Intro to task
This project – our first two week assignment – focuses on designing a new user experience that allows for more playful navigation of a space. This could be interpreted in many ways, but we were encouraged to consider psychogeography, the exploration of urban environments through drifting and emotive navigation. We were also instructed to design our experience for a user which falls into one of three categories: a new tennant to the area, a tourist, or a permanent resident; and to consider how content/data collected by the product could benefit the user.
Idea generation
My partner, Robbie, and I, initially experimented with the idea of an augmented reality user experience, as this is a fascinating new technology with a lot of potential to explore new experiences; however after idea generation, body mapping and brainstorming we decided to avoid this. We wanted to create a user experience which was more purposefully designed – rather than simply an app or add-on to a phone – and would be purposely utilised by the end user. We decided to design an experience that, rather than using miniaturised technology, is a large, fully functional product.
We decided to base our user experience on an umbrella, as this is a product present in almost every household, but has not been vastly improved on since it’s first iteration. An umbrella is an object that a person takes with them whenever they go traveling, depending on the weather, which allows for a variety of approaches to the design brief.
Our first sketches and prototypes mainly investigated removable handles, and how as designers we could benefit from the inter-connected nature of everyday society, possibly linking the umbrella to a bluetooth or wifi-enabled device for navigation.
An initial iteration of our design took inspiration from Dominic Wilcox’s GPS shoes, and transferred the concept of using LED lights to show direction and proximity of a set location, allowing for a more playful method of navigation. Robbie and I decided that this idea was too simple, and didn’t have the depth, utility or originality that we wanted, and chose not to develop it any further. I also explored umbrellas aimed towards at-risk persons and VIPs, focused on privacy and anonymity. This would allow for an augmented reality “screen”, blocking out the outside world but allowing the user to navigate the area around them within the privacy of their secure umbrella.
The privacy umbrella led us onto considering more abstract concepts such as self-defence umbrellas. We mainly considered these ideas as a brainstorming task rather than a serious consideration, but it was interesting to experiment and research alternative materials such as lightweight bulletproof cloth. Other “alternative” designs include a modular umbrella, “cloud” umbrella and a mechanised geometric umbrella.
There was discussion within our group to use alternative, developing materials. We investigated “smart paper”, a material used in kindles and e-readers. This developing technology would allow directions, pop-ups and readouts to be projected on the underside of an umbrella. The use of miniaturised projectors could also be used in conjunction with a range of developing and existing technology, including heads-up displays utilised in many car windows.
Influence of data on a user
Within the brief, we were prompted to consider how data could influence the way you see, move and experience an urban environment. As an umbrella is a weather-dependant accessory, it has a lot of potential to collect and use the extrapolated data to benefit the user. We considered using GPS tracking for “route finding”, looking at how different people use varying routes to reach the same destination depending on the weather, but decided to stick to veering away from an app-based user experience. Instead we designed and prototyped a weather probe that would sit on top of the umbrella and collect atmospheric and environmental data.
Final design iterations
After an entire week of indecision and deliberation, Robbie and I brainstormed the varying issues that arise when someone uses an umbrella. We conceded that the main issue with an umbrella is, specifically considering the design brief, that it stalls effective navigation as it constantly requires you to use at least one hand to hold it; especially in windy Scotland, an end user has to battle the elements to remain in control. We decided to tackle both of these design issues using the form and function of the final user experience.
We decided to use the emerging technology of drones to create a “hands-free” umbrella. We designed & prototyped a variety of approaches to incorporating drone tech into an umbrella, ultimately landing on three approaches.
We decided that the design with integrated blades (centre of above sketches) would be too difficult to realistically design, as controlling individual blades on a 180° axis is a mechanism well-known for being very difficult to perfect, especially in such a small scale. We used blue foam, card and wooden sticks to made very simplistic prototypes to experiment with the form of the drones, and how they could be incorporated into the umbrella design.
We conducted more in-depth research into quadcopters (the specific, four-bladed type of drone used) to get a better understanding of how to properly utilise this technology. The four blades must push air down at an equivalent force as the gravity (this magnitude is impacted by not only the weight of the drone, but also the umbrella) to stay “hovering”. To increase or decrease altitude the blades must either speed up or slow down, and the umbrella must pitch to change direction of horizontal speed. Due to the fact that these blades push the air down, the final design has the drone housed underneath the umbrella. A simple axis/pitch mechanism allows the drone to control not only altitude using the force of the blade, but direction using the axis shown below.
Final user experience
After deciding on an educated and considered final drone design, we also designed a “kite” form for the umbrella, as this creates less air resistance, and gives the product an interesting modernist aesthetic while still being fully functioning.
We were tasked to create a 3D CAD render, I modelled the final design of the drone using the program Rhino. Due to my inexperience with this software the renders are very rudimentary, but they communicate the basic design principles behind the drone, including on-board sensors for navigation and mesh to protect the propellors (and the user’s hair in the event of an issue with the product).
We used these renders as a base for designing the final prototype drone. Before creating our final prototype, using the geometric umbrella form, we modelled the drone from black foam on its own. We decided to experiment with the on-board sensors, and incorporated lights as well, to allow easy navigation in the dark. We used a charity-shopped umbrella to create a scale prototype, as we wanted to experiment with the different methods of attachment. This prototype was intentionally undeveloped, but was beneficial to see how the final product (could have) looked before creating the final prototype.
We used the same drone model as the prototype above for the final model, but created the umbrella from lengths of wood and card. The final prototype turned out very well, both Robbie and I were very pleased with the final result.
Concluding the design brief & presentation
I was very pleased with how our final user experience turned out, I personally really like the design psychology behind a product that meets the brief in such an alternative fashion. We were promted to consider psychogeography, and rather than providing the end user with a new “playful” navigation experience, our product (finally named UMBR) facilitates creativity within the user’s navigation. Being hands-free allows anyone to use whatever method of navigation they choose in a variety of weather conditions, including apps, maps or the plethora of new, innovative user experiences designed by the rest of the social digital course. It also has the potential to help people with certain accessibility issues that would mean that they usually wouldn’t be able to use a traditional umbrella. This product would mainly be used by a permanent resident to an urban environment, but has the scope to be developed for tourists and new residents alike.
Robbie and I had to present a short talk for the class on our user experience and show our resolved concept board, which I also felt went very well. I feel that initially we didn’t have the drive or direction required, and that at first we spent too long considering potential end products not worth developing; however when we conceived of a valid experience we thrived and produced an amusing, functional and interesting product which if it were real I would be tempted to buy myself.
