material buyers use these applications occasionally. The purpose of user study is to provide a fundamental principle in future software development.
The choices were made because I attempted to observe immersively of an unfamiliar industry in a short time. Also I wanted to know opinions of people who created the software and who provided related services.
Methodology
The interviews took averagely one hour with ten prepared questions in each interviewee’s office. It was satisfying to see people gave feedback directly with their computers and
The interview methods used in the study are Contextual Inquiry with architects and engineers, and Subject-Matter-Expert
Process 1. Preparing: I created a five-week research plan, found five interviewees from the industry and five subject-matter-experts from Ruukki. 2. Interviewing:
other work settings. Also, I was enabled to observe users’ working behaviours beyond Ruukki’s software. 3. Constructing Step by step, I transcribed the interviews, created mind maps of interpretation, and generated an idea list through brainstorming.
Findings 1) Ruukki’s software is only used at specific steps for different users in their work. Structural engineers and architects use professional modeling software such as Ravit and ArchiCAD most of the time. These specific steps are as less frequent as once a month. 2) Average time spent is also shorter. Users call upon Ruukki’s software only for
structural analysis and material amount calculation. They spend very short time to get the result and head back to those major software. How this working process can be improved is critical to the development of good user experience.
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3) Professionals such as retailers and material buyers also use Ruukki’s software for their work.
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This is a map that illustrates the process of a typical building project. There are usually six different specialist groups involved. This map offered a simple depiction of how people work in the industry.
One of the personas made in the thesis study. To provide cues for further progress of thesis study, I marked goals, tasks, and insights in each persona.
Results To highlight and present what users want and how new development can improve the user experience of the software, I created personas and workflow charts. It was aimed to depict users’ goals and tasks in the works, and the interrelationships among them.
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&design
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Digital Product Here are the works I have done as a product designer, mostly during
the time between 2005 to 2008. I am experienced in designing for pre-
production phase digital products. For example, in Shuttle Computer, I had
worked on Intel HTPC concept and Microsoft Sideshow concept. 72 82 92 98 106 108
Flow (Lite-on Award 2006) Shuttle XPC XPC Micro Microsoft Sideshow XPC Display XPC Accessories
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Flow Technology has reshaped our life. What is different from now on is the richer interaction that offers us a different way to control these gadgets. With Hsin-Chung Wang, Huei-chiang Tsai Lite-on Award| 2006
About Hsinchung Wang, Hueichiang Tsai, and I participated in Lite-on Award design competition in 2006.
We were interested in how wireless technology, including WiFi, bluetooth, and RFID tag, shapes our modern life, change our behaviours and social interactions.
We came up a theme called “Flow,” that we tried to utilize those technologies into our design. We want people to share things they found intriguing wherever and whenever they want. We also want people across the barriers of memories and minds. Moreover, tech-users should experience different senses beyond screens and buttons.
Flow: Favoricast Our first concept was inspired by MSN messenger. It launched a small function in version 5.0 that enables users to share what
they listen to the “status update”. What we found interesting is that this function enriches the context of a person whom we want to chat with. Thus, it will create opportunities for social engagement. Scenario Imaging you are in a class, a reading room in public library, or a cafe. There are dozens of people using iPods, walkmans, or other portable music players (PMPs) while they are reading, writing, or just chilling out. What if we can share our favourite songs while we are listening to it. Or, isn’t it interesting to discover what other people are listening to in your surroundings. Idea Favoricast as the word indicates is to broadcast your favourite music. You can set up a personal radio channel and streambroadcast the music you are currently listening to. People in the same WiFi domain can search through different channels, discover songs others are playing, and listen to them on the stream.
»»Brainstorming Our brainstorming was focusing on how human behaviours can be affected by the new technologies.
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Concept “Sharing� is the core idea of the design. We want this PMP looks different from any current product in the market. The form itself should arouse users awareness to share and to explore music. In the early sketches, I attempted to translate the image of antennas and radio stations into design. While developing other concepts for the competition, I became more interested in using gestures to suggest users about the sharing function. In the later sketches, the design tells about how it should be used: unfolding and starting to share.
Design The final result as aforementioned looks like a music box. When you open the lid, the favoricast will automatically start to broadcast your listening music. It has a compact size with a screen and several buttons. You can search music channels in the same WiFi environment and get more information like music titles, genres, years, and lyrics when you click on a particular song.
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Sketches of Hsin-Chung Wang
Flow: Tag Flickr and Delicious of Web 2.0 technologies demonstrated a brilliant way of organizing information by utilizing tag and search. The concept behind these features are simple: organizing things with a flat structure, no hierarchies. Label things with several keywords and leave them in a natural unorganized order. Retrieve those things by searching any of the keywords you can remember. This process greatly simplifies our works. Scenario Based on the Flickr example, what if we can tag any physical object in our daily life? A book page we are reading, car keys, thousands of CDs, or the invitation of a
wedding party happens four months later? We don’t have to search the house upside down, and just need one of the keywords to locate the things we need. Idea “Tag” is the device that you can do tagging on any physical object. For instance, in the office you want to organize product samples. You input names, descriptions, date, and tags into the device. It will generate a postit with an embedded RFID chip. Paste this post-it on the sample then it is already sorted. Next time for another project, you want to collect sample A, C, and Z. You just need to input the keywords (name, date, tag, or any other) then the device will start to search and to locate the sample wirelessly. DIGITAL PRODUCT
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specification and Scenario You can paste the RFID-enabled post-its on any object and organize things in a easy and natural way.
Concept Our idea is that “Tag” will have three main components: a input interface, a screen, and a dispenser for the post-it. It is around palm-size and ergonomic to be hold. It is easy to come up a PDA looking device, which might be misleading. We decided to follow the form factor of tape dispensers. Design The final design looks like a tape dispenser with some digital touch. It has a nautilusshaped body where stores unrecorded RFIP post-its. It has a keypad and a screen on the top. On the other end is the post-it dispenser. Award “Tag” has won the bronze prize of Lite-on Award. This mockup was 1:1 scale model.
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Flow: Manual
Concept
An old TV remote in the living room where we were discussing ideas for the design competition caught our attention. Only few buttons were still working on that remote. For instance, it could only decrease the volume but not increase. Also it could only switch channels in the ascending order.
This is about minimization of features and functions. We wanted to keep only essentials on this remote controller. As user behavioral speaking, it only needs a trigger to start to function and an indicator to give feedback. For the rest, some registered gestures, and maybe our curiosities will control our life just fine.
Another related topic came to our mind that it has been very harsh for the grandparent generation to understand how to use modern remotes. Buttons and little red LED bulb are very disconnected to the past physical world. Idea “Manual” is a remote that helps us to use gestures instead of buttons to control electronic appliances in our daily life. For example, we can turn the light on by waving the remote up and down. We can turn on the air conditioner by wheeling the remote in the air.
Design The design of “Manual” is simple. It has a single button. When you click and hold the button, you can start to perform the gesture. A screen on top will show which function is executed currently. Double click the button will switch to other control functions for instance from light control to TV control. Award “Manual” has won the merit prize of Liteon Award. This mockup was 1:1 scale model.
»»Sketches of Hsin-Chung Wang and Hui-Chiang T
Tsai.
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Shuttle XPC Designing and re-designing XPC were my major works in Shuttle Computer. It requires consistent efforts to align design language and brand image. Shuttle Computer| 2005-2007
About XPC is the major product line of Shuttle Computer. It is a Small-Form-Factor (SFF) PC and averagely three times smaller comparing to regular tower-sized desktops. Usually, the design of XPCs is restrictedly uniform. Therefore, our design addressed more on colours, materials, and textures. Here are the introductions of different XPC design projects.
XPC G6 This design emphasizes the combination of different materials. For instance, it uses aluminium panels with electroplating and hairline surface treatment. The main frame of front side of XPC, it uses matte black coating with smooth tactile texture. The glossy bar use transparent acrylic glass with electroplating cadmium on the backside. The size of this cubical PC is 200 mm wide Ă—180 mm high Ă—300 mm deep. The renderings were done by Pro/Engineer and Cinema 4D.
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XPC P2 XPC P series is high-end game console PC. If the design of G6 is considered inwardly elegant, P series is often outwardly muscular. Here are two design concepts. The size of P2 is 220 mm width * 210 mm height * 320 mm depth. The renderings were done by Pro/Engineer and Cinema 4D.
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NAS XPC Concept Besides PCs, XPC are also commonly designed for other computing devices. For instance, NAS (Network-attached Storage) was one of the design project. It was interesting when there were less design restrictions caused by the technological specification. The size of NAS XPC is 200 mm wide Ă—180 mm high Ă—300 mm deep. The renderings were done by Pro/Engineer and Cinema 4D. DIGITAL PRODUCT
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Shuttle Tower Desktop Shuttle Computer concentrated in SFF PC business. However, we still evaluated market potentials for tower-sized desktop PCs. These were the design concepts. They embraced many visual elements usually we wouldn’t put on XPCs, emitting LED lights and ornamented panels for instance. These renderings were done Engineer and Cinema 4D.
by
Pro/
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XPC G6 (Alternative) One third of our design team were female designers and we tried to create an design proposal focusing more on female consumers. We started from creating image maps and field observations of how our female colleagues used their computers. The image on the left shows different ways of utilizing the space created by PC. Our design provides the similar idea to utilize the surface of XPC. DIGITAL PRODUCT
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XPC Micro Smaller PC frees up the space on the desk and thus provide a new perspective for designers to re-think its role in the daily life. Shuttle Computer| 2005
About Apple launched the first generation of Mac Mini in 2005. In shuttle, we proposed XPC Micro concept and attempted to compete in this “now-even-smaller� PC category. Smaller size means less space needed and better mobility. I had numerous ideas about what XPC Micro can provide in our physical space besides its computing functionality.
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Concept 01 This concept addresses the mobility of XPC Micro. It allows users to change their working place for instance from reading room to living room with ease. To intrigue users to find out the convenience of the mobility, I used the image of handbags into design. Also I reduced the space XPC Micro takes by choosing the vertical form. In the photos above is the 1:1 scale mock-up.
Concept 02-A The second concept attempts to create more space on the desk by utilizing the surface of XPC Micro and changing the commoninstalled position of it. Like a photo frame, it can be positioned on the desk or on the wall, and can be used as a pin-board. Images on this page were rendered by Pro/ Engineer and Cinema 4D.
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Concept 02-B This is the alternative of the second concept. In the photos above is the 1:1 scale mock-up.
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Sideshow This was a design concept project for Shuttle to conduct early technology evaluation. I created a collection of Microsoft Sideshow devices. Shuttle Computer| 2006
About The concept of Windows Sideshow was launched in 2006 with the release of Windows Vista. It is an auxiliary display device that provides notification display and remote controls. In this project, I proposed several concepts to image how this novel device can be used in our daily life. The proposals were discussed and evaluated internally inside the company.
Idea The rationale behind these designs are “to keep only the essentials of a PC to be seen.� Thus, keyboard and mouse, optical drive, and sideshow display become the only parts in our eyesights. Therefore the major task of design was to integrate these components into a meaningful object on the desk.
Concept 01 The first concept is to integrate different components into an stand-alone object on the desk. It imitates the form of an ordinary and less intrusive object for instance like a book stand or paperweight. As the sketches on the bottom of the left page, this digital gadget blends itself with books on the shelf.
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Concept 02 The second concept is about positioning the object differently. It can be at the edge of the desk, hanging on the wall, or hanging from the ceiling.
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Concept 03 The third concept is about utilizing the sideshow gadget as an attachable PDA. It can be used as a auxiliary screen for PC, and a remote. It can be attached to the main body of the PC for data synchronizing and power charging.
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Concept 04 The fourth concept is to integrate the sideshow device with keyboard. The rationale is that a keyboard is naturally a device that took space on the desk. By integrating these items: sideshow, optical drive, and other input/output ports, the design can save the space and maintain the necessary functionality.
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XPC Display Shuttle had an design-award-winning LCD monitor as XPC’s accessory. I attempted to create new designs that align with the previous success. Shuttle Computer| 2006
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Accessories I designed accessories for XPC. Here is the collection of XPC audio system, speakers, and system monitors devices. Shuttle Computer| 2006-2007
XPC Audio System The idea of this design is to create a docking system. Different units offer different functions and users can choose freely according to their needs. I chose to use extruded aluminium for the main body. With CNC cutting, the same model can be created into different units. Rendered by Pro/Engineer and Cinema 4D.
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XPC Speakers These are the speakers I designed for XPC 17 inch Display. The material used for the main body is ebony-coloured plywood. Rendered by Pro/Engineer and Cinema 4D.
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XPC VFC VFC is the accessory for hard-core computer users to monitor their systems. It comes with a standard XPC LED display and can be positioned anywhere on your desk. The renderings were made by Pro/Engineer and Cinema 4D.
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Creative Design These are the works that represent me as a designer. They are the elaboration of how I see objects in our daily life. Design
is not only a mean to create usefulness but also to give deeper
meanings and to enrich the context of our surroundings. 116 122 124 126
I.AM. Salt & Paper Untitle 5 Unconscious Design
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Unconscious Design Design is about giving inspiring subtext to the objects. We are interested in those which bring us fun. We decided to design a humorous collection. With Cheng-yu Pan, Yaling Hsiao | Furniture Design | 2003
Smile The lamp blushes when you stare at her. It will stay with you during the long lonely night just like a kindly old friend.
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Hourglass This chair is designed for a public space. The light inside the chair turns up gradually while you are sitting on it. It reminds you don’t sit too long since there are other people who also need a rest.
Hello? 1) At 6:55 am, you hear the clock buzzes. You press it off and wrap yourself comfortably with the blanket. 2) At 6:55 am, your hear the phone rings. You struggle to get to the phone but suddenly realize it wasn’t any call. You shrug and smile, then decide to start your morning.
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Walk Your Plant When you see the plant turning brown under the twenty-four-hour air conditioning, you will think that maybe you should move it outside for some sunshine. However, those who really need a walk outside is yourself !
Sunny Day This is both a potted plant with a lamp and a lamp with lush plant. This is about playing with the idea of “photosynthesis.“ You can smell the breath of the nature between the warm light and the green plant.
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Untitled 5 Bench is a historical object dated for a thousand year in our daily life. I was invited to re-interpret this common furniture for a exhibition. Furniture Design | 2007-2008
“The bench is just a surface with several posts. When we see through this deconstructive lens, this object will have more meanings than an ordinary furniture.” Achievement
This design has been exhibited in 2007 Taiwan Designer’s Week and 2008 Posture of Time during Milan Furniture Fair.
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I.AM. As a designer, we express ourselves through the creation. This collection of jewellery and ceramics state the becoming of me. Material Experiments | 2006
“I see my life in fragments. Tiny pieces that merge and become who I am. There are parts bitter and sweet. I want to embrace them all and come to be a unique person.�
These models was made through different casting methods. I used resin and broken glass to make the rings. About the bowls on the right, I cast silicone in the plaster molds and combined it with ceramics.
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Salt & Paper In the industrial age, we create mass-produced articles through different molds. I want to design an object that looks like a mold to raise the awareness of this common practice in our age. Salt & Paper | 2008
“The mold for mass production is the shadow and the spirit of the product.�
The prototype was first made in CNC machine, then I used it to create the silicone mold. Then the silicone mold was used to cast the final product with cement.
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Thank You for your time
Contact Me hanchung.huang@gmail.com +86-150-2184-7518 Twitter: @onza Linkedin: http://cn.linkedin.com/pub/han-chunghuang/1/898/4b9 Blog: http://designsnapshot.wordpress.com
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