Prototype - Improving, improving, and improving..

The Collapsable Cup

Ever tired of looking for a cup? 

Ever sick of wasting so many paper cups? 

Ever tired of carrying humongous cups? 

We solved all these problems through our Collapsable Cup. 

This is the prototype of our product. 

Yes. We apologize for making you so excited. We only have developed a prototype for this awesome product. Now you say, what is a prototype? 

Prototype: a first, typical or preliminary model of something, esp. a machine, from which other forms are developed or copied.

• Alpha: the first version of the product to be built. It is not intended to be fully functional Instead, it is primarily used for testing purposes to help establish the direction of future iterations by eliminating unfeasible features and design aspects early in the process.

• Beta: functional version of the product based on discoveries and decisions made during the alpha stage.

Since we do not have the technological skill nor the material to create Beta prototype, we will  be developing Alpha Prototypes as our class assignments. The very first prototype assignment we received was....

Develop a prototype Improving Something.

Yes. It was a very broad topic, and my group had NO IDEA where and how to start. However, we managed to develop a very interesting product. The COLLAPSABLE CUP. 

Initial Sketch:

This was our initial idea - well after a meticulous filtering process we went through; we had way too many ideas - which is not TOO different from our final prototype. We had to make many different changes along the way because of the material we used, and other physical limitations of our first model. 

1. We first created the bottom part of the cup using foam. The diameter is 9cm. 

- We used the compass to measure the diameter, and cut a huge block of circular foam to cut into small pieces.

Then we added the dents in the bottom so the stick holders can fit in as you can see in the picture above.

2. We then made the stick supporters that fit the dent we made. 

- We made two sticks instead of one stick like our initial sketch for stability and to solve the problem of one side collapsing while drinking. Moreover, with sticks, it is easier to hold as well. 

3. We then made the body with ziplock as it is closest to what we pictured - waterproof and collapsable. 

- While waiting for the rings to be made using the 3D printer, we created our very first model just using the foam and cardboard supporter sticks to see if our idea was working before we went ahead with our rings. 

This test model for our prototype was actually very successful. It was sturdy, and functioning. It was just as we imagined the cup to be, and we even tested if the cup can hold water (We managed to hold water in the cup as well YAY)

After printing out the rings using the 3D Printer, we proceeded to develop the final prototype.     

4. We attached the support sticks on the bottom ring and attached it to the bottom supporter foam. We then finally attached the body part (ziplock) on both top and bottom ring to finish the product. 

How the bottom looks like when we collapse it
We used Velcro so the two sticks do not get detached from the bottom supporter. 

How the top looks like when it is collapsed 

FINAL PRODUCT

     Developing a prototype was very fun and exciting. Getting to use the 3D printer was an awesome experience as well. It was great to see how our ideas came alive and became a feasible product. I think our prototype can be improved in its stability and aesthetics; nonetheless, I believe that we did a great job on our very FIRST prototype. 

Product Creation For All: Assignment 2

The Design of Everyday Things: Chapter 2

"Well, in a while it won't matter. There won't be any films, just video-tape." (51)

      Despite the fact that this book is ridiculously out-date (look at the quotation above about VHS), this book is still very much applicable to this world with Blu-ray DVDs instead of VHS. In this chapter, "The Psychology of Everyday Actions," Norman relates the psychology behind our everyday actions to the design of products.  Norman states, "psychologists  love errors and misconceptions, for they give important clues about the organization and operation of our minds" (36). In a similar way, customer's errors and mistakes help designers to understand the success and failures of the product. Whenever I cannot use the product, I would always blame it on the environment or myself for being stupid instead of thinking about the actual problem of the product's design. I also would reward my intelligence for using the product well and swiftly instead of thinking about how well someone designed the product to allow me to do so. Thus, Norman's emphasis on the design of products gave me a whole new perspective for different objects I see in my everyday life. I now am much more careful and analytical about every object I see and appreciate/despise the wisdom/stupidity behind the products. 

Based on what I learned from this Chapter, I would like to talk about the infamous Multi-Function Devices (MFD aka printers/copiers) in Wellesley College:

Norman first talks about the Seven Stages behind our actions, which are:

1. Forming the Goal
2. Forming the Intention
3. Specifying an action
4. Executing the action
5. Perceiving the State of the World
6. Interpreting the State of the World
7. Evaluating the outcome

Based on these seven stages, Norman then proposes questions/tasks for Designers, "The Seven Stages of Action as Design Aids," which are:

1. Determine the Function of the Device
2. Tell what Actions are Possible
3. Tell if System is in Desired State
4. Determine Mapping from Intention to Physical Movement
5. Determine Mapping from System State to Interpretation
6. Perform the Action
7. Tell what State the System is in

Basing on these seven stages, I would like to analyse the interaction between MFDs and people in Wellesley College. 

• Determining the Function of the Device: Although it may look a bit more complex than the normal desktop printer, because people are used to seeing large-scale printers, people can easily determine that the MFD's are printing and copying. 
• Telling what Actions are Possible: Printing and copying functions are quite conspicuous; however, the system is way too complex for people to figure out what other actions are possible in one glance or without reading the user manual
• Telling if System is in Desired State: The printer makes sure the screen shows that all qued jobs are released; however, the screen does not show which jobs are completed. 
• Determining Mapping from Intention to Physical Movement: The buttons are visible for printing and typing; however, the touchpad part of the screen is not clearly explained. 
• Determining Mapping from System State to Interpretation: There are too many buttons and not clear state-indicator for users to understand the system state. 
• Performing the Action: MFD successfully does its job of printing and copying swiftly and eco-friendly (all prints are double-sided, which is a big part of Wellesley's "Paper Cut" movement). Also the log-in system allows user to print using any computer in Wellesley College. 
• Telling what State the System is in: The printer does not clearly show its state as the main page of the screen is always showing either a personal page of queued jobs or log-in screen. It does not show rather the printer is printing or copying. The printer seems to be always ON as well. 

Evaluation of the Printer's Effectiveness and Problems:

- What is Effective?

The printer is effective in its sense that it clearly shows its printing and copying function. It performs its printing job swiftly and eco-friendly. The printers successfully receive jobs from a secure personal account from any computer in Wellesley college. 

- What is Problematic? 

The Printer however has too many buttons and the touch pad part of the main screen is unclear and difficult use. Thus, it is difficult to determine what actions are possible in the device. The printer also does not successfully show what state the system is in nor if the jobs are completed or not. 

Needs Assessment:

1. Observe: I have observed students using the printers in both the Clapp Library and Lulu Campus Center. Surprisingly people were able to use the printer much more quickly than they complain how long it takes. However, the lines in the library was quite long, and students printing out one page were experiencing frustration. Many girls had trouble using the touch screen to log-in and to check if their print jobs are all properly printed out.
2. Ask: I had asked my roommate Galen Chuang about her experience with using the MFD as she needs to print out a lot of readings from the library. Moreover, in contrast to group interviews individual interview with my roommate was much more practical time-wise. I was able to get in-depth feedback from my roommate as we are close and as she was able to be honest with me. However, if I had done group interview to busy, intelligent Wellesley students, they probably would have avoided giving me feedbacks about what they could NOT do (and they probably refused my interview request as they are all busy doing homework). My roommate shared with me a similar experience to what I have observed. She first could not figure out how to log-in, but thought it was relatively straightforward afterwards. She also thought it took way too long for a single-page print jobs. 
3. Try: I definitely had difficulties logging in and I was very confused which page to go to release my queued jobs. I was very frustrated to see other people struggle and take my precious time waiting for them as well. I just got really impatient with waiting 10minutes for a single page. 

Mind Map for MFD

<Solutions>

Brainstorm

Using Pugh Chart

Two Best Ideas:

1. Since the reason Wellesley changed the printers is for paper-cut, I thought eco-friendliness is a very important category. Thus, my first selected idea is to get rid of printers and distribute ipads. It will be costly, but by making the school to have a deal with Apple, massive distribution of the Ipad for academic use should not be as costly or difficult as developing a whole new technology. Moreover, people will never need to print out anything, which totally eliminates the rigorous printing process through MFD in addition to saving papers. The only rate and effort problem will the time it takes for people to get used to the technical skills required to use an Ipad. 

2. Second idea is simple, but it will definitely cut down the time it requires to use the MFD. To be honest, MFD does not really made any difference in an eco-friendliness sense from having desktop printers connected to each computers. People use the desktop printer to print from MFD usually; thus, simply having for desktop printers connected to the computers will make no difference. There will be less long lines and it will be straightforward to use. It is also more realistic and cheaper than the ipad idea, but more effective than using MFD. 

Milk Frother Disassembly

Ikea Frother Vs. Aerolatte Frother

IKEA Milk Frother

• Weight and Length: 1.8 ounces, 20cm
• Price: $2.49
• Strengths:
• Cheap price
• light
• condensed
• battery compartment is easy to find
• Easily Wiped Clean
• Weakness: 
• Takes around 2:40 minutes to "fully" froth the milk unlike the product description (customer's expectation is turned down)
• Does not froth the bottom
• Unstable grip = does not work when handle held tightly/ considerable amount of vibration
• Tiring/ Strenuous Process
• Difference between soy milk and cow milk

Aerolatte Milk Frother

• Weight and Length: 8 ounces, 22cm
• Price: $ 19.99
• Strengths:
• Easy to operate the switch
• Stable grip
• Takes only 20 seconds to fully froth the milk from surface to bottom 
• Creamier frothed milk
• Easily wiped clean

• Weaknesses: 
• The switch can be accidentally turned on very easily
• Louder
• "Pricey"

IKEA Milk Frother Testing

Cow Milk

Soy Milk

Aerolatte Milk Frother Testing

Cow Milk

Soy Milk

MAKING CHOCOLATE MILK!!!!

Affordance, Mapping, and Feedback

Both products afford to froth milk by a simple one-hand operation.  Both products are straightforward to use, fulfilling their tasks as a Milk Frother. However, IKEA Milk Frother does not fully froth the milk from surface to bottom, and requires longer time unlike Aerolatte Milk Frother does. The products are well mapped, as the switches are visible, and the quick one-hand operation provides immediate feedback of a desired outcome.

Disassembly
                 <IKEA Milk Frother>                                               <Aerolatte Milk Frother>

Spreadsheet for Subparts:

My Experience with the Disassembly Activity...

     This was my first time experiencing reverse engineering - AKA "taking things apart." I always liked building things using my toy toolbox or legos, but I never had the chance to disassemble devices. Thus, this activity was very interesting and fun for me. I had no idea where to begin at first, but one by one, I slowly got used to it. I learned that there were so many parts in such a small, simple looking device. I was just amazed by the technology we have today. It must have taken so many people - scientists, engineers, designers, etc - to design this one small device just to froth milk. I now understand how devices work better as well: how the circuits are closed, how carefully the motors are designed, and how these subparts are made. I never thought of estimating the "raw" price of these devices and it was really fun to try and see how much the subparts cost. Thinking that the companies had blown up the prices so much, I am quite shocked as a customer. 

My Final Evaluation of the Two Frother

     The two frothers both have weakness and strengths, which may attract the customers in different ways. The biggest difference between the two products was the price. Ikea one was almost 1/10 of the Aerolatte one. The price difference was shown when the two products were disassembled as the Aerolatte had more subparts - 54 parts - while the IKEA one had 41. Aerolatte was heavier, as the motor had more parts, and it had more subparts such as screws tightly hold device together. If I were in the market for a milk frother - although that will never happen as I am not into frothing milk at all - I would probably choose the products depending on my interest. If I were to just froth my milk once in a while, and I was not picky about it, I will definitely choose the IKEA one as it is cheap and it does its job to a certain extent. However, if I wanted to be professional about frothing milk, I will definitely buy the Aerolatte, as the price actually does speak for itself (maybe a bit too over-priced); it froths the milk quickly and fully. 

Have You Seen the Movie The Net (1995)?

   1995 is the year that I was born. To see how much technology has improved since the day I was born, it is truly amazing. Have you seen the Techno Thriller, starring Sandra Bullock, The Net (1995)? I actually watched the movie quite recently, probably my junior year summer. It was quite entertaining to see how she is running around trying to protect her floppy disk. (Did you know that kids these days have never seen nor used these floppy disks, and that they do not understand why the save button on their Document programs is that "little square-thing").

  This blogpost about the very first touch screen phone reminded me of this culture shock I had recently and my personal experience with watching The Net.  Apparently, there was a touchscreen phone in the movie, which I do not remember at all. This first touch screen smartphone was created by Simon in the early 1990s. However, why weren't smart phones a big hit till quite recently? This article points out a very great point. "Groundbreaking products require a rich ecosystem before the “big idea” can become truly useful or widespread... what was needed included fast networks, Web browsers, and a whole lot of apps waiting to be pulled off the Internet. In the early 1990s, none of these were available." 

   Not only the design, trend, and just the technology itself, the "market  environment" also plays a big role in the technology market. In order for an idea to succeed, I realized that it requires timing and the surrounding as well.

"The Design of Everyday Things" by Donal Norman

The Design of Everyday Things 

by Donald Norman

<The First Chapter>

Cellphone as our Everyday Thing

    Of course, what struck me the most from this first chapter was Norman's long, descriptive commentary on the "Modern Telephone" and its design's limitations. As my Blog will be exploring cell-phones, I thought, a product in my life that would make a good section for Norman's book is obviously the cell-phones: how the design of these cell phones evolved from flip-phones to slide phones to touch pads and now to some other bizarre format. According to Norman, "Designing well is not easy." I used to say that I want to become a designer when I was in elementary school. It was a short-sighted thought as "the needs of those concerned [the customers or the people who request the design] are different and often conflict." I saw how difficult it is to satisfy everyone although it certainly is possible. There I realized how products evolve, including cell-phones, and there I realized how much skill is required to suggest a good design. Products fail and success because of the design and the change in trend. 

     "Don't you feel really empty using those touch phones? I need my fingers to actually feel like pushing something." I used to have a flip phone back when I was in 5th grade. It was my first cell phone, and I was so excited to have them. Then, the "slide-phones" came out, which was the coolest thing ever. The phones started to get thinner, slimmer, and just "cooler." Then the touchscreen phones started to over-dominate the cellphone market. I got my first Iphone in 10th grade. Now I have an Iphone 5. My dad has an Iphone 4S, my sister has Samsung Galaxy, and my mom, now she has LG's G2. She loves it and she will not stop "Lining" me (a messenger app). 

    Multi-function smart phones are great. You do not have to carry a camera, voice recorder, an alarm clock, a magazine, a game software, a map - basically anything you can ever possibly think of - as long as you have your smartphone. There are phones with bigger screens, smaller higher voice recognition, and other technological focuses. There are phones designed high-name brands such as the "Prada Phone." Yet, many people stick to flip phones, simply because they are cheaper and they feel more comfortable typing - they say that they can type in flip phones without looking, but not on their Iphones. Moreover, people say that phones are needed just or messaging and calling, so as long as their phones can perform those two functions, they find other functions just confusing and unnecessary. Everyone has different taste, but smartphone companies can also think about the texture of their phones (the touch of their screen, so it can imitate the feeling of buttons) or making other functions more easily accessible. It is exciting to see how smart phone companies approach this ongoing competition with flip phones (Check why people still prefer flip phones!).


*This book should definitely catch up and include cell phones as a big part of this book since one of our everyday things nowadays is Cell phone, our beloved magical box, which our lives depend on. 

Welcome to My Blog

A Little About Myself!

Dear Classmates, 

       Hi, my name is Clare Frances Lee, and I am looking forward to spend this semester with you all. I was born in Madison, Wisconsin, but I moved to South Korea when I was three years old. I went to a public elementary school there, and moved to Tokyo, Japan in 7th grade. I graduated Seisen International school in Tokyo - a small (32 people were in my graduating class) all girls Catholic International school. Finally, now I am here in Wellesley. I say I speak all three languages, Japanese, Korean, and English, but I feel like I do not speak any of them properly. You will notice the little holes in my languages sooner and later; please bear with me. I am currently interested in studying Studio Art, maybe Computer Science, maybe Economics, or maybe something completely different from what I think I will do: I am that typical undecided first year student of a liberal arts college. I am excited to study in Wellesley, push and challenge myself, meet great new amazing people, and have fun! My life revolves around food, so please keep in mind that I will start bringing in food and keep munching on them during class. I wish to have an amazing First Year Seminar course with you all this semester!

Sincerely, 

Clare

Iphones, Androids, and All The Smartphones!

     Every dining hall, every bus ride – actually more like everywhere I go – I see at least one person holding this magical “apple” in his or her hand, which seems to be taking control over his or her life. From the morning alarm to wake them up, to relaxation music that will put them asleep, people, without realising how dependent they have become, rely every daily part of their lives on this infamous “fruit:” Apple’s Iphone. I am also another victim of this magic, and I seem to never let go of Iphone from my hand. I realised my dependence on Iphone when I started to call for the necessity of a Wellesley App. I am interested in how and what made Iphone so successful and dominating, yet why some people “dislike” iphone, and prefer the old-style flip phones. The most compelling part of this product is the high sensitivity of the touch pad in contrast to other smart phones such as Samsung Galaxy. The fact that “Iphone App Store” opened up a whole new market for customers and sellers is very thought provoking as well. I wonder how further cell phones will develop in the future.

Through this blog, I will be exploring the Technology behind Smartphones, the history of Cell phones, the success story of Iphones, and the future of cell phones, in addition to some random posts I will be sharing just because I think they are interesting. After a bit of researching, I saw why Apple is in the best position for success. According to Gartner, Apple has the "most homogeneous presence across all device segments." By comparison, 90 percent of Android sales are mobile phones and 85 percent of Microsoft's platform OS sales are in the PC market. Apple's well-balanced marketing (click this link to check out the article) is the success behind Iphones and more posts will be coming on the technology behind Iphones. From Goolge Glass, to Samsung's Galaxy Gear, cell phones are still evolving, and what will come next is probably beyond our imagination.