Monday, 26 September 2011

Bill moggridge> what is design?

Bill Moggridge explains what design is and gives both examples of good and bad design. He also goes through the process of design and things that are changing in design. He starts of by going through all the different designs we have. Some typical designs are architecture, graphic design, fashion design, information design, interior design, and industrial design. He shows a short clip of Michelle Obama encouraging and supporting youth to design.

Bill moggridge than explains the different design disciplines these are architecture which he says is the most recognized, then we have furniture design and the most important thing that we all are interested is industrial design. Design disciplines form teams for complex problems for example the divide into groups such as industrial design, graphic design, physical ergonomics, web design, mechanical engineering, production engineering etc. Bill then shows a short clip of an example of a good design. It was a service designed for a visitor from china (intel umppc). This was an interesting concept as it was useful for foreigners to get around a country. This design consists of many features such as a parking assist device, choose music, make phone calls and navigation.

An example of a bad design was two remotes that had a paper covering on it with just the important buttons shown. This shows how badly design the remote control is with a lot of unnecessary buttons on it confusing the user. He then goes briefly through the importance of the design process which the key factor is understanding people and prototyping.
Protyping is important to understand and convey how the product works. He shows us two examples of different designs concepts and how one was professionally created and the other was a simple mockup video. Bill moggridge then finally goes through design today and how its changed for the new designers. He explains the different aspects of change, one being that personal products have expanded to health and wellbeing for example the adaptive eyecare which is self-prescribed glasses that allows you to control the degree of the glasses. Then there is design of the places we live to expand to social innovation programs and finally design for sustainable products expands to global sustainability.

This video was interesting because it explained design thoroughly and how important it was to design for the people and prototyping for users so that trial and error can occur. Designers today would find this very useful and inspiring to design products because it allows us to see understand design in a new light. A very interesting video to watch and kept my attention throughout his whole presentation.


Tuesday, 13 September 2011

Experience Enrichment


Conventional salad tossers usually come in a set of two. This takes up room in the kitchen draws when stored away. This makes it difficult for potential consumers because of the amount of room it takes up and how this does not allow enough space for other utensils. Also when looking for salad tossers in the kitchen draw it is bothersome how you have to fiddle around to find both of parts to the utensil. The handles on the salad tossers are either too thin or have a very uncomfortable grip. These minor problems affect the usage of the salad tossers and it makes it quite strenuous to just make a salad.
The salad tosser that I have created is a two in one. It saves space on the table and in the kitchen draws when you store them away. It is easily found in the kitchen draw because the parts fit together. The colour of the salad tossers makes the design look more modern and sleek. This makes it aesthetically pleasurable appealing to the eye of the consumer. The shape of the salad tossers are ergonomically suited to hold in your hands while serving up a delicious salad.  The curve at the end of the salad tosser creates a nice hold and grip. Due to this curve your hand fits comfortably in place while the product is in use. The fork like design creates balance and its purpose is to allow the salad to be picked up easily and efficiently. This fork like design was suitable and acceptable to its usage purposes after the conduction of tests.
The materials that are used in the design would be either plastic, bamboo, or wood. This would create variations of the product which can appeal to different consumers in the market.