Final Project Industrial Design.

RUTHLESS KAPPERS borbolla .smits .vos .gunnigmann . weghorst

dEc. 2015

s b p d

UNIVERSITY OF TWENTE ENSCHEDE, THE NETHERLANDS

GROUP 6 BORBOLLA / S1712934 GUNNIGMANN / S1052845 SMITS / S1726048 VOS / S1124528 WEGHORST / S1121200

F I N A L

P R O J E C T

scenario based product design

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ruthless kap pers 7511 gs enschede w w w . r u t h l e s s k a p p e r s . n l

info

index

scenario based product design

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1 /planning METHOD

Introduction.Design approach.

Step flow scheme and description.

exploration phase

p.34 6 /problem definition Underlying the real problem.

design phase

EVALUATION p.4 PHASE

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1 /card game

First Visit. Organization activity.

p.40 7 /specific scenarios Focusing on future use, current use, edge and problem.

p.66 12/ sketching concepts First sketches, to be shown to the user.

p.92 18/VALIDATION SCENARIO Discussion with the user.

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2 /focus group

Questions with hairdressers and hairstudio owner.

p.48 8/ scenario validation Discussion with the user.

p.70 13-14/ bodystorming.

First between designers, but then with the user.

p.22 3 / observations Pictures & annotations.

p.52 9/ requirements.

List of needs for the solution.

p.78 15/ sketching final conc.

Sketching three final concepts for further evaluation.

p.26 4 /personas Based on previous steps and hairdressers.

p.56 10/ concept directions Directions to develp concepts.

p.84 16/ roleplay With the user in order to evaluate the final concepts.

p.96 19/FEEDBACK

p.100 20/FURTHER STEPS

p.101 FINAL IMPRESSIOINS

Comments and recommendations from the concepts.

Evolution and future of the project.

Conclusions of the overall project.

p.30 5 /general scenario General Current Use Scenario.

p.60 11/ analysis market sit.

Mood board / collage.

p.88 17/ evaluation matrix Quantifiable way of comparing the concepts in different aspects.

d e s i g n ap proach

observations

In this report we present our design approach. This design approach is an approach that combines participatory design with the user, together with scenario based design and the more traditional design methods. It has many creative elements like roleplaying and body storming. The design approach consists of three basic phases: the analysis phase, design phase and evaluation phase. Within these phases, many steps are followed. It is tried to involve the user in each phase.

personas

problem definition specific scenarios

analysis

scenario validation requirements concept directions analysis current market situation sketching concepts body storming/designers

design

This report ends with an evaluation of the design approach. In this, we will give recommendations to improve the approach and will argue when this approach is appropriate to use and when not.

Although the design approach is especially designed to work together with the hairdressers as users, it can be applied in other cases. The design approach is recommended to use when a product needs to be developed in where active participation of the users is needed and the design team does not have much experience in that field. Due to the need of creativity from the users, the design approach should not be used when the user has a lack of time and creativity or motivation to engage in the process.

current use scenario

body storming/ user 3 final concepts roleplay

evaluation

First, this report lists all steps of the design approach.

For each step, input and output is given. Also Nielsen’s taxonomy is given that explains for each scenario that we use in our approach what the purpose, medium of expression and source of inspiration is. Afterwards, each step of the design approach is applied to our case and explained in detail, just as the results of the steps are given and recommendations for future improvement of the steps.

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focus-group

i n t r o d u c t i o n

The design approach is designed especially for, and tested with hairdressers. In the analysis phase, the hairdressers gave insights in the problems that they face while doing their jobs. During the design phase, the hairdressers are involved in the design process and finally they are asked to evaluate the created concepts.

P LANNING

card game

evaluation matrix validation scenario feedback/future use scenario further steps

Expl a natio n ste p flow de sig n ap p r oach

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Nielsens’ taxonomy The following table is an elaborated taxonomy of Nielsen . Nielsen proposed a way to organize scenarios based upon the purpose of the scenario, their medium of expression and their source of inspiration. This table shows for each scenario that we will use during the design approach which purpose, medium of expression and source of inspiration is used. Besides, it shows if the scenario is plot driven, which means that the main focus of the scenario is on the acts and the story, or character driven, which is a scenario in where the actor’s character is most important. It is explained why is chosen for plot or character driven scenarios.

Finally for each scenario it is explained , how the steps/ scenario’s are evaluated and by whom, in order to make sure that they are right. In the table, not all rows are scenarios,also some non-scenario based steps of our design approach are explained, because we believed it would be also interesting to explain the elements for these steps.

Nielsen, J., 1990. Paper versus Computer Implementations as Mockup Scenarios for Heuristic Evaluation.

Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. pp. 315-320.

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E x p l a n at i o n s t e p s In the following pages, all steps of each 3 phases (analysis, design and evaluation phase) are explained in detail applied to the hairdressers case. For each step in our design approach, we explain the same elements.

General method description explains what the method is about. Goal explains why we chose this step and what we were hoping to achieve. Means of representation then explains why we chose the specific type of representation. Next, source of inspiration explains who is the one involved in the step and why. Then we show the results that we gained when doing the step.

Finally, the step is evaluated on its appropriateness, its advantages and disadvantages.

Finally recommendations are given for future improvement of the step. All these elements are explained for each step in the three phases of our design approach.

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analysis phase

1.card game To get a first impression about the tasks of the hairdressers and which materials they work with we played a card game with them. Three hairdressers participated in the game. They were allowed to talk to each other during the game and help each other. Two rounds were played: In the first round they were supposed to make an overview of their daily tasks at work (for example cutting hair, styling‌). In the next step they had to make a list of

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In the second round the cards of the materials had to be sorted in a different way. The goal of this round was to find out how the materials are organized. The hairdressers prepared cards with the locations and places where materials are stored. Then the cards of the Then the hairdressers wrote down materials from the first round were the materials on the cards and put re-arranged and put on the cards of them on the cards of the different the different locations. tasks. materials they need for the different tasks (like scissors, shampoo). We assigned different categories of materials to the different colors of the cards: For example yellow for their own materials and green for shared materials.

1.card game evaluation

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2.focus group Two interviews were held during the session. Both interviews are partly semiconstructed. Most of the questions were prepared beforehand. But there were also questions asked that resulted of the card came and the answers of the hairdressers.

The first interview took place during the card game with the hairdressers.

The first questions that were asked dealt with problems the participants come across during their work. The hairdressers found it hard to mention any problems that occur to them. They like their jobs and are very happy with the organization of their tools. Some issues that came to their mind was for example that the beamer is crashing a

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lot that is used to show advertisement.

Later on questions were asked about the tasks of the hairdressers and what tasks they have to do the most and what they like/ do not like to do. It was easier for the hair stylist to answer direct questions like “Has everybody his or her own comb?” instead of open questions like “Can you think of a problem that has occurred in the past days?”

The second interview was hold with the manager of the hair salon. The interview was semi-constructed.

He first got questions about the organization of the tools. During the interview we gained a lot of insights in the way professional hair stylists work

compared to normal hairdressers. One difference is for example that they do not use a belt or a trolley to store tools temporarily. They prefer to store tools in a cupboard at the wall and grab them if they need them.

Then we asked him about problems he sees. It was easier for the manager to mention problems and he immediately suggested solutions. The biggest problem for him is the hair that is getting stuck in the wheels of the chairs that are used by the hairdressers.

It takes a lot of time to clean them. He knows that there are already wheels that work better but they are five times more expensive as the normal ones so they cannot afford them.

2.focus group EVALUATION

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3.observations The first observation took place at the beginning of the meeting to get an overview about the hair salon and the overall appearance. Pictures were taken of the different rooms and the hairdressers explained the purpose of each room. The second observations were carried out while the hairdressers were working.

During the second observation phase the focus was to find possible problems in the environment of the hairdressers.

The first impression of the salon is that is “fancy” furnished. The interior design is chosen based on the target group of the salon: Young and middleaged working people. Modern music is played in the background. At first glance the workplace makes an organized impression: Products like shampoo are sorted in the shelves and no working materials like scissors are lying arWound. It looks clean and gives the client the impression of a professional hair salon.

At the entrance of the hair salon there is the reception.

Most of the time the manager stands behind the reception to welcome clients. The computer stands also at the reception that is used by the hairdressers to check the system and to see the rooster of the day

Observed problems

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During the second time of observation, the doors of the shelves were opened and a closer look was taken at the environment.

The salon looked very clear at the first sight but while observing the hairdressers at work some “dirty” places became visible.

From the inside the shelves are not that well organized as the products that are standing at the shelves and are visible to the clients. The cables look messy.

Not only the cables of the tools that are stored in the shelf are in chaos but also other cables in the salon:

After a client had a haircut his hair lies on the ground. When the hairdressers are finished with one customer they use a broom to move the hair in one corner of the hair salon. In contrast to the nice and clean atmosphere of the salon it looks rather “dirty” and unprofessional

to have a corner with hair in it.

Another problem, which results from the previous hair problem, is that the hair gets stuck in the wheels of the stools. The least experienced hairstylists have to clean the wheels at the end of the day or when they have to stop working because there is too much hair blocking the wheels.

3.observations evaluation

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4.personas

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eter is a 47-year-old hairstylist working at the hair studio Ruthless in Enschede. He has been working there for 8 years, before this he worked at several other hair salons in different cities. Peter knows many hairstyles and how they can best be applied to any hair type. He knows how to color hair, and to shave without any difficulty. The only things Peter still has to learn is how to cut new types of hairstyles that have come into fashion and how to use new products. But because of his extensive experience these new skills are learned very quickly. eter loves his work as a hairdresser. He loves the creativity that is required to do his job, and he loves the fact that he works directly with other people with whom he can have extensive conversations while he cuts their hair. He has several regular customers that ask for him personally and trust him to do a good job. His image as a hairstylist is very important to Peter, he is an expert at his job and likes to be perceived that way. This reputation helps him gain more customers, and thus make more money. Peter has worked quite a long time at Ruthless and knows exactly how everything works.

He knows on what days and moments it will be busy and at what time it will be the most suitable moment to drink a cup of coffee. He knows his colleagues very well and has even worked with some of them since he started at ruthless. They make up some of his best friends, and sometimes he likes them to join him in some of his conversations with his clients.

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L S

ara is a 21-year-old hairdresser that works at hair salon ruthless in Enschede, she just finished her education a few months ago and has since worked for ruthless. She has no real experience with being a paid hairdresser. She did an internship at a different hair salon during her education, but that was on a different location.

Lara is still getting the hang of the way of operating within the salon. She does her work a bit slower than her colleagues, because she has to think a little longer about the decisions she has to make. She also has to ask for advice every now and then. She finds this slightly annoying, but it motivates her to become better, so that she no longer has to ask for help. he does not have many customers, but she does get to treat several walk-ins that would like a simple treatment. Lara does not yet know exactly where everything is placed. When she is not working, she is on cleanup duty. This is what she dislikes the most. She is the newest hairstylist at Ruthless, and they do not have a student working with them at the moment. This, and her lack of experience, is for her colleagues enough reason to put her on cleanup duty, much to Lara’s annoyance. After every customer, she has to sweep all the hairs away and reorganize the equipment if her colleagues put them back in a wrong order. From school she is used to using a belt and having a cart, on which all the equipment is placed. Ruthless however does not use these products, this is something she has to get used to. She is not yet completely familiar with the people with whom she works. But they are friendly, and she has a lot of fun working with them.

4.personas EVALUATION

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5. current use scenario ( G E N E R A L ) The current use scenario of the hairdressers is based on the results of the card game, the interviews and the observations. A normal day of a hairdresser is described and the tasks and the problems they might face are elaborated.

current use scenario At the beginning of a workday Lara the hairdresser checks the computer system. She needs to know which clients will come and what kind of treatment they have ordered. Most of the clients make an appointment first and tell the hairdressers what they want them to do. When the hairdressers have checked which clients will come they make already some preparations, for example picking the hair colors if the clients wants his hair to be dyed.

dyeing. First the hairdressers wash the hair of the clients.

They are guided to a separate room were the shampoo and conditioners are stored. The hairdresser grabs a towel and the products he needs for the client. Then she washes the hair. When she is done she throws the used towel into the washing machine and continues her work with the client. The next step is to cut the hair. The client is guided to the front room. The hairdresser collects the tools he needs for the cutting: A scissor and her favorite comb. She puts a robe on the client and sits on a hairdresser’s chair. On her chair she rolls to the place where she wants to start cutting. She moves around the client on his chair while cutting the hair.

When a client enters the store he is guided to his chair. Lara asks if he wants some coffee or tea and prepare a hot drink for them. If the client did not make an appointment beforehand he might have to wait in the waiting area. Otherwise he is asked what he wants the hair stylist to do. When the hair stylist knows what to do she collects her tools. Sometimes she needs to stand up, The most popular services are hair dependent on where she needs to cutting, styling, washing hair and cut and what is more convenient.

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When the hair is cut she grabs the hair dryer and dries the hair. Then she grabs styling products from the cupboard and starts to style the hair. After the final touches the robe is removed and the client can go to the front desk to pay. The hairdresser sweeps the hair that has fallen on the ground into a corner in the room. Then she is ready for the next client.

The hairdresser that is responsible for organizing the products and tools walks around to check if everything is on the right place and if there are still sufficient hair styling products. If something is missing or empty she orders it. Once a week the new orders arrive.

After checking if everything is on his place the last hairdresser locks the door and goes home.

5. current use scenario evaluation

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6.problem definition To get an overview of the different problems that were found we decided to put them all on a whiteboard.

It became clear that not all problems had the same stakeholders. We only saw some problems as the design team, others were specifically important for the hairdressers. When writing down each of these problems we concluded that some influenced each other. The way the hair salon organized their tools (all in one place and no trolleys) would cause the hairdressers to walk around a lot. We decided to also explain with each problem why it would actually be a problem.

problem for each stakeholder is connected to his/her goals he cannot achieve. We gained insight not only in what their problems with the current situation is, but by putting down what they think is important we also gained insight in which way we could solve the problem.

We concluded that the hair problem was an overall problem that resulted in a view sub problems and was being influenced by lots of other problems. For the hairdressers the organization of their tools and the need to walk around were no problems. The hair Walking around would be a problem because it looks getting stuck in the wheels was their main problem less professional and moves the hair through the salon and we decided the pile of hair in the corner would during the appointment. Because different problems not contribute to the experience of the customer and might have different stakeholders, we divided the was therefore an indirect problem for the manager as stakeholders into “hairdressers”, “owner/manager”, well as the hairdressers. Both of these problems were “customers” and “us/design team”. Each stakeholder caused by hair so we decided to focus to design a got a color and colored sticky notes were put with the solution for the hair getting in undesired places (wheels different problems the stakeholder might have. For and corner). each problem, the underlying goals of the stakeholder were written down. Because the reason why it is a

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hair timeline

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6.problem definition evaluation

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7.specific scenarios R CURRENT USE SCENARIO

uthless professional hair studio opens at 9:00, completely prepared to start with their day.

They have a full day ahead of them because it is Friday and people like to be prepared for the weekend, even more so when the holidays are approaching.

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ost of their appointments were made online on their website or via phone call, this usually depends on the age of the customer, this way they already know how much products they will need at what time of the day; they are sure they will have enough stock to work as well as time to treat every customer in the sophisticated and fashionable environment they work.

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rofessionalism is very important, they follow their schedule on time, as well as give an “A” treatment to every customer. They have won “Wella” and “Coiffure” awards for their quality and skills with cutting and coloring hair; and they are definitely looking to maintain this quality. They have a special spot for the different treatments their customers might want, they are hair experts who work in a sophisticated environment.

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or Peter who is a specialist in coloring in the salon, the day has just started. Mrs. De Vries arrives at 9:05, she is having a complete treatment done today.

First she sits in the washing area, where she receives a shampooing massage, conditioner as well as a special almond moisturizing treatment because she dyes her hair every 20 days. On a normal day she would be watching some ads in the matte window screen in front of her but now they are repairing the beamer. These ads are not usually very interesting for Mrs. De Vries, so she doesn’t really mind. Peter however is quite frustrated, because this malfunction, takes away from the professionalism that they want to exude.

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A

fter 10 minutes she is ready to go from the washing area to the cutting and dying area of the hair studio. As usual she is offered to one of the newest fashion or social magazines they have to offer, which one depends the mood of today; at the same time she can choose a soft drink to enjoy while they are giving her the best treatment in the city, while listening to the latest chill music. She puts her purse on the floor, chooses an orange rooibos tea from their selection, while she watches the music video on the little screens they have in front of the mirrors. They are now mixing all the chemicals they are going to apply to her hair for coloring. She always trust her hair to Peter because he is an expert, he avoids the change of tone that can occur in between the applications of the chemicals, and gives Mrs. De Vries the most natural look she can get.

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n hour later, when the chemistry has done its job, and a little talk with Peter, she is moved to have her hair rinsed with water, to remove the excess of paint and oxide. Once this is done Peter starts to cut Mrs. De Vries’ hair, she always wants the same style so this does not take too long, however it’s always important to pay attention to the details, that’s why a stool with adjustable height is used when cutting her hair; this way the perfect height to cut the hair is found and the job is done as symmetrical as possible. Peter likes this part the most. He is however quite irritated by the hairs in the wheels of the stool, he rolls through the hairs while he cuts her hair. It has a very messy look and it will be very difficult to remove. Luckily it is an excellent job for Lara. After the cutting process is done, the help of Lara is required, she needs to remove the empty teacup and sweep the hair from around the chair. This floor was specially chosen to be easily cleaned from hair, as she is the first customer, the hair is just swept into the still empty corner so that at the

end of the day when all the clients are gone, and it has grown into a much larger pile, and it can all be removed at once. They don’t really pay attention to that corner or to the spare hair flying around the space all the time. They cannot use a regular vacuum cleaner because they are not meant for sucking up hair. They are clogged easily and thus have to be replaced often. For that reason, Ruthless cleans it all up manually.

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ot that long after Mrs. De Vries is ready to have her hair blown and modeled. This is done by Lara because she is getting better at this and Peter now has another client to attend. Lara is glad that she finally gets to do something she was trained for. She actually wants to do more, like cutting or coloring, but she just started, and still needs to prove herself.

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y 13:00 they all take a break, they’ve had little ones before to have a smoke outside to afterwards come back and catch up with work. It will remain quiet until about 15:00, however they still work to do. They have to prepare for the afternoon clients, while the combs, stool-wheels and the hair corner gets messier.

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he day ends at 18:00 and everybody is tired. It’s time to clean all the combs, and scissors. Wash the cups and glassware that was used during the day. Sweep all the floors and mop them again. Remove the hair from the corner in which has been lying there since the morning. And lastly the most annoying task of them all… trying to untangle the hair knots around the stool-wheels.

It’s the hardest task because hair is stuck in between each of the 5 wheels of the stool and it is quite a difficult to get all the hairs out, without breaking them, they have turns to do it because nobody wants to, but usually Lara gets but on the job simply because she is the student.

future USE SCENARIO Today is a Friday and it's supposed to be a very busy day. It is even more busy than normal, mainly because of the holidays coming up. But the hair studio Ruthless is prepared and has everything ready to go at 9 am when the studio opens. Most appointments have already been made either through the Internet or by phone. This gave the hairdressers the opportunity to prepare the necessary material needed throughout the day.

Peter is a coloring specialist and he has a customer coming in just after 9 am. Mrs. De Vries wants her hair to be colored and cut. However first she needs her hair to be washed. She is brought to the special area within the shop that is specifically used for this purpose. She gets a washing specially meant for her hair type while she watches the commercials that are projected by a beamer. Mrs. De Vries sees something interesting on the beamer concerning a certain hair product and asks Peter about it. Peter is quite the expert on this subject and they start an extensive conversation about it.

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After Mrs. De Vries is done with her washing, she is lead to one of the workstations of the hairdressers. She takes a seat, places her handbag on the floor and is offered something to drink. She choses a soft drink and Peter get started. Peter mixes the coloring for painting the hair. While he is a busy more client arrive, who eventually take a seat at the other workstations that surround the one of Mrs. De Vries.

They continue their conversation from where they left off after the washing of the hair. Lara decides to join in, she tells Mrs. De Vries about her own thoughts about the product and asks Peter a few more questions, as there is always more to learn.

Once Peter is done with painting her hair and the paint has done its job, in coloring her hair. Mrs. De Vries is moved back to the washing space, where her hair is rinsed out. During this small trip she notices how clean the floor is, several other customers have had their hair cut while she was waiting for the coloring to work, but there is no hair to be seen. After she has her hair rinsed out, she returns to her chair, so that Peter can cut her hair back into shape.

During the cutting of the hair Peter sits on a stool and moves around Mrs. De Vries to get a good view of every side of her head. This goes easily and without any difficulty. Peter fully enjoys this part of his job, which he can do without any disturbances. All the while having started a new and interesting conversation with Mrs. De Vries.

Eventually it is time for Mrs. De Vries to have her hair blow-dried and modeled.

Peter does this very easily and quick.

He shows her the result. Mrs. De Vries is very happy with the results and so is Peter, but he is much happier that he has had another satisfied customer.

Mrs. De Vries thanks Peter and grabs her bag, (which is completely devoid of hair) and heads to the pay desk to pay for them for their services. Then she leaves. The only thing that needs to happen now is to clean up the workstation before a new customer can be cut. Peter puts everything back on their original spots. Before Lara would have cleaned the floor of all the hairs, this is no longer needed however.

Now she can spend more time on her customers and on perfecting her craft.

To which she is very grateful.

EDGE CASE SCENARIO 1 Lara is cutting Mrs. De Vries’ hair. She will be the last customer of today. The hair falls down and lands on the ground. Mrs. De Vries is talking about her cats.

Lara isn’t paying attention. She is thinking about the groceries she has to buy when she is finished. The door of the hair salon opens. An older man enters the room. He prevents the door from closing, so that an older lady can enter. The weather outside is bad. It is raining and the wind is blowing. An unexpected hard squall comes in. The wind blows the hairs on the floor

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EDGE CASE SCENARIO 2

all around in the hair salon. The hairs of Mrs. De Vries are now everywhere. On the floor, the chair, the desks.

Not only her hairs, but also the hairs of the previous customers are now spread and mixed. Lara looks around in the hair salon. It is a mess. She is fed up, since now she has more work before she can go home. The older couple enters the hair salon and closes the door.

They apologize and walk to the front desk to make an appointment for tomorrow.

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eter is today cutting the hair of his neighbor. She wants to have her hair shorter than ever before. It is an extreme change from long to short hair. She wanted something new. His neighbor is a bit nervous, that is why she only wanted to be cut by Peter. His neighbor, Anne, took her twins with her. The twins, a boy and a girl, are

four years old. They are playing in the corner of the hair salon. After a while, Peter hears a scream. The young boy is mad at his sister. She stands up and runs away. The boy runs after her. Peter is surprised. The twins are running through the hairdresser salon. Their mother calls that they have to stop and be quiet. They don’t listen, but keep on

running. The girl than runs through the pile of hair that Peter just had made, before his neighbor entered. All the hair flies around. It becomes a mess.

The boy and girl stop running. The girl is covered in hair. Peter puts his scissors down. His neighbor becomes angry with her children. The girl starts crying.

The boy too.

7.specific scenarios evaluation

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8.scenario validation.

8.scenario validatioN EVALUATION

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9.requirements.

Requirements The design solution should meet the requirements shown below. The requirements are categorized based on the different stakeholders that are involved with the product.

Functional (experienced by hairdressers) The design solution should not disturb hairdressers during their work, decreasing productivity.

- - It should not occupy important space that is used as workspace.

- It should be easy to handle.

- It should not attract attention away from the job to be done.

- It should be intuitive in use.

- It should not annoy hairdressers.

- Hairs should not get on the floor where the stool is moving.

- Hair should not get stuck into wheels of chairs and stools.

- Hairs should not disturb hairdressers.

Appearance (experienced by hairdressers) - It should fit into the environment.

- There may not be a visible pile of hair.

- The hairdresser room should look clean and professional.

Experience customers - The design solution should maintain or improve the experience of the customers.

- Hair may not be spread around the room.

- The design solution should not attract customer’s attention.

- The customer, nor his or her belongings, shouldn’t get covered in hair.

Perspective owner hair salon - The design solution should maintain or improve the amount of customers.

- The design solution should maintain or improve the efficiency of the hairdresser’s job.

- It should improve the experience of the customers; more professional.

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9.requirements evaluation

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10.concept directions

B I

ased on the brainstorm we discovered several directions that our solutions to the problem could take. The fields of solutions were afterwards divided among the design team, to further develop them into new concepts. n the mind map we first decided to put all the places the hair could go. All these places are connected with a line to the “hair” in the middle. They kind of show an interaction where the hair is moving, it could be through gravity or it could be a hairdresser cleaning.

So the first circle around the hair is the movement of the hair. For example, the hair could get on the hair cape but also on the customer's’ belongings or the chair they are sitting in, all due to gravity. The hair could also be moved by a vacuum cleaner, which could be a moving robot, a floor solution or be manually controlled. In these two examples it can be seen that the moving of the hair could be done by a product or by the environment/situation, in this case gravity. This step was done to see how big the hair problem actually is, where the hair is going and what the interactions with the hair are. We decided to not include unforeseen circumstances as a wind that’s blowing through the saloon or children purposely moving around the hair.

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he idea behind this mind map is to see where the hair is or could be going, so these work as problem definition as well as possible solution directions. We realized the hair could be moving to lots of different places, with lots of different interactions but some would overlap or influence each other. So we decided to make a hair timeline, which shows where the hair is moving in time in the current situation. Before step 1 the hair is attached to the customers’ head, at step 1 the hair is being cut, step two the hair is falling and in the air, step three the hair hits the cape and stays there or… in step 4 the hair falls from the cape till it hits the ground in step 5 etc. We did this to see the steps were we could interfere the moving of the hair with a product and

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stop the hair timeline and thereby solve the problem.

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e divided the hair timeline in three phases, phase 1 is the hair moving before it hits the ground, phase 2 is the hair lying on the ground before it gets cleaned and phase 3 is the cleaning of the hair as it is done now as a pile of hair in the corner. In making these steps in time visual we realized that by solving the hair moving further early in the timeline, would solve most of the problems. If we prevent the hair from hitting the ground, it would never get stuck in the wheels or need to be swiped etc. So focusing on a solution for phase 1 would solve all the problems with the hair. We could also focus on a solution for phase 2, which prevents the hair that is already on the ground from getting in the wheels.

Focusing on phase 3 would mean to focus on a way of cleaning the hair so it would not look messy in the corner of the salon.

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hese three phases became our problem areas where we would focus our solutions on. There could be a solution that prevents the hair from hitting the floor, a solution that prevents the hair from getting stuck in the wheels and a solution that prevents the hair from needing to be swiped in the corner. For every interaction with the hair in the mind map we also put the number of the moment it would arise in the hair timeline.

Solution that solves both problems, that prevents hair falling on the ground.

1.

Hair on cape, not getting off the cape to the ground 2.

Hair vacuumed in chair, before gets on the ground 3.

Vacuum in ceiling Solution that solves only problem two, of hair getting stuck into the wheels.

1.

No hair on wheels 2.

No stool 3.

Cleaning shoes/something attached to the clothes 4.

Floor solution Solution to keep hair away 1.

Pile of hair 2. Floor 3. Sweeping 4.

Vacuum cleaner

10.concept directions evaluation

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111.analysis market situation

CURRENT SOLUTIONS EXPLORATION

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11.analysis market situation evaluatioN

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conclusion analysis phase

uring the analysis phase several different methods were used to get a clear picture of the current situation and a possible problem that could be solved. First off a card game was played with the hairdressers. The pre imagined problem was not relevant for them, but through the card game many alternatives did appear. During the card game session also interviews were held with the hairdressers and the manager to get a better picture of the problems the hairdressers experience. Observations of the work environment were made and pictures were taken to analyze the visible problems. With the information generated by this game, the interviews and the observations personas and current use scenarios were created. From there it was possible to make a more visible representation of the problems and their hierarchy of importance to the hairdressers. From this visualization a problem was defined that would be solved. The large amount of hair that falls to the floor. Based on this problem a more specific current use scenario and a future use scenario are written. From which the requirements can be derived which should apply to the future solution. Several design focuses were chosen. With these, a more specific market research can be done.

Eventually these design focuses can be used to create more specific concepts.

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design phase

12. sketching concepts.

At this point we wanted to stay really broad and creative for possible solutions within the field of the solutions, as discussed earlier. Instead of brainstorming and discussing ideas verbally we tried to make ideas visual by sketching lots of possible solutions. By focusing on the concept direction however we got focused more on functionality than on other aspects important within

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the design. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is something to keep in mind when if aspects other than functionality might be more important. Because of the wide range of concept directions, the solutions were also very different and therefore not always equally detailed. This would probably be very difficult to do with multiple people sketching at the same time.

12. sketching concepts evaluation

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13. body storming w/designers

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verall the body storm session really helps to express your thoughts about how the solutions would work. By doing this based on sketches, one already has had some creative time to think about possible solutions. We wanted to use this session to narrow down the possibilities to a few

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we thought were interesting to focus on. So it was more an evaluation tool than a designing tool in the end. By doing so we were less open for new ideas.

Nonetheless we did role-play some variations and combinations, which was an interesting advantage.

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13. body storming w/designers evaluation

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14.body storming w/user Then the concept of body storming is explained to the hair stylists. They are informed about the goals: to come to new solutions and to make “out of the box” thinking easier for them. Based on comics that were prepared beforehand the hairdressers are supposed to “play” the current use scenario.

One hairdresser played the customer, the other one acted as the hairdresser. At first it was hard for the hairdressers to actually “play” their daily life work routine. They grabbed different tools than they would usually use and were unsure what to “act”. After a couple of minutes playing the current use scenario they got used to the technique and started to act normally.

The next step was to introduce the props to them. In the first round they could choose a prop and just “play” with it. It was hard for the hairdressers to use the props for a different purpose than the original one. The first prop that was chosen was the small vacuum cleaner. The next challenge was to integrate the props into their play. In order to stimulate the hairdressers, questions were asked about the actual problems they experienced with the hair that falls on the ground. The main problems that we found were that the hair gets stuck into the wheels and that the floor gets slippery due to hair on the floor. The next question was how the hairdressers would solve the problems, making use of the provided props.

It was really difficult for the hair stylists to use the props, they preferred to just talk about possible solutions instead of acting them out. During this session they came up with a couple of solutions: - Holes in the ground where the hair can fall into and be stored afterwards - A vacuum cleaning system in the ground, preferably noiseless - A vacuum cleaning system in the chair - The stool is catching the hair and storage it - A vacuum cleaning system that is attached to the hairdresser - Blowing the hair away - A robot vacuum cleaner - “Flying” stools After talking about possible solutions the hairdressers tried out other props, a tube and a bowl to simulate a stool with an integrated vacuum cleaner. The next step was to evaluate the solutions. While playing with the props they found the

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noise of the vacuum cleaner annoying. So any options with a vacuum cleaning system are not ideal because they disturb the experience of the customers. In the hair salon music is played to create a comfortable and cozy atmosphere.

This feeling would be disturbed by the sound of a vacuum cleaner that is cleaning constantly. Another requirement the hair stylists mentioned is that they need the space around the customer. If a cleaning system would be integrated in the chair it would be difficult to work close to the customer.

Another option would be to attach the stools to the chairs.

But the hairdressers did not like that option because they will not be that flexible anymore when they are cutting the hair.

They would also prefer a solution that looks nice and fits into the stylish environment of the salon. Overall the brainstorm session was a funny experience for the hair stylists. They found it difficult to think “out of the box” and to integrate the props in their play but it helped to open up the atmosphere and stimulate them to think of different solutions. The strips that were prepared in advance were a good guidance and helped structuring the body storming session.

Concept evaluation The last step was to evaluate the concepts. Therefore the concepts that were prepared by the designers and the new concepts were presented to a third hair stylist. He got the assignment to first comment on each different kind of solution (floor solution, chair solution and wheel solution) and then pick the concepts he finds the most effective.

According to him the most effective types of solutions are the ones with a vacuum cleaning system that is integrated in the floor because it removes the hair automatically and solves all problems. But the problem with a vacuum cleaner is the noise that would disturb the customer and the hairdressers. It would also be an expensive solution. The hairdresser prefers a combination of the floor solution with a grid and a wheel solution that prevents the hair from getting stuck into the wheels. The solution will then be that the hair that falls on the ground will be removed from the ground and “hided” in a notch under the floor, instead of into a corner of the room. During the process of cutting the hair, hair cannot get into the wheels because they are protected by a cap. The hair stylist describes the chosen concepts as the most feasible and realistic but not the most effective one to clean the floor. But the advantage is that the experience of the customers will not be disturbed and even improved because they do not see the hair lying in a corner.

As said earlier it was really difficult for the hairdressers to get creative in the role-play. They are not used to thinking out of the box and that results in more realistic and obvious solutions. The use of props was both an advantage and disadvantage for the creativity. Because we also brought more realistic props with a suitable meaning and functionality, they were also only used in this way. With actually roleplaying the normal job, we did get some major insights into job related functionality. We concluded that the hairdressers needed to get really close to the customer, so there would be no space for a product taking in space around the chair of the customer. Between lines we also got insight in the factors they find important for a solution, like how realistic it is and how it would look in the salon. Something we didn’t pay as much attention to before.

These comics where shown to the hairdressers in order to validate the scenarios that were produced before as well as a medium to activate their creativity to develop solutions.

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14.body storming w/user evaluation

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15.sketching 3 finalSUM concepts FIRST VISIT MARY B

y making three very distinctive concepts based on three different solutions for the same problem there are advantages as well as disadvantages. For the hairdressers it would probably be easier to evaluate the three concepts on certain factors because they are so different. The insights from these evaluations will however not be able to point out a perfect concept, because they are all totally different.

M O O D B O A R D

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ruthless kap pers 7511 gs enschede

15.sketching 3 final concepts

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conclusion design phase Because of a broad approach to the solutions that would solve a big problem, the entire design phase became very broad. The broad design phase helped us to include more than one sub problem, so a solution in the form of a product would actually be able to solve (a big part of) the total hair problem. It was a good thing to include a body storm session for the design team to already discuss the large amount of solutions and limit them to only a few to show them later on to the hairdressers. It would be nice to not only have three very distinctive final concepts, but also have an extra round of evaluation and redesign of some variations of the three chosen concepts. Whilst we did include the user in the design phase, it would be nice to have more time for meetings and more steps of concepts, evaluation and redesign. It would next time be interesting to really let the users draw out sketches and ideas, after they are prepared for this. For now, it would not have worked, since the hairdressers were not willing to draw anything.

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evaluationphase

16.role-.p lay INSIGHTS Wednesday, 13th of January 2016.

This day is the last visit to the hair stylist team of Ruthless.

Three hair stylists participated in this session. Each of them got the task to play one of the future use scenarios based on one of the three concept sketches. They were not supposed to see each other’s concepts so that the two hairdressers not roleplaying could evaluate the scenario based on the roleplay instead of focusing on the sketches. Prototypes of the concepts, prepared in advance, were given to the hair stylists, to facilitate their role-plays.

The first concept that was role-played, was the concept with the stool attached to the chair. A stick and iron wire was used to make a prototype out of a stool and a chair. Both were connected with each other and the hairdresser sat down on the stool. First a comfortable distance needed to be found.

For the hairdresser the distance between stool and chair is very important because they have to reach the hair easily to be able to cut straight and properly. After adjusting the distance between chair and stool due to the preferences of the hair stylist the scenario was role-played.

Two important insights were gained during the role-play of the first concept: after the hair is cut the hairdressers usually put the stool aside or in an corner of the room. But when the stool is attached to the chair this is not possible. So there needs to be sufficient space next to the chair where the stool can be stalled. Another issue might be with this concepts that it is difficult for the hairdresser to work at the front side of the customer to cut the fringe. However, the overall feedback was positive. It was no problem that the distance between stool and chair is fixed and the stylist could reach all parts of the hair except for the front.

The second concept that was acted out is about the caps that protect the wheels from getting hair in it. The prop for the second role-play was made out of carton, which is fixed around a wheel of the stool. First the hairdresser is moving around on the chair to figure out if it is still moving smoothly.

She does not feel any difference compared to a stool without caps. The stylist prefers to have a cap for each wheel instead of having a big cap around the whole foot of the stool because it gives more flexibility. She would not mind attaching all of them to the wheels because they do not have to be cleaned as often as the normal wheels without caps. The next part of the role-play was to act attaching the caps to the wheels.

This step is interesting because it shows how the hairdresser would naturally work with the caps. She is screwing both sides of the cap into each other to close the cap and to attach it around the wheels. In general the hair stylist is very happy with

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the caps. Because the hairdressers do not have to clean the wheels any longer and compared to the other concepts they do not experience any changes in their work environment, they really like this concept.

For roleplaying the third concept, paper is attached on the floor under the chair as a prototype for a grid. A container with a grid is placed next to the chair and symbolizes the container in which the hair is collected. The hair stylist takes place on the stool and starts to cut the hair of his co-worker without getting on the grid with the wheels of the stool. While acting out the scenario it became clear that the distance between stool and chair would be too small to put a grid in between them in the ground. It would be impossible to not cross the grid with the wheels, or the grid would be ineffective.

The future scenario is adjusted according to this new insight and now the hairdresser is moving with its stool on the grid.

Another issue is that not all of the hair can fall into the grid, there is also hair laying around the customer on the ground.

So for the future scenario the hair stylists need to find a way to get the rest of the hair into the grid. The hair stylist tries to shove the hair with his feet into the container. Another option the hair stylist was acting out would be to remove the hair after he or she is finished with a customer. The third concept seems to be the least effective to the hairdressers because they still have to deal with some hair on the ground. Another challenge would be to insert a grid in the ground without affecting the wheels of the stools.

3 future use scenarios (in Dutch) of the 3 concepts.

Zwevende Kruk De klant wil graag haar haar geknipt hebben, het haar is al gewassen en de kapper begeleid haar naar één van de kapperstoelen. De kapper zit graag tijdens het knippen van het haar en kiest dus voor één van de stoelen met een extra zitting eraan vast. De kruk draait om de stoel heen waar de klant in zit.

Dit zorgt voor toegang tot alle zijden van de klant. Als de afstand veranderd moet worden tussen klant en kapper dan kan dit gedaan worden door de hoogte van de klant aan te passen.

Wiel kappen Een kapper zit op een kruk het haar van een klant te knippen. De kruk kan vrij om de klant heen bewegen en op verschillende hoogtes gezet worden.

Om elke wiel zit een kap. De rand van deze kappen bevindt zich vlak boven de grond en heeft kleine haartjes die over de grond heen en weer bewegen.

Deze haartjes vangen de gevallen haren op en zorgen ervoor dat deze niet in de wielen van de kruk terecht kunnen komen. Aan het eind van de dag, worden de kappen verwijderd van de krukken en eenvoudig schoon gemaakt. Als dat gedaan is worden ze weer terug gezet op de poten van de

The second session of roleplaying went better than the first one. The hairdressers got used to the feeling of acting in front of each other but still prefer to talk about what they would do instead of actually doing it. Another problem was for them to imagine the scenarios. The designers assisted them and talked them through each scenario. With sufficient guidance all of the hair stylist managed to act out one scenario. One issue was also the focus in the group. The hair stylist that

kruk. Tussendoor moet nog wel worden geveegd.

Haar luik Een klant wordt geknipt door één van de kappers. Het haar valt recht naar beneden en verdwijnt door de gaten in de vloer recht onder de stoel.

Aan het eind van de dag, wanneer alle klanten weg zijn, wordt de vloer rondom de stoel opgetild, er verschijnt een verlaagde grote bak. Dit haar kan samen geveegd worden in een kleinere nog iets meer verlaagde bak. Deze bak kan eruit getild worden en zo makkelijk geleegd worden in een vuilnisbak.

was supposed to role-play got easily distracted by coworkers that were interrupting or not taken it seriously.

One final problem that we found is that not allowing the hairdressers to show the concepts to the other hairdressers, did not work well. The hairdressers immediately wanted to share their opinions because they reacted so enthusiastic about the concepts

16.role-.p lay evaluation

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17.evaluation matrix Wednesday, 13th of January 2016.

At the same day, we asked the hairdressers to fill in the evaluation matrix, based upon the insights that the hairdressers got during the role-plays and by reviewing the scenarios and concept drawings. Two hair stylists participated and filled in the survey, because the third was not available anymore. The questions were explained to them because not everything was clear from the beginning. Together with the design team, they filled in the matrix.

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Concept B, the cap for the wheels, is the winning concept. The hairdressers agreed both with this as being the best concept. They were enthusiastic about it.

These are the scores that they gave to the concepts

17.evaluation matrix evaluation

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18.validation scenario

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he hairdressers did not understand immediately how to use the evaluation matrix. It took some time to explain this, after which they often gave the highest points to the worst concept.

As designers we had to take a good look so that they actually graded the concepts in the way they were saying to do.

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s previously observed, also now the stylists preferred to work together and to exchange their opinions with each other. They influenced each other during their evaluation. nother problem that occurred during the evaluation was that the hairdressers were focusing mainly on the sketches of the concepts instead of the future use scenarios they acted out before. inally, the hairdressers made a competition of the evaluation. They saw the concept that they role-played as ‘theirs’ so that they tended to give the highest score to their own concept, which makes the evaluation subjective

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It is nine o’clock in the morning. Lara has just arrived to start one of many days as hairdresser. Today she has three customers planned, maybe some others will just drop by. She will be working together with the two other hairdressers Brian and Peter today.

Because Lara is still tired, she walks to the kitchen and makes some coffee to wake up. Before she finished her coffee, a customer comes in. Lara is agitated because she didn’t finish her coffee yet.

The coffee will get cold now. Lara welcomes the customer, madam Janssen, and asks her to sit on the chair. The customer wants her long hairs to be cut in a bob line. Lara is happy to hear this, she always likes it when the customer wants something radically different with her hair. A bit nervous however, Lara puts the cape over the customer and gets her scissors. Lara takes place at the stool that she rolled behind madam Janssen’s chair. She adjusts the stool in height, so that she can now start to cut the hair. The hair falls down and spreads over the ground. Lara moves around with her stool. The stool has six wheels with over each wheel a cap.

This plastic cap can be opened and taken off the wheels. The cap has hairs at his lowest part, so that while rolling around with the chair, the small hairs prevent that the cut hairs of the customer get into the wheels. For this reason, Lara can roll around, without that the wheels get stuffed and stuck with hairs. After thirty minutes, Lara is finished. She looks in the mirror and sees that madam Janssen smiles. Lara is happy with the result, almost proud that madam Janssen is so happy with her metamorphosis. The same procedure happens that day 5 times. Around 5 o’clock, Lara sweeps the floor and puts all the hair in the bin. She is happy.

It was a nice day today, all customers were happy with their new haircuts. Because she feels like doing something extra today and she is in a good mood, she decides to clean the stool’s caps, which is necessary after one month without cleaning. She opens a plastic cap, so that it can be taken off the stool. She repeats this for the other five wheels of the stool and then for the second stool as well.

Above the bin, she takes the customers’ hairs out of the hairs of the caps. With a towel, she cleans the caps. After all are done, Lara places the caps again over the stools, which are now again ready to use.

Brian and Peter already went home. Lara looks at her watch. It is six o’clock. Time to go home too. She places her coffee cup in the dishwasher, turns of the lights and closes the door. While driving home, Lara thinks about her day and is content.

18.validation scenario evaluation

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19.feedback T

o finalize our design process, we have evaluated the concept, chosen by the hairdressers, together.

Evaluation of this concept is based upon the future use scenario and requirements that we made in the beginnings of the design process. The concept score on the requirements is high for ease in use and prevents hair getting in the wheels. However, the problem of hair on the floor is not solved. The hair should still be gathered and removed. Also, for the future use

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scenario, it is not solved that hair lies on the floor and in the corner of the hair salon. Hair that gets stuck in the wheels is now past. To prevent however that hair is visible on the floor, there should be another design solution.

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he next table shows which requirements are met and which are not yet.

1 9.f eedb a c k e v a lu ati on

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20,.Further steps (not excecuted

FINAL CONCLUSION EVALUATION PHASE RECOMMENDATION

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lthough our design approach has ended here, the designers should continue when wanting to deliver a final product. It is then recommended to continue with the final concept, go back to the user and ask them about their opinions about the final concept. Some alternatives for the final concept should be sketched and reviewed by the user, with for example role-plays or more traditional techniques such as the evaluation matrix.

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hen the user gave his insights in improvements for the final concept, the design team should work out the concept in detail, on paper and in CAD software. When the final design has finished, again the design team should meet with the user, to get a final approval, before production can start. Even after the product has been produced and the user is making use of the product, the designers are not finished. They should return to the user and ask how they appreciate the new product, compared to the previous situation in where they did not have the new product. The user should be asked for feedback, to improve the product, for a new generation of production

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ue to a lack of time, we were not able to create one final totally improved concept. However, we tried to involve the user as much as possible during the evaluation of the concepts, finally leading to one final concept to be improved in a possible future. The hairdressers were really content with the final concept, also happy that we had shown them the images. It is good to involve the user in the evaluation phase, since this user is the one that should use the product.

Scenarios can help to improve involvement of users, because they allow to quickly represent the concepts made, their users, usage and environment

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In the next section of the paper, our design approach will be evaluated. We will compare our approach to other approaches, will explain how our approach as planned differs from how we executed it and explain how our approach might be appropriate to use in other design projects. Scenarios used in our approach are evaluated.

COMPARISON EXISTING TECHNIQUES

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ur design method combines methods of traditional approaches with those of scenario based product design and participatory design.

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owever, our design method also had some disadvantages. Always involving the user makes the design process fuzzy. When the design team already passed a stage, the user could still be left behind in that phase, coming up with ideas while the design team already is focusing on one. Also, involving the user makes the design team dependent on the user’s time and availability.

e experienced that participatory design really helps to gain insights in the users. Not only by getting actual input from the users, but also by interacting with the users, the design team can more easily empathize with the user and create more appropriate products. The process of involving more users at the same time, creates an interactive situation he creative processes used in scenario based product design, such as body storming and that results in many interesting outcomes that would not have been achieved when only one user was roleplaying, can on one hand generate ideas, but on involved. Users encourage each other and give insights the other hand require an ability of the user to do this. that other users then use to generate new input.

The user does often not want or does not have the ability to be this creative. Even though all can be planned in cenario based product design helps the design detail by the design team, when the team arrives at the team to create fast overviews of situations, in user’s place, the plans can be worth nothing anymore. where use, context and character of the user can It all depends on the reactions, time and effort of the be applied. The efficiency of scenarios is high; easy user. This is difficult to cope with sometimes. to create, bringing many advantages. The use of roleplaying without, or even better with props, helps lthough scenarios can summarize situations to generate ideas that were not created when the user perfectly, can help to generate ideas or evaluate was just sitting and speaking. The same counts for situations, they can also mislead the user and design body storming. By actually acting in the real world, tacit team. Not everything should be based on the scenarios, knowledge is used to create a highly interesting input. because they are particular described situations that The importance of thinking with objects, rather than also often could have been different. only with the mind, is described by Kirsh in his paper “thinking with external representations”[1]. inally, disadvantage of combining traditional design methods and involvement of the user, is he traditional linear design process helps to that the user is often not able to use these methods. organize the whole process. By following a Whereas they are self-evident for designers, users traditional path, it is easier to follow the time schedule often do not understand how to use traditional design and get everything finished on time. Traditional design methods such as evaluation matrixes. For this reason, it methods such as brainstorming and evaluation matrixes can be hard to use them. help to summarize the situation and put everything into perspective.

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o by combining all methods, we were able to profit from the experience of the involved user, have a creative design process and fast overviews of the situations while constantly following being on planning.

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[1] Kirsh, D. (2010)thinking with external representations. AI&Society, 25 (4), pp.441-454.

APPLICATION FOR OTHER DESIGN PROJECTS By applying scenario based product design and participatory design methods together with the traditional linear design process, the goal of this project was to include the users in the design process.

Participatory design methods like roleplaying and card games were efficient tools to involve the user in an active way in the design process. Their creativity was stimulated and together with the design team solutions could be generated.

Participatory design methods could be beneficial to integrate in future projects that focus on the user experience. Especially when a product needs to be designed for a specific context the designers are not familiar with, the participation of the user helps them to gain valuable insights in problems and to find solutions.

The negative aspects of a participatory design approach in a project are that it costs more time for the stakeholders. Normally a design team or engineers are supposed to work autonomously. The requirements of the stakeholders are taking into account but they are not joining brainstorm sessions or working on generating concepts and solutions. If the stakeholders do not have enough time to take an active role in the design project this approach is inappropriate.

Other reasons for not applying participatory design methods could be that the problem is a very specific one and finding a solution would require certain skills or knowledge. An example is a team of programmers that is hired to find leaks in a computer program.

Including the users in the design process might be inefficient because they lack programming skills.

Another challenge for the users that participate

in the design process is the involvement itself.

Thinking out of the box and being creative might be more difficult for people that are not experienced in designing. As we have observed during this project it is challenging for the users to reflect on their work and possible problems, which makes it harder for them to point out problems. Other issues occurred during the body storming and roleplaying because not everybody dares to play.

To conclude, a successful participatory design project requires active users that are willing to be involved in the design process and have plenty of time to get used to a different way of working and thinking.

The scenario based product design methods, for example working with scenarios, helped to communicate problems and requirements in an understandable way. Different roleplaying and body storming techniques have been beneficial for the design process. Both the users and the designers are stimulated to think out of the box and to test different solutions and materials.

In addition to participatory design methods scenario based approaches help to integrate the user and their problems, feelings and experiences in the design process. In the example from above with the programmers a scenario-based approach could be helpful to communicate problems, requirements and solutions to the users and let them take a more active role in the design process. Scenarios can be formulated in different ways; in this case it could be not technical and focusing on the interaction of the user and the system. If the problem is very specific and finding a solution would need certain skills a scenario based design approach could be helpful.

Scenario based product design might be not appropriate to apply in projects that are not dealing with people. The users play a central role in the scenarios and they are sometimes more efficient if they are character driven. If there are no users involved in the project or the design task has nothing to do with finding a solution for users a scenario based design method would be less helpful. As an example the team of programmers that was mentioned earlier has

the task to design a system that has no interaction with humans or the design choices will not change the way how people interact with the system.

To sum up, scenario based design approaches can be very effective for projects that involve users and especially if a participatory design approach is chosen but less effective for projects that do not involve users or that have nothing to do with users or user interaction.

OVERALL EVALUATION OF DESIGNED APPROACH ADDED VALUE SCENARIOS Scenarios can be used at different stages of the design process. In the analysis phase they help to coordinate the design process (Carroll, 2000). They are used to organize the design situations and provide communication between designers and other stakeholders. Expressing a design with a scenario makes it easier to understand for stakeholders and stimulates them to contribute to the design process.

The design analysis phase is an indeterminate process: requirements are changing constantly and so does technology. The design context is unstable, stakeholders or designers might change their interests during the project or adjust their requirements. Therefore an agreement is needed that states the requirements. Scenarios offer stability in a design process and help communicating the requirements. In our project the requirements and problems that were mentioned were dependent on which of the hairdressers we asked. The manager had a different view on problems than his staff. The scenarios were supporting us in a way that we could combine requirements and create a scenario everybody could agree with. It helped us also to communicate our goals to the hairdressers.

Scenarios can be concrete on one hand and flexible on the other. They are concrete in a way that they express an interpretation of a design situation and offer a solution but need to stay flexible so that parts of the scenario can still be adjusted and elaborated.

In this project we worked on different solutions and evaluated them together with the hairdressers. The scenarios helped us to make a concrete formulation of the problem, goals and requirements but were flexible and general enough to fit all of the solutions.

Another added value of scenarios is that they can have multiple levels of detail and can be made from different

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perspectives. They can be used by the designers for different goals, for example to describe the core functionality of a product or the usability.

Our scenarios were not technical but mostly focused on the experiences of the users and their problems. That fits our goal to use the scenarios as a tool of communicating with the hairdressers. By letting the users playing scenarios the focus shifted to different aspects like usability and functionality without confusing the hairdressers with technical knowledge.

Scenarios are also used for reflecting design choices and figuring out the consequences.

For evaluating a product scenarios are helpful because they are like a “soft” prototype to test the future use of a product. Scenarios embody a view of the design and stimulate reflection. They don’t only show the functionality of a product but also how the users would interact with it and how the user will experience the product.

This advantage of scenario based product design was used to create and evaluate concepts together with the hairdressers. By validating the current use scenario and role-play the future use scenarios the designers and the hairdressers could immediately reflect on the design choices that were made and adjust them.

To summarize, scenarios help to reflect on design decisions even if the design situation is changing constantly. Scenarios are flexible, they can be concrete proposals that can be evaluated and developed but also easily be changed.

Scenarios are also a strong tool of communication: Designing happens in many overlapping fields and contexts.

Scenarios can be understood by every stakeholder and help the designers to focus on the past and future uses.

In applying the designed approach to the hairdressers’ case we gained lots of insights about the method itself.

Many of them are already discussed related to the case itself, but not yet about the approach on its own.

Lack of experience and time constraints were some heavy weighing factors in the design of this approach.

Therefore we made a very general planning for the approach in the end and we wanted to do too much in too little time. First of all the focus was on the ideal situation, we were making a planning but did not discuss this first with the hairdressers. The first meeting therefore already changed the planning based on when the hairdressers were available to meet and work with us. This is an important point for further design approaches were you should also know the availability of the user you want to work with.

It was difficult to decide beforehand which exact scenarios we would need, so we decided that on the way. For us they worked out mostly as a representation of our shared image, as a summary of previous steps (current use) or as a goal to work towards (future use).

While they were in our mind during designing, they were not sparking more creativity both with nor for the hairdressers. The scenarios were a representation of what was already in depth discussed, so nothing new, still really positive and something we could all rely on throughout the whole process.

In planning the approach we did not know the hairdressers yet, so we decided on conducting methods that would be most interesting and useful for us as a design team. We expected to include the user in every phase and also do a sketch session together in the design phase. Unfortunately they were not up to In the beginning we had some vague ideas about engaging in this, so we changed plans and discussed possible problems but it soon became clear these the sketches we already made. were only problems from our viewing point. Therefore the first steps in the approach were slightly inefficient, Due to time constraints and already a wide range of but still informative. We decided then to have some problems we decided to not include the customer. team sessions in between the steps where we would We could only meet with the hairdressers on the make up our minds about all the (sub) problems and least busy hours, so there would be no customers to possible solutions. These sessions could have been involve in our sessions. These conflicts somewhat with prepared better when they were planned, but worked the insights we gained from the team sessions about out great anyway. For our team it was an ideal way of the different stakeholders. The overall goal of the hair quickly coming to a shared idea about the situation salon (manager, owner and hairdressers) is to give at hand. So overall it could be said that in future customers a professional and high-class experience. approaches it would be really useful to include more For future approaches it would be really useful to also team sessions in the approach where you can reflect gain insights from other stakeholders than the user on the steps already conducted and make sure you itself. There could be focus group sessions were trade move on with a shared idea in mind, represented by offs between functionality and appearance might (visual) scenarios and mind maps. be discussed. For our case it was unfortunately not possible to both go in depth about the problem with the hairdressers and include the customers.

GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS There were several problems the design team had to deal with during the project.

The problems that have occurred that deal with the different steps and used methods were already evaluated but there are also more general issues that could be improved.

One issue that showed up every session was that the hairdressers lacked commitment and did not take the project seriously. They treated us like students and not as designers. A solution to prevent those issues might be to change the location of the sessions. Due to time issues of the hairdressers all sessions took place at the saloon. On the one hand that was very helpful for us because we could observe and gain a lot of insights by seeing the work environment. It was also convenient because props like chairs and stools were always available for the role-play. But on the other hand the hairdressers felt very comfortable and confident during the sessions and they distracted each other constantly.

To improve the situation it might have helped to separate them and do the roleplaying exercises and interviews in different rooms. For future projects it would also help to do at least one session at the location of the designers, for example at the design lab of somewhere else in the university. The changes in environment might stimulate the hairdressers to take the project more serious and to work as co-designers.

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Paper presented at the Participatory Design Conference, Trento, Italy.