Product Design & Prototyping
Caroline Gardner
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About Me
About Me
As a graphic design and AP Art student, I was always interested in the creative aspect of innovation. The details in the efficiency and aesthetic of a product was something I truly enjoyed, and looking at the big picture of the future use of that product as someone who loves mechanical, hands-on experiences, was something I was excited to do through the fusion of that creativity with engineering product prototyping!
That's why, when prompted to pursue a product design of something I found interesting, which of course was coffee, I enjoyed the process, highlighted by the design thinking wheel below, of building a product that can actually solve an everyday problem efficiently and, perhaps most importantly, aesthetically ;)
MY ROAD MAP
The Design Thinking Wheel serves as a road map for designers, illustrating the sequential stages—such as understanding (empathize), defining, ideating, creating, and innovating (test)—in the design process. Its aim is to provide a structured framework that assists designers in navigating a challenge, enabling them to produce innovative solutions tailored to user needs and objectives.
Purpose+ the Design Thinking Wheel
Purpose+ the Design Thinking Wheel
The purpose of this project was to design a mechanical coffee product with a demographic in mind, following the structure of the design wheel, and following through on trial and error throughout the design and prototyping process to ultimately create a product that served to fulfill a need of a relevant community.
^THE DESIGN WHEEL^
WHAT DOES EACH PHASE OF THE WHEEL MEAN?
- Empathize/Understand
The phase in the design process where we had to seek to gain insights and comprehension about various aspects of a problem or a context, in this case, the frustrations of the people around me in their everyday coffee routine. This phase involves gathering information, conducting research, and analyzing data to develop a deep understanding of the users, and we did so in forms of interviews, observations of others' routines, and research through reliable, online sources. Understanding lays the foundation for informed decision-making and effective problem-solving throughout the design process, and I based many of the aspects of design from patterns in the interviews.
2. Define
2. Define
The phase in the design process where we had to clearly articulate and define the problem we are aiming to address. This involves synthesizing the insights gathered during the "understand" phase, the interviews, into a well-defined problem statement or design brief. Additionally, we tried to brainstorm project goals, objectives, constraints, and criteria for success. The "define" phase sets the direction for the design process.
3. Ideate/Imagine
3. Ideate/Imagine
Probably one of the longest phases, Ideate in the design process is where creativity and brainstorming are encouraged to generate a wide range of potential solutions to the defined problem or challenge.
During this phase, we explored diverse ideas, concepts, and possibilities without judgment, aiming to generate as many innovative solutions as possible using several brainstorming techniques, sometimes in a group of friends. We also tried mind mapping, sketching, and prototyping to facilitate the generation of ideas.
The goal of the imagine phase was to produce a rich pool of creative concepts that can be further developed and refined in the subsequent phases of the design process, and by the end I had three main prototypes that I was going to further develop into my final prototypes and eventually product.
4. Create
4. Create
Create is the phase in which you gather the brainstormed ideas based off of the criteria identified in the Understand and Define phases, in order to start prototyping the best possible solution which also includes all of the key features. These key features are often made clear by the previous phases, but can be further finalized through the prototyping process as well.
5. Test/Innovate
5. Test/Innovate
The phase where designers integrate creativity, problem-solving, and user-centered design principles to develop novel and solutions/products to address the identified need. This phase is the climax of the design process, its foundation built upon the insights of previous stages: understanding, defining, imagining, and creating.
APPLYING THE DESIGN THINKING WHEEL TO MY RESEARCH
1.Understand
1.Understand
We did so in forms of interviews, observations of others' routines, and research through reliable, online sources. Understanding lays the foundation for informed decision-making and effective problem-solving throughout the design process, and I based many of the aspects of design from patterns in the interviews.
2.Define
2.Define
I defined my objective simply as creating a mechanism that would aid in the production of good coffee, quickly, mainly through the accessibility of diversified roast options.
3. Ideate/Imagine
3. Ideate/Imagine
Brainstorming Methods
Brainstorming Methods
During the Ideation phase, I focused on brainstorming key features of my future product using the criteria of those I interviewed during the Understand phase, such that it also met the criteria has defined by the problem statement in the Define phase.
These brainstorming methods consisted mostly of sketching (probably 75%), but also research from accredited sources and exercises of observation for the coffee-making process from other perspectives.
2-Point
2-Point
Orthogonal
Orthogonal
Multi-Functional
Multi-Functional
Realism
Realism
SKETCHING
During the Ideation process, I learned the most from the work I did in sketching. As a side quest during lent, Dr. Nguyen and I also tried sketch noting, which also helped in communicating ideas through images instead of words, which for me, was often a more efficient and description communication of my ideas.
We started with 1-point perspective and quickly moved onto 2-point perspective, which helped me account for the dimensions that I truly see in an object instead of what I think I should see, ultimately creating a more accurate sketch. The same was true for orthogonal perspective, which includes all sides of an object in order to create again, a more accurate representation.
After I was able to understand the perspective of the objects I was drawing and their dimensions, I applied them to real world needs and incorporating mechanics that apply to necessary functions--in this way I practiced exercises of drawing machines that fit certain criteria, so that when it came to my own for this specific project, I was completely ready.
When I was ready, I started to finally sketch the realistic depictions of my coffee machines, based strictly on the criteria of the results of my interviews.
4.Create
4.Create
This phase is when I was able to narrow down the ideas sketched out from my brainstorming into three, concise products with very similar key features. The reason for creating three is so that I had variety in the aesthetics, but the three products (shown to the right) were ultimately variations of the same product.
I then creating scenarios with "personas" that resembled the people I had interviewed during the Understand phase, and integrated the product into how it may be used in everyday scenarios.
5.Innovation
5.Innovation
Although I have not reached the end of this phase in my current research yet, I am confident that the research I have conducted thus far will lead my to success in the completion of the design wheel for my future, physical product. For now, I have completed the beginning of this phase through 3D printed prototypes that illustrate the structure that will be my final product.
REFLECTION
Interview - Caroline G.mp4Join this conversation with Dr. Nguyen and Caroline about the lessons learned throughout this process!
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