Portfolio for job application

Siqing Lu

M.S Engineering Design Innovation |Northwestern University B.S Materials Science and Engineering Industrial Desgin(Minor) |Shanghai Jiaotong University 773.677.2086 |lusiqing316@gmail.com|https://siqing-lu.myportfolio.com

ITERATION IN DAILY LIFE

S

omehow life is repetitive within the span of lifetime and it amazes me a lot. And it makes me wondering how the pattern and the uncertainty make everyday life meaningful. In design project, I also enjoy digging out the pattern, as my Ah-ha moment, through design research, synthesis, ideation, and problem solving.

How does my undergraduate background help?

Well, everytime I ask engineers some technical questions, If I said ‘ I know. I undergrad is Material Science’, I can always see that ‘made-myday-so-much-easier’ face.

CONTENTS SHADAOW CLOCK HEAD REST REDESIGN TTACH-A MOCK-UP MATERIAL DESIGN NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL HOSPITAL STRATEGY DESIGN THY NEIGHBOR- CROWDSOURCE APP DESIGN MISCELLANEOUS

HOW MIGHT WE create a experience in urban space to transmit the intangible time into sunshine and shadow, like a sundail

SHADOW CLOCK 3 WEEKS ● INDIVIDUAL PROJECT ● INSTALLATION DESIGN

INSPIRATION As a bootcamp project, we were given with the prompt ‘harmonic opposite’ . For this very my first project at Northwestern, I want to show my thoughts, rooted in oriental culture, and put it into an entirely new context, into a physical object.

The decision is also inspried by my exploration of Chicago. At that time I just start my venture at the States for the first time in my life, and the first time I saw the city, I got intrigued by those amusing installation which make the city so vibrant (like the Cloud Gate) and make the city feel closer to life.

Finally I chose sunshine, and its shadow. Within different time in one day, the sun is at a different position and I decided to take that natural phenomenon and make it an interactive component in my project.

How it works

HOW IT WORKS As a installation, it works like a sundial. The key is that the body was cast into several holes and therefore, when sunlight comes through different holes during different time of the day, it will cast different shadows into numbers, showing the time roughly and therefor create a more visual feeling of time.

PROCESS Brainstorming, Ideation, Field research, Rapid prototyping Skills: Laser cutting, heat gun, Rhino, Arduino

Illustration in city scope

CHALLENGES + LEARNING Learning how to prototype and how effectively rapid prototype is yhe first lesson learned here. Only with something in hand, I can go out and interact with people (users). This became my belief in applying Human-centered design.

The shadow clock 1.0 is only a curved cardboard cut by laser cutter, which I sued for the first time in my life. Also assembling actuators (stepper motor and LEDs) using Arduino and made them function is another thing I learn within 3 weeks. The mock-up may look rough, but keeping getting feedback from mock-ups is the best way to motivate myself to refine it.

The final deliverable for this project is just a demo for my idea, hopefully it could be developed into real size installation sometime.

HEADREST RE-DESIGN 10 WEEKS ● INDIVIDUAL PROJECT ● PRODUCT DESIGN

It started from little thing- I found out that people do struggle more or less when they are trying to fall asleep sitting on a airplane chair. How might we make, the experience of sleeping in straight position, more comfortable by redesigning the headrest?

INSPIRATION & RESEARCH Design solutions developed by researching on existing workarounds, sleeping habit, patents, etc,. After creating the audit board and cometitive landscape, the idea of combing hammock with headrest standing out. Instead of adding more things on the headrest, I do want to reduce the material of headrest potentially.

PIVOT Another important thing I learned is pivot. It was hard from at first because it’s not my initiation. However, it helped me later finding more whitespace. Originally it was designed for airway seat. Now, it position as a headrest for (driveless) car in the future.

Original Model

Neck support for straight up sleeper and side sleeper

stretchable mesh woven fabric.

High fatigue strength material

Original Mock-up

PROCESS/PORTOTYPE Ethnographic research, Ideation, Mock-up, User tests, 3D printing Prototype: It went through three major iteration. The first one is a ESP foam glued with Velcro. Second iteration is copper tubing with sponge with stretchy fabric covering. The third one is steel rod bent with torch in shop, with rubber insulation. All three changed according to the modification of Modeling or sketching.

Later Prototype

Came out with the most feasible frame model and use it to work with the torch in the shop

HUMAN FACTOR & USER TEST

Later Prototype

The biggest learning in this process is to continuously get feedback. I let all types of user to try on sitting in the seat, include female and male with different height, weight, head size. Also to better help them immerse in real experience, they may put on pony tail, headphone, glasses, holding wheels or with safety belt fastened. I got fruitful feedback from adjustment, flexibility, personal habit difference, to sanitation. And with all the feedback, I keep developing the project into the final prototypes-looks like a hammock that embrace the head without sultriness

Foam core was disposed after being glued, paper was thrown into recycle bin after use. With TTACH, I explored the possibility of a combination to create new, modular foam core for green generation, and the sustainability and scientific

TTACH 20 WEEKS ● INDIVIDUAL PROJECT ● PRODUCT DESIGN ● THESIS

WHAT IS TTACH TTACH is a novel reusable foam core for mock-up process in design project. Instead of cutting and gluing foam core like before, TTACH could assemble low-fi mock-up like building blocks and be modified quickly according to user’s feedback.

The connection between each TTACH is by sturdy paper rods. And they could impede each other from moving away by friction and compression. According to different design project, different locking system, and different shape could be developed.

PROCESS Interviews with professors, Ph.D students and with Connexion Material Library. Literature research, Ideation, Prototype, User testing.

INSPIRATION It usually takes 10-15 years for the investment in material development to receive mature revenue benefit. Taking a common material-paper as example. Every year, more than 90,000 research about cellulose material (major component of paper) is out there. But we sledom heard one of them applied on market place.

Based on this muti-channel framwork I tried to look for breakthroughs in areas tather than generic design process. Finance, science and environment impact could also help ensure the design more sustainable.

USER TESTING Tested with two group of people, design class instructors and design students.

The feedback from user validates the value to use TTACH during brainstorming session, or as a quick prototype tool, or a tool for better communicating with the clients/target users at front stage.

However, to produce TTACH individually by cutting, rolling ant attaching is not desirable, but this could reveal future need for a simple way to mass-customization.

IN THE FUTURE The secondary aim for this project, besides to sustain the life of foam core, is to arose user’s awareness of the repositioning of paper. Just like we are used to paper towel even most of the people I talked knew it is not recyclable, paper’s conventional image was deeply rooted within daily life.

So next step on the road map of TTACH will be a tool kit that enables user to rapidly produce paper rolls or other paper folding structure for connecting foam core and gradually replace foam core entirely by paper (or fiber-based composite) With paper beam making product already existed, the technology barrier is relatively easier to overcome in forseeing future.

Material Recycle

Paper

Used paper will be more sustainable than just being re cycled because the fiber will degrade

Used press Paper

TTACH could be reused and easier to modify compare de pendently to LEGO or Foam Core.

Modify

Dispose

LEGO & Foam Core

Design thinking

Mock-up Material

Product

Simulation of the connection point of TTACH

Original lifecycle` New system with TTACH

-

Decompose

Assemble LEARNING IN EXPERIMENTS

The biggest challenge for this project is to connecting all the dots together. Finding a problem which paper could be the solution for that, and also to use paper in different way, is a complicate question. The way I did it is to firstly experiment on different way of using paper, just like mock-ups of products. From there to get feedback from others, and that was how I got inspired and linked everything together. I think it was a interesting to try out different ideas from the beginning. And to use mock-ups to refine the design opportunity. It is just like an experiment.

Our challenge is to Increase the throughput of patients seen by a Physical Care Team by 10 times through a focus on workflow efficiency in hospital. We came up with a brand new PCT with experienced Physician Assistant and Registered Nurses

HEALTHCARE WORKFLOW DESIGN 7 WEEKS ● TEAM PROJECT ● STRATEGY DESIGN

SITUATION/INSIGHT The PCP, Medical staff, and patients trust each other over time because they foster relationships and understand each others’ capabilities. However, experience and qualifications of employees in the hospital vary greatly. People trust experience over title.

Making sure a patient is treated properly and in a timely manner means making sure that staff are empowered to act independently without redundant bureaucratic oversight.

PROCESS After coming to hospital for physical check and talking to PCP in person, our team went on several phone call interviews with ER surgeon, MA, PA, and patients. Also people working with workflow management gave us insights about logistic/optimization.

KEY COMPONENTS During synthesis and diagesting, we found the direction to delegate the responsibility that for PCP right now, to more trust-worth, but normally neglected position, which ,we turned to, the nurses.

Nurses are specializing more and more through education in specific fields such as Masters programs in pediatrics, geriatrics, women’s health, and many more.

Storyboard created according to acute and chronic patient. With the stories, we better framed the benefit of applying our idea and the payoff for Northwestern Memorial

THE ROLE OF DESIGN Put into that way , we reviewed the process, developed and analyzed the keypoints of our workflow.

The role that design played here is not only another perspective of evidence that prove the feasibility, viability and desirability. We use design method to conduct research and came up with real unique ideas, and we tested it by asking physicians about our plan. And we presented to the client, not only a serial of numbers like market segment or revenue turned out, we also provide storyboard, road map to facilitate the implementation of this plan, and some problem we are concerning as hurdles. This is what design made this strategy special, it is sustainable.

Journey map, stakeholder analysis, and desirability, viability & feasibility analysis

QUESTION FOR FUTURE IMLEMENTATION

Promote Techonology in Hire and task PAs with only seeing acute or chronic patients Train MAs to take on more responsibility Assign preventative care to a HCP other than the PCP Create roles that are entirely digital or managerial

27 Patients 27 acute

WORK FLOW

Patients

78 Patients 34 perventative 36 chronic 8 acute

What do the ten cases that a PCP sees a day look like in a world where two hundred patents are taken care of by the system each day

Specialist

Schedule 85 patients See 10 Patients

IoT Virtual Care

Gatekeeper

Northwestern Memorial Medical Assistant x5 Nurse Practitioner x1

How do we prepare healthcare professionals for work that is entirely digital or entirely in a managment role

75 Patients 40 acute 35 chronic

Specialist

200 Patients

What does specialization training look like for Register Nurse and who provides it in the future system

Nurse Panel

10 Patients

Physician Practitioner x1

NP Approval

PCP

Howdy neighbor!

THY NEIGHBOR 6 WEEKS ● TEAM PROJECT ● INTERACTION DESIGN

College students are not always Self-sufficient. It is just How could Crowdsourcing could help. is the key service we try to implanted in this project. And with rounds of iteration. How can this be beneficial for college-student-based neighborhood?

QUICK PROTOTYPE When we tried prototyping adding the residents of a building in one Facebook group we left a note on each door explaining the group and how to join. Other people that we tested were people that we knew in our target population.

Next, we used paper to create interface and then used P.O.P on smart phone to test on our users and got feedback on both usability and desirability. The final step was hueristic evaluation.

THE STORY

THE RESULT

Working as a group, we did rounds of design research around our users and found out their needs. We came up with an interaction design to facilitate the borrowing, lending, and hanging out.

Home-screen: User simply type in the thing they need/have with time, urgency and other description and send to all neighbors.

People will get notified if someone respond to their post, and the banner directly go into the conversation where they can ensure the time, the stuff is correct, and also a confirmation button to confirm certain interaction, for the rewards system afterwards.

But during user research we found out all those functions are not the end user desired. The result? we modified our design to really simple interaction, with only lend (request) and borrow (offer).

Note: Once the offer was took or the thing was lent to the person, the post will disappear and people will not see notification again.

ALWAYS ITERATE To make it even more like a “game” to encourage user to use that, a angle point will be added to the avatar the user choose when they are helping people, with more points, the avatar goes up to heaven, or if the user is not helping people, the “gravity” will take the avatar even down to the hell.

The avatar would be private, to eliminate user’s concern of being perceived as “bad neighbors” EA YOU

RN!

MISCELLANEOUS

COLLECTION OF IDEAS 5WEEKS ● INDIVIDUAL PROJECT ● CLASS PROJECT

I used to practise to draw really detailed sketch like the one above. But with more hands on experience, I learn the importance to sketch effectively, at least at the every beginning to get the form on the paper as soon as possible.

CUTTING BOARD How to keep the functions of a generic cutting board but vary the form to be more consistent with a modern kitchen’s style meanwhile eliminate current pain points?

CUTTING BOARD (CONT’D)

LOUNGE CHAIR Exploring the area of material--Sand, grass, tensile cloth, and shredded paper are all included

Design different box cutter for three user type ‘maker mom’ ‘ruggedized’ and ‘Dieter Rams’. Think about the occasions they may use the cutting tools for.

BOX CUTTER

SHOES (FOR BUNION) Exploring the possiblity of sneakers for user suffering from bunion.

Less medical treatment feeling, focusing more on the appearance.

CAMP TENT

Trying on putting up a tent by myself, I tried to synthesize the need of the tent and address those need in my concepts

WALKIE TALKIE FOR CHILDREN The concept is basically a Mather station, with four divided sub stations working like clap.

User can give the sub station to friends

LEGO CD BOX 3WEEKS ● PRODUCT DESIGN ● CLASS PROJECT An idea caught in life, when my dad stacking CD under a PC to lift up the PC from table. CD storing is a problem (in my family). We want it to store stably, but we also want its cover to be seen so that we can find it quickly. Therefore HMW create a box for CD with clear material and the user can assemble it as their own need.

OUTDOOR FIRST-AID BOX 4WEEKS ● PRODUCT DESIGN● INSTITUTE PROJECT During my staying at Design Management Institute of Shanghai Jiaotong University, I submitted this idea for a client. The rolling mechanism help the user focus more on the medicine/equipment presented which may help them finding the right one. Also, it include a pop-up LED lighting, therefore could better use under night duty.

ILLUSTRATION Understanding the importance of design communication, I love to draw with pen, using App or using illustrator/Photoshop to help create better design artifacts

Illustration for service design (confidential project)

Sketch on iPad Mini

TO M U C H Original C.D.C. Guidelines

WORK

26 stept of donning, 45 steps of doffing requires a trianed observer as well.

The general process is time-consuming

North Shore-L.I.J. Level 2 Suit

Work on company’s landing page

Infographic for EBOLA PPE

North Shore-L.I.J. Level 3 Suit 100%

Green Hat

M

y sketch journal--green hat is an character I draw on phone, overlapped with recent photo I took, something I made for fun but also as debrief of my life

LOVE TO DISCUSS MORE ABOUT PROJECT DETAILS For more information about my team projects, or projects in other fields, or more detail about these projects, please contact me at lusiqing316@gmail.com or visit my Behance website https://www.behance.net/Spiritbiscuit