CO N T E N T S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
The The The The The The The The The The
Walker Phonebook Boulders Dremel Hanger Desalinator Bike Toy Telepresence Carrier
T H E WA L K E R Designed to support users functionally and socially
Lio Kobayashi Age 27 Seattle, WA Injured in car accident.
”I don’t feel good using a walker. I may be handicapped but I still care what I look like. Show me something that doesn’t look like I’m about to die and I’ll rock it.” Lio lives in a two-bedroom apartment in Seattle, works as a photographer, and loves concerts, bar crawls, and finding food-trucks with his friends. Due to his injury these social events are difficult for him to attend without getting fatigued.
8%
67%
9%
1
% 25
0%
MOBILE DEVICE MARKET QUANTITY
PERCENTAGE OF USE BY ACTIVE ADULTS
CRUTCHES
81%
WALKERS
CANES
Walkers make up 25% of the devices used by active adults, but only 9% of the market.
Statistics from “Mobility Report” by Disabled World
TM
What does the current market offer?
$30
$40
There are hundreds of inexpensive bare-bones options for walkers. This section of the market is thoroughly oversaturated.
$50
$60
Existing walkers are aluminum and plastic, with no consideration of the social implications of such sterile designs.
$70
Not much.
$80
$100
The first significant feature to appear is the seat. Lack of solutions at such a high price point provides ample opportunity for innovation.
$125
$175
Price does not reflect features or materials. There is opportunity to disrupt the current bleak market with something fresh.
Ample Opportunity With so many gaps in the market, there was a lot of ground to cover. The first few hundred sketches experimented with possible functions and forms that emphasized support and lightness, as inspired by Japanese and Scandinavian furniture.
Let’s Get Physical You could have the greatest idea on paper but unless you mock it up, there is no way to understand it’s full potential. Unfortunately, many good looking drawings were just not functional in real life. Finding a design that looked good and worked well meant a lot of prototypes, sketching and patience.
Narrowed Down The final direction featured two main modes as shown on the right. When in use it would look elegant, be light and comfortable to use, and slide smoothly on bristle tip feet. When not in use the walker would rest vertically like a side table. These two distinct modes would give it meaning and use in all contexts.
Gears Figuring out how to open and close a walker in a simple, intuitive way that still provided the support necessary without adding complex buttons was a challenge. By placing a specific set of gears inside a wood housing and opening the handles 90 degrees, a worm gear rotates another set of gears, allowing the legs to open the perfect distance.
Use
Form
To maximize space in the home, the walker was designed to be put away as a piece of furniture. By functioning as a nightstand for your phone or a shelf for your keys and glasses, the walker always has a purpose. Even when it is not in supporting the user physically, it is still helpful.
In public the bar would be a convenient resting place to lean on when the user is physically fatigued, leaving their hands free and providing a surface for them to rest things on, like a cup of coffee. More importantly the elevated height would keep the user engaged in conversations on a more natural plane than sitting.
A good design isn’t just beautiful, it should change the way you feel.
T H E P H O N E B OO K An e-ink notebook for your phone.
Scavenger Hunt Designing a phone specific product with an emphasis on rapid prototyping. It began with rapid idea generation known as a “scavenger hunt�. This prompted the idea and direction for the design.
Design + Direction A low powered e-ink notebook for phones that gives users a simple tool to plan, sketch, or muse with. This tool would encourage a more analog approach to note with all the great digital functions.
Early Mockups Exploring forms and functions in a real 3D space. So many discoveries were made by actually making the parts and seeing how they felt or moved. I found the tri-pannel notebook to be the most comfortable in every position.
E-Ink & Final Mockups Exploring forms and functions in a real 3D space. So many discoveries were made by actually making the parts and seeing how they felt or moved. Getting the E-Ink screens to look realistic was very difficult since they had to be thin enough for the book to close shut and thick enough to look like it has depth.
An analog solution to a digital dilemma.
THE BOULDERS A multifunctional family of water collecting IKEA products for urban homesteaders.
What is Urban Homesteading? To better understand I began research with local urban homesteaders and a community farm. Almost 10% of Santa Clara County residents are living in poverty, struggling to make ends meet to support multi-generational families. How could IKEA’s new Urban Homesteading department provide them with an opportunity to save money and increase their standard of living?
Ikea’s New Department Since IKEA was the company we were designing for, I started my research there. Right away products that incorporated plants stood out to me. These could easily be integrated into an urban homestead to save money. Some things that also caught my eye were the simple containers. These could be used for storage or planting- and they were primarily white and plastic.
Now Narrow It Down The original concepts all incorporated nature and were narrowed down to a family of products focused on the collection and storage of natural resources. The “Boulder Family� were the most financially beneficial to urban homesteaders and involved three primary products: Water collection, solar collection, and compost production with a focus on the water collection family
Family A family of products pair with the water collection boulder including an umbrella to catch water & block the sun, a large boulder to store the water, and two stools for seating and water buckets.
Function Simply unscrew the umbrella top from the umbrella pole, and screw it onto the boulder top. This creates a large surface area funnel for the rain to be stored in the boulder. Access to the water inside comes from the universally threaded spout.
Spring Is Here and So Are Savings Somehow the boulders made their way into the Spring catalog for IKEA’s latest urban homesteading magazine, where they were able to help millions of families save money and conserve water.
All products should work. Good products should work together.
THE DREMEL An intuitive and comfortable tool, designed for the shop and built for the hands.
THE HANGER An intensely sustainable solution to hanging clothing in a simple and convenient way.
Maximizing as much of the recycled cardboard was one of my biggest concerns. This resulted in a zero-wasted design that utilized every part of the original stock. One feature was the “flat pack” which would reduce shipping costs.
One aspect of being environmentally conscious is the impact fast clothing has on the planet. By putting the days of the week on the center of the hanger, it encourages the user to consider how much clothing they really need, and focus on high quality essentials instead.
The design is lightweight, but extremely sturdy and functional. One of the first questions people ask is - wouldn’t that wrinkle your clothes? Surprisingly, no! Prior to developing the final model I tested all types of materials and pieces to see the wrinkle effect. As long as tops were hung by the nape and bottoms by the waist, there were no wrinkles at all.
T H E D E S A L I N ATO R 70% of the earth is covered in undrinkable water. Talk about a thirst quenching opportunity.
Wave Goodbye The ocean is always changing and technology is too. Unfortunately the largest source of water in the world is undrinkable without large, expensive solutions. How could we best make this water a source of survival for people who thrive in the ocean?
Mockups & Final Model Developing the final form meant playing with ratios. It had to be comfortable enough to carry by hand, but large enough to provide adequate hydration.
HERO SHOT
Drink up, friend
THE BIKE Solidworks project designing a bike from start to finish.
T H E TO Y Designed on paper, built in Solidworks. An advanced exercise in surfaces and complex forms.
THE TELEPRESENCE An in depth project developing two telepresence units with a focus on manufacturing. Through the project I learned how complex and hands on bringing something from concept, to production, to market was, as well as the importance of design along the way.
THE CARRIER A soft goods baby product for traveling parents and children.
Sam, Myra & Zazie
Andy, Becky & Lance
Notes - Getting them out of carseat is time consuming - For such small people they require so much work - Baby proofing everything so they don’t die - Always keep big ziplock bags for wet stuff, like clothes.
Notes - Main items: Diapers, wipes, changing pad. Water bottle. - 2-3 times a day nap. 1 or 2 and pajamas. - Most stuff got while baby was still young. Adjustable products, or things that grow with kid are good.
“I feel like I’m always in a rush”
“Moving a baby around all day is tiring”
What is the hardest thing to do with a baby?
Nurse
Exercise
Sleep
Travel
10 %
20 %
30 %
40 %
Conclusion One thing I realized from the interviews and research was how busy parents are. They are constantly moving around and have to bring their baby with them everywhere. Almost all issues arose in the “transition� periods- for example, getting a baby in and out of a car-seat. Realizing this opportunity for improvement helped me pick a direction.
If transitions with a baby are hard in everyday life, traveling with one is even harder. Traveling is made up of one transition after another.
Movement
Sound
Simplify
Moving around with a baby is unique. Being able to pivot baby to front or back is essential when traveling since there are so many transitions. Comfortable with an easy on and off function.
Reduce noise around the baby while they are sleeping, and reduce the volume produced when they are crying. Possibly incorporate a nursing cover for privacy that integrates a noise reducing feature.
Reducing the amount of things needed when traveling with a baby. Less is more. Everything should have a second purpose. This would also reduce the need to pack more while traveling.
I began sketching immediately, exploring ideas that improved transitions with a baby. Baby carrying was a reoccurring opportunity so I decided to follow it to the end.
Mockups and model making in softgoods was a different medium than I was used to but was a great learning experience.
Travel in peace.
Thank You