Project Topics
Get Complete Project Material File(s) Now! »
METHOD
BOOTCAMP BOOTLEG
This project is carried out using Bootcamp bootleg, a five step method and tool for a human – centred design process. It is used since it is an established design methodology developed at Stanford Institute of Design. The phases, or steps, comprises of:
Empathize, achieving an understanding for the product, the people and their needs.
Define, defining the needs and problems to be solved.
Ideate, generating ideas and exploring a great solution space.
Prototype, making ideas physical to learn and evaluate trough interaction.
Test, the final step where one gets feedback on the solutions.
All of these steps are iterated during the design process until a satisfying result is achieved or the time limit is reached. [6]
GANTT SCHEDULE
A Gantt schedule is a bar chart where tasks, often derived trough a work breakdown structure, are set against a time scale. This is a valuable tool for structuring, planning and creating an overlook of the project. [17, p. 131]
PBS
The PBS (product breakdown structure) is a tool for creating an overview of the physical parts of a product. It creates a hierarchy of the parts to reduce the complexity of the product and visualize what is required for the product to work. Even though the product for development in this project is less complex, an overview is required as part of understanding the problem to solve. [18]
FUNCTION ANALYSIS
The function analysis method is a way of structuring the functions of a product. The structure is visualized trough a hierarchy of main, part and support functions, where the main functions are the main purposes of the product. Each function is described solely by a verb and a noun to reduce the complexity of the structure. [19, p. 60]
USER ANALYSIS
A user analysis aims at understanding who the users are and their tasks and goals when using the product. The user analysis is based on research by OHC, findings during user study/observation of amateur and professional users, a focus group, and the creations of personas.
OBSERVATION
Observation is a method for investigating among others a course of events, how this happens, what people are doing and how they do it. What is to be observed is determined by the research questions. Depending on the set up the observation can get the researcher close to what is researched and catch different aspects of interaction. Observation is a balance between participating to come closer to the unfamiliar and observe to create a neutral distance to what is being observed.
A loose structure can gather a large amount of qualitative data, while a strict set up can gather very specific information.
During the observation the following are important to note:
What is happening? When?
Where is it happening?
How and with whom?
Why is it happening?
The notes should be describing and thorough but not evaluative. Recordings can be used to have something to return to and be able to choose focus afterwards, but it might not capture specific gestures and what surrounds the interaction. [20]
Following factors are important to consider when evaluating the observations:
Knowingly being observed can change the users approach to the task.
External factors during observations can change its outcome.
A small user sample and the observer’s experience and preferences have a great impact on the results. [20, pp. 276-277]
FOCUS GROUP
A focus group is a discussion held together with 7 – 12 participants to collect their experiences and opinions regarding the problems to solve. It is a tool for generating wide and deep information and different perspectives of the same problem. A moderator (the researcher) leads the discussion to keep focus on the problem and have possibility to collect data not only through what is said, but also based on the behaviours of the participants. Giving everyone room to express their views and not let the participants affect each other is key for reliable data collection. [21]
PERSONA
A persona is a non -physical representation, character profile, of a user in the most important user group. It is given a name and other information that will serve as a basis for considering the needs of the user. The personas are preferably rooted in reality through interviews with customers. Personas is an important tool to help connecting product decisions to the real world. For this work, two personas are created to cover larger, specific parts of the market. [23]
BRAND ANALYSIS and MOOD BOARD
The brand analysis is carried out using two design tools; mood board and Orkla House Care’s design guidelines.
The mood board is a visualization of the character of the design, the feeling and theme that it is to express. It is simply a collage of images showing the values and mood of the target group. [19, pp. 10, 69] The mood board is used as a source of inspiration and guide during the ideation.
The Orkla house care design guidelines serves as a basis for the design decisions and inspiration during the ideation phase.
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
The competitor analysis is the research and analyse of products from competing companies on the market. It creates an awareness of what already exists and shows opportunities on the market. [17, p. 157] The competitor analysis is based on the wide market knowledge of Orkla House Care together with own impressions of physical products and open discussions with professional users and employees at OHC.
SWOT
SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It is a simple and common tool used in business to evaluate projects. Its main purpose is to show whether a project should be initiated or not. It serves as tool to produce points to consider before decisions are made. The SWOT-diagram consists of a quad chart, where lists of the four elements are weighted against each other. [17, p. 101]
BRAINSTORMING
Brainstorming is a proven efficient tool for generating ideas. It was originally a group-oriented technique, but is now commonly applied to individual work. The technique consists of four main points: recording of generated ideas, the generation and verbalization of as many ideas as possible, wide thinking and no evaluation of ideas during the process. Each ideation process regards a specific feature and is carried out in several periods. Early stages serves mostly to get obvious ideas out of one’s mind fast, while later stages cause a slower process but with more concrete ideas. [17, p. 190]
SKETCHING
Physical 2D-sketches and renderings are traditional and powerful tools for visualizing and developing ideas. Many designers have expressed that they cannot even think without a pencil in their hand. The sketch is something that everyone can evaluate and have an opinion about, opening for a quick understanding and decision making trough out the creative process. One need to be careful when evaluating a sketch so that the idea has a ground in reality. [19, p. 85]
The ideation and sketching will also be based on a morphologic analysis, a form development, where different factors important to the problem to solve are investigated separately and then combined in a large amount of variants. This will be made freely in sketch form and is thought to aid the creative progress. [19, p. 60]
MOCK-UPS and PROTOTYPES
mock-up is a quick, simple and cheap hand-made model for physical evaluation of form, structure and functions of details or an overview of the product. [19, pp. 93-94] In this project quick models made out of plastic foam and clay serve as a tool for evaluating ergonomics, form and details together with representatives from the company.
The prototypes are similar to mock-ups, but more refined and created in similar material as the intended final product. They are used to more realistically evaluate form, details and functions. In this project they serve as a tool for ergonomics and design evaluation together with professional users.
CAD
Computer aided design is a well-established tool for generating solid or surface models of a product. They precisely expresses the shape and design and simplifies communication between design and manufacturing. Its realistic simulation of the product visualized the completeness and favours decision making. [17, pp. 118-119] The prototypes are created in SolidWorks 2015 and Alias AutoStudio 2018. The surface modelling program Alias is used to be able to control the surfaces more carefully, which will have great impact on the ergonomics evaluation. SolidWorks serves as a quick tool for generating simple parts and creating the basis for 3D-printing.
RAPID PROTOTYPING
3D-printing, rapid prototyping, additive manufacturing are methods for producing physical models from CAD-models. This can be made using a laser beam or milling tool. The shapes are though most commonly built up layer by layer using a nozzle distributing a thin string of semi-melted plastic on a glass plate. This is a fast and cheap way to create very exact physical models. (Design I focus, p.96)
DECISION TAKING
Decision taking is made alone or together with representatives from Orkla House Care. Decisions are, no matter if regarding conversations, sketches or prototypes, based on the experience and knowledge of OHC representatives and gut-feel. Concept selection will be made using Pugh’s decision matrix.
GUT-FEEL
Decision based on intuition, gut-feel, is probably the most common way of taking decisions. It is used for a quick process where limited facts, or enough facts to form an opinion are possessed.
PUGH’S MATRIX
The decision matrix is a method for decision making that facilitates comparison of factors between different concepts. From an assessment of to what extend every alternative meet set criteria these alternatives can be compared. This will highlight the most suitable alternative and may create new alternatives. The method is iterated until a pleasing result is achieved. Pugh’s decision matrix contains six steps:
Formulate the question to be investigated.
Choose alternatives to investigate.
Determine comparative criteria.
Determine the significance of the criteria.
Evaluate the alternatives.
Calculate the result and decide on actions.
The method is foremost used as a tool for safer decision-taking during production of design proposals. [17, pp. 222-226]
NOVEL PEDAR PLIANCE SYSTEM
A more scientific ergonomics comparison between the current Anza solution and the new concept will be accomplished through measurement of the load and pressure distribution using flexible sensor mats. The system used for measurement is a Novel Pedar Pliance system. [15] The placement and number of sensors are chosen after discussion with experienced personnel at Jönköping University School of Health and the professional painter taking part in the evaluation. The measurement is done through a simulation of the actual use of the tool in collaboration with the professional painter, using the wide filling knife to apply putty on a temporary drywall.
The curves achieved from the measurement is analysed together with experienced personnel at School of Health. Focus is put on the highest and lowest measures together with mean values of the sensors.
CONTENTS
ABSTRACT
SAMMANFATTNING
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND
1.2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES and QUESTIONS
1.3 DELIMITATIONS
1.4 DISPOSITION
2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.1 DESIGN and its PURPOSE
2.2 SEMANTICS and SEMIOTICS
2.3 DESIGN THINKING and DOING
2.4 BOOTCAMP BOOTLEG
2.5 WIDE FILLING KNIFE
2.6 GENDER IN DESIGN
2.7 BIOMACHANICS of the UPPER LIMBS .
2.8 ANTHROPOMETRY of the HAND
2.9 HANDLE DESIGN
2.10 SENSOR SYSTEM
2.11 MANUFACTURING
3. METHOD
3.1 BOOTCAMP BOOTLEG
3.2 GANTT SCHEDULE
3.3 PBS
3.4 FUNCTION ANALYSIS
3.5 USER ANALYSIS
3.6 BRAND ANALYSIS and MOOD BOARD
3.7 COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
3.8 SWOT
3.9 BRAINSTORMING
3.10 SKETCHING
3.11 MOCK-UPS and PROTOTYPES
3.12 CAD
3.13 RAPID PROTOTYPING
3.14 DECISION TAKING
4. APPROACH AND IMPLEMENTATION
4.1 EMPATHIZE
4.2 DEFINE
4.3 IDEATE
4.4 PROTOTYPE
5. RESULT
5.1 BLADE
5.2 HANGER and PACKAGING
5.3 HANDLE
5.4 AESTHETICS
6. DISCUSSION and CONCLUSIONS
6.1 Ergonomics
6.2 Form
6.3 Gender
6.4 Manufacturing
7. REFERENCES
GET THE COMPLETE PROJECT
ERGONOMICS STUDY AND CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT OF A WIDE FILLING KNIFE
