Design Excellence: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker

By analysing this product, I could understand more deeply on how visual elements of design could affect or appeal users from purchasing it. As far as the visual elements go, the Breville tea maker is predominantly functional and visually impressive compared with other tea makers out on the current market. This award-winning product has all the dominant features that the tea maker as a design product in the kitchen (as Breville intended) which interested me throughout the process of product form anaylsis.

Review: "David Kelley: Human centred design"

The video gives you an insight on how design is becoming a part of our lives by including personalities and behaviours to be more human-centred. It demonstrates how designers address the needs of humans in most designs and the processes they go through to figure out the problem. For example, ApproTEC project in Kenya illustrates how we as designers can make the world function through an economical advantage in helping others.

Moreover, David Kelley showed the Prada store of New York City which was greatly renovated to improve the service and therefore customers’ satisfaction. For example, one of the new systems they came out was the scanning the products that a customer is interested on. By simply scanning the product, it will appear on any touch screen in the store and the customer can choose the size and color. Then it can be taken to the dressing room which also has a scanner so the retailer knows exactly what clothing is been taken.

The renovation improved every single service that customer can benefit from. For instance, the use of liquid crystal on the walls of the dressing room is the application of the renovated technology. While the customer is changing, the wall will go black and blocked, However, once the customer is done with dressing they simply step on the button and the wall will go transparent again for their company. There is also a magic mirror inside the dressing room which has the ability to hold the image to show the look to the customer. From this, customers can check how it looks like on different angle.

Another dominant idea was to create a digital installation of a wall in London science museum. It conveys some of the feedbacks from people who had visited to the museum  displayed on the wall so everyone could examine. Like London station line, they have produced a tube line as if the trains are the way that people think and when the little tubes arrive at the station it expands what it is saying so people can read. On the IMAX Theater there are big open spaces that tables displayed and have interactive games. The topics included male fertility, choosing the sex of your baby and what will it be on driver less car.

Excerpts from “The Big Idea” by CBS Sunday Morning, Scott Adams asked for the creation of Gilbert’s ultimate cubicle. Basically, the team tried to change the atmosphere of cubicle by changing the interior. One of the groups built the walls as screens for the computer and for photos. The second built the walls as alive and they actually give the Gilbert a group hug, and behind this humorous idea they were giving the cubical more human. The final cubical chosen is opened and connected to the environment so it is mentally healthy, and the flower as a decoration stands up when human is inside the cubical to make human feel like to be responded. There were also some touches such as putting a fish tank on the wall and a punch bag with the boss’s face on it.

Also, they designed the “recycling of the water” had the main concept of showing the process of recycling water. It is another great example of human centered design as the recycling water is an obvious allusion to ecological sustainability which means the sustainability of mankind. Also, the spyfish was futuristic and the whole new idea for the people who are interested on under the sea but could not examine because of their lack of abilities. It is designed from  H2Eye that targeted the people who enjoys being on the sea but does not scuba dive. Through this machine, people can explore under the water without getting wet.

I have discovered it is important for industrial designers to watch the video as it allows them to see what capabilities we have and how we as designers are affecting the world in a positive way. We are able to see other people’s designs and see their reasons and philosophies in doing so. 

Don Norman on 3 ways good design makes you happy

Video: http://www.ted.com/talks/don_norman_on_design_and_emotion.html

Firstly, the vital point of the video is that “pleasant things work better.” The video demonstrates that there is also a strong emotional component to how products are designed and put to use. In the video, Norman emphasizes how emotions affect purchase decisions based on three aspects of design: the visceral (appearance), behavioral (performance) and reflective (memories and experiences) level of processing.

The visceral level is the instinctive part of the brain which reacts to threat and makes judgments based on biological responses. For instance, even though we do not need visually attractive objects, we are subconsciously having them.  It is because visceral design equates to appearance. Designing for the visceral level makes people wanting to have a attractive sports car that may not be functional or Phillip Starck Juicer as shown in the video.

At the next level of processing is the behavioural level which involves the pleasure of using something – the usability, functionality, efficiency, or ergonomic comfort of a design. And at the highest level of processing in our brain operates the reflective level which involves the way a design affects our self-image (Mercedes for gentlemen), the associated memories (a photo album or a personal gift from a friend), or the level of satisfaction that is associated with an object.

Emotional Design asks why we love or hate everyday things. Also, given the three levels of processing within our brain, it also asks us how do we design objects which meet our design objectives. It is because all things aren’t equal in the world of objects. Some ugly things are loved dearly, while other beautiful things might not be. I think beauty, as they say, is in the eyes of the beholder.

After watching the video of 13 minutes, I finalized my idea that designers need to uncover the fact that emotional side of design is simply more critical to a product’s success than its practical elements. I certainly think that Norman opened my eyes to some extent about the different ways that people engage with a design. There’s the aesthetic beauty (or ugliness), the object’s functionality, and its perceived levels of satisfaction. It proves that design is a multi-dimensional approach to solving problems.

Design Passport

DONE! CHECK!

One of my favourite design websites (blogs)

http://www.abitare.it/

This blog or should i say website is the one that I frequently go on to have a look on some innovative design works from all over the place.

It is italian so quite hard to understand the writings on the page but you could find and check  numerous design works from various websites which i really like.

So Check Out!

Family Tree Assignment!

I have chosen electronic calculator as my main product and I have divided the development of it into 5 sections and illutrated as a graphic family tree map.

Karim Rashid Watch

The watch has so great vivid colours and also unisex that basically anyone can wear!
I really like the organic shape of the wristwatch and the smooth feel of it.
Definitely let us know that they are designed by Karim Rashid.

For more info, go to http://www.panik-design.com/acatalog/Alessi___Karim_Rashid____Kaj__Pink_Watch.html

There are heaps more!