Sydney Cycle Hub

Reflection

The LENS award competition – improving a product system and enabling sustainable product use for shared consumption was a good project to finish the semester mostly themed on ‘sustainable design’. Our team including James, Tom, Jeff and myself designed a chain know as the ‘Sydney Cycle Hub’; a product service system providing kiosk information on cycle paths and maps, infrastructure for government initiative known as ‘bike bus’ and providing Sydney commuters access to air pump and puncture sealant facilities. Our project aims to build a bicycle friendly Sydney community, and as such uniquely ties in with the NSW 2010 cycle plan. The product attempts to break down barriers of cycling such as safety and maintenance and repair from the heart of the CBD to outer neighbouring suburbs.

As a collaborative design project, I enjoyed brainstorming problems with Sydney’s fairly poor transport system as opposed to many other European countries and designing a creative solution. At first I didn’t know much about cycling and the many challenges cyclists face travelling around the CBD and home. From a women’s perspective  - I realised how hard it must be to carry bike equipment such as locks, sweat towels, tubes for puncture repair and a hand pump. What’s more; the dangers of being cut off or swiped by motorists in large four-wheel drives.

By carrying out research and talking to cyclists on an open forum discussion on Sydney Cyclists about our project; it was a surprising to see how many people were really passionate about cycling in Sydney. It shows how much potential Sydney backed by thousands of cyclists can build ‘cycleable city and suburbs’ and become the cycling capital of Australia.

The project has inspired me as an Industrial designer to design sustainable solutions for product use for millions of people (they want and need) and the potential of collaborative local councils working together to facilitate these solutions. 

I look forward to buying my first bicycle.

Rationale

Sustainable design and planning in Sydney, Australia has the­ potential to create ‘cyclable suburbs’ incorporating cycling infrastructure into the fabric of the city and outer neighbourhoods. Sydney Cycle Hub; a 24-hour product-service system is not only a new cycling infrastructure which builds on this idealism of a bicycle friendly Sydney community, but encourages and supports people to cycle.

An initiative of local Sydney councils; ‘Sydney Cycle Hub’ is a product-service system featuring the ‘hub’ and its larger internet networking system to create a community cycle network for Sydney commuters. Powered by solar technologies in accordanc­­­­e with Green Power energy, the ‘Hub’ is a sustainable product system. The product service focuses on breaking down barriers by enabling cycle learning on how to repair your bicycle and providing cycle path maps for commuters to reach destinations. In accordance with a government initiative known as ‘bike bus’ the Sydney cycle hub enables commuters to cycle with other commuters at certain intervals, by registering and meeting at our ‘hubs’ from outer suburbs to the city. The product service aims to break down social and physical barriers by providing a free automatic pump service and puncture gel to assist users from a wide range of socio-economic class and gender.

The hub product features entail:

·      Interface software including:

o   How to maintain your bicycle (pump and puncture)

o   Cycle path maps in CBD and outer suburbs in 5-10km radius

o   Bike Bus schedule

o   Weather and Time

o   Cycle traffic updates

·      Air pump with adjustable PSI readings

·      Puncture sealant gel (inserted into the tyre)

Registration through the larger Internet system enables access to the ‘hub’ bike maintenance and air facilities.

Online Internet system includes:

·      Bike Bus registration and schedule

·      Watch out – service to allow people to report unsafe cycle areas in Sydney

·      Council feedback loops

Online forum discussion on Sydney cycle news and updates (i.e. Sydney cycle plan)

The Story of Bottled Water Reflection

www.storyofbottledwater.org

Annie Leonard, again creates another thought provoking video – this time about bottled water. Its hard not agree with Annie’s perceptions of the bottled water industry, supported by facts and drawings of us – consuming beings consuming…. After consuming. All it can take is a bit of persuasion and we will follow and consume the next thing. It seems that it is that easy to stop bottled water drinkers from buying bottled water.

As both a tap water and bottled water drinker and lover I do acknowledge the issues Annie Leonard has positioned in this movie

. It is of great concern that one and a half million people in the US drink and buy bottled water a week and it’s just dumped in the environment and in low economic countries like Indian provinces. I agree with Annie that the perception of tap water needs to change in households to not only decrease the manufacture demand of the bottled water industry, but also decrease the amount of waste it generates. Howev

er, you need a bit more than persuasion to stop people from buying bottled water.

The industrial community firstly should be concerned with controlling the amount of bottled water waste and generating solutions to recycle all water bottles. Secondly designers need understand why consumers buy bottled water and provoke change in how consumers view tap water and provide solutions to aid drinking of tap water.

80% of botted water containers end up in landfill or are burned. Ideally, it should be soooo easy to recycle these containers!! Everyone that agrees to drink bottled water knows that it can be recycled (well all PET bottles should be) So why are we so lazy to recycle? Infrastructure. With such a large consumption and cooperate base behind bottled water I don’t understand why companies haven’t designed ways consumers can easily dispose bottles back to them to be recycled.

Secondly we need to understand why consumers buy bottled water in the first place.  I disagree with Annie that the main reason people buy bottled water is because they don’t like tap water. I think that is naive. As a consumer of bottled water and I’m sure many of my peers would agree in buying bottled water for the convenience of:

a)        1. Being outside of the home and not having a means to drink tap water

b)       2. Health

c)       3. A bottle to be refilled, that is not a chunky plastic sports bottle

Industrial designers as a collective body need to play with the concept of preserving and aiding the drinking of tap - in an eco friendly design that branded bottled water cannot provide. I believe Karim Rashid water bottle design ‘Water Bobble’ is one of the leading designs creating a vector of change in the bottled water industry. His refillable water bottle provides an alternative to buying bottled water after bottle; with a replaceable carbon filter to sterilize water 

 from the tap; captured in a fun and trendy eco friendly design. This design is just one of the many ways the industrial design industry can decrease bottled water purchase behaviour.

Design for Disasters Reflection

I found this studio project really insightful. It enlightened me in a new way of thinking about design. Unlike previous past studios focused on the form of objects; this project made us think and realise a real life solution to problems in developing countries.

A focus on Maritime disaster response was a difficult task at first, because all I could cross relate too was the devastation of the Titanic. However, the more research I carried out; I soon began to see holes in the marketplace specifically surrounding the rescue of a lot of people. More so, most maritime products didn’t reach potential in addressing developing nations needs.

My product Lilo. introduces a new ticketing system for developing nations in the Asia Pacific. Due to geographic features mostly island archipelagos and poor road conditions; Ferries is the most popular mode of transport for carrying goods and people in the Asia pacific. Overcrowding is a huge problem among these ferries alone and/or combined with common tropical weather storms; can create a formula for disaster and catastrophic loss of life for these nations. Of course after a ferry disaster; there is no way to determine how many people were on board and obviously how many fatalities. Identification of the dead is also another large underlying problem.

Lilo aims to solve these problems by incorporating an RFID tag into a ticketing wristband worn at all times aboard for user identification and to calculate the number of people aboard the ferry to restrict overcrowding. This wristband would also feature by colour and graphics a ticket system much alike Sydney state transit; indicating section of travel for fares.

Through my research I discovered the importance of the realm of responsibility for these ferries as most are unregistered. This product could be a vector for social and cultural change as the countries national ticketing system for ferries under ‘MyFerry Pass’. Whereby, the national government could take back control of ferry operators; by tracking through the RFID data system the number of people on board to stop overcrowding and those that disobey weather warnings. Sanctions could then be introduced to punish operators not complying. This would be one way to register all ferries and safety protocol; making civilians feel a lot safe about boarding ferries in the future.

Incorporated into Lilo wristband is a battery operated and water activated emergency LED light in case of disaster to attract rescue and aid comfort for survival.

Throughout the duration of this project I really enjoyed and found each lecture insightful about learning about new products in the market to help developing countries, designing for sustainability and particularly the concept of leapfrogging.

As a technical project finding feasible technology to work the product was a challenging task.  Before I could even start designing the product I had to carry out a lot of research. I wanted to run the light source of the wristband on kinetic energy; however I unfortunately discovered there are no rechargeable 6-12volt batteries small enough for the size of the product. I looked into El technology; a paper thin light display instead of LEDS but they too only run off a very high voltage supply.

In conclusion I feel like this project in a couple of years time with slim, thin and lightweight technology would be a fantastic little product for developing nations in the near future to save lives. Overall, I am now enlightened and feel Industrial designers can; product by product slowly change the world. I hope to realise this in my career now and in the future.

Design for Life

http://www.vimeo.com/6944872

Industrial design reality TV series ‘Design for Life’ starring Philippe Starck was the most entertaining reality TV shows I’ve seen in years. It’s not surprising the 6-episode series became additive.

Philippe Starck. Wow. That was not at all how I expected him. His somewhat attention seeking humor (loud bell sounds that reminded my of a WW2 raid) and confident French charisma was expected; but his lack of patience to understand concepts and give constructive criticism or direction in the learning environment really frustrated me. It was not surprising that many of the students soon realized that they might not even be able to work with him. It was all very revealing… But to be quite honest it was very brave of Starck to present himself in such a public environment; I don’t think many designers could do that or was it just a publicity stunt?

What I really enjoyed about this show was watching how other design students formulate and realize ideas. Overall the series has made me feel more confident in the design process and motivational.

Starck’s main design philosophy is to design ‘Products that are useful and sustainable – help humanity/the tribe achieve its potential’. This surprised me as many of Starck previous designs that I have seen have be more objects of desire and beauty rather than sustainability. Nevertheless I like his design ethic. This philosophy was demonstrated in the students main design project to meet the following requirements:

-Ecological – consideration for end of life

-Democratic - universal design

-Ethical – meeting the needs of people

It was a broad brief; but I think the students did well to anchor a certain demographic to design for. Starcks’s philosophical approach to design is fundamental in designing products that people need; rather then I quote Starck “pointless products that don’t deserve to exist”. There are too many unnecessary products out there and I wish a TV series like this could to be invented to scrutinize each one before they were manufactured.

The design process of students was insightful. I really liked how they  ‘immersed themselves in the people they were designing for + to understand their needs’. I wish I had more confidence and the drive ‘go out and get there’ and talk to people I was designing my product for. Mikes experience; dining in a restaurant run by the blind; was amazing… Paris has everything. It’s this passion and thirst for knowledge that really inspired me and is one of the many things I hope to improve for my own design process.

The presentation of ideas… they got burned too! Starke teaches how important is to have ‘a good pitch’ when presenting to a client. Exemplified by the student involvement in a circus to gain confidence. 

How important it is to be technical; and know how your product works was highlighted a lot by Starck. In my own experience, through the duration of this course; ive realized how important this is.  “Design is something that can be done – not just developing dreams”, therefore designers need to design something that can be made.

Starck’s teaching: 

make it simple, draw inspiration from nature, evolve, and work … work… work… 

has defiantly left an imprint on my design process.

Charette Reflection 2

Breville Kettle

The deconstruction of an electric household kettle was very revealing. We discovered the product consisted of too many small and excessive components and used a lot of unnecessary material. 

Lid Component (consisting of 4 different materials)

In response to this we brainstormed a more ecological kettle to refine and de-materialize the product as much as possible to make it greener and have a longer life cycle- yet meet its aesthetically and functional aspects.

We did this by designing the product into two components the stainless steel body and functional housing that click together. Whereby the handle, lid and bottom are one component which is moulded in two halves that are them assembled together. We also wanted to de-materialize the handle made of solid polycarbonate; and instead used a polypropylene rib structure to achieve this. 

New Ecological Kettle

Ribbed Ecological Handle

Greenfly software was helpful to realize the footprint of the product by its material, weight and transportation and how these could be significantly minimized. The following graphs outline how we reduced this footstep in our redesign. Before-After. 

Energy Demand

As shown in the results we significantly reduced the impact of manufacture and improved its end of life cycle.

11TH HOUR

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XsYYMB6V9M

Leonardo Dicaprio documentary “11^th hour” depicts the ecological damage that humans ‘the third chimpanzee’ have inflicted on the planet over time.  It’s thrilling imagery and goose bump music makes the destruction of the environment ‘scary’ and ‘overwhelming’ and you can’t help but feel responsible for its deconstruction.

One scientists describes the planet as “behaving as an infected organism and by looking at it from out of space you can see lights… lights of the people... its almost like looking at an organism that has an infection, forming a crust of some kind”. This visual imagery makes me feel like a pesticide in my own home. But really its a gripping awakening of how much damage we are causing the natural environment.

Leo’s smooth voice enforced by a voice of reason from global scientists help to destruct the impacts of human nature. In today’s climate weather enthusiasts have recorded the highest average temperature in history as a result of human ignorance and neglect for the environment. Extremity of this is most evident in the wildfires in Victoria resulting in a huge loss of life, hurricane Katrina displacing thousands of people from their homes are among just a few of the catastrophic tragedies the world is coming to terms with as repeated occurrence. The Antarctic is melting at an accelerated rate, with over 20% of sea ice in the Atlantic; we are significantly losing control of the climate. If this continues over half of the world may be submerged in water.

‘The UN predicts in half of a century 150 million environment related refugees at any given time will be displaced from climate change’

Corporate economical globalization is one of the largest forces blocking change.  The global industry has infiltrated political systems around the world as greedy puppets, which care more about money and economic progress than finding a means to an end of our own ecological destruction. It is estimated that it costs $35 trillion dollars a year to do what nature can do for us. We are taking the natural ecosystem for advantage and in affect are decreasing our quality of life.

Industrial designs today with the driving force for climate change have the chance to redesign the industry and deter change from a “waste making system”  - (cradle to grave) to a sustainable system (cradle to cradle). Designers need to transform the concept of ‘object of desires’ to a more sustainable solution. By using Biominicry as our main source of inspiration when generating ideas we can become less energy and fuel dependent. I recently attended a seminar led by Nissan in their response to restore nature balance; by using 100% green energy to fuel electrical cars. This is just one of the many ways we as industrial design can help re-shape the world. 

Charette

EZECOMFORT

The proposed solution of Ezecomfort will increase the emotional attachment of the user to the chair by the comfort and unique design of an adaptable backrest and seat pan; instead of its previous hard un-ergonomic features.

Proposed material:  Treated plywood; similar to the seat pan of Eames famous chair. We chose not to add a different material as it would over complicated the design and lose its simplicity and craftsmanship as a wooden IKEA chair.  (((upload pics of chair)

Transforming from a plain, hard and uncomfortable chair for general use; Ezecomfort will have a much more predominant role in the consumers way of life. Aesthetically pleasing and comfortable, the Ezecomfort will become a key 

player in the living room, a dinning chair, and an important point of conversation within the consumer’s home. The backrest and seat pan come in separate components for ease of packaging. Each component clicks into the pre existing slot

s of the IKEA chair; making modification is easy, affordable

 and accessibl

e.

As an all-purpose chair the life stages of the consumer from a small child to a teenager, entertainer and parent would be the main stimulus to modify the chair. As the consumer becomes older and has their own apartment or family, the chair adapts from an all-purpose chair to one for the lounge room or entertaining guests. ‘Wanting new things’, Boredom and uncomfort of the chair can also be other driving factors to want to modify the chair.

As a beneficial claim, the consumer could mail order or return to IKEA to swap parts of the pre existing chair not needed and receive a discount on the new aftermarket attachment.

Physio-Attachment 

Why Discarded?

• Move out of the home
  
• Easily Scratched and mistreated
• Untreated – no long life endurance
• Waterproof?
• Unable to customize
  
• Function
  

o   Uncomfortable

Hooks that can be attached to the backrest of the chair to hang up a child’s school bag or accessories’, while sitting in the chair studying.

Through the use of different colours and material components, the user can customize the colours of their chair.

Pyscio- Attachment

Supplied by IKEA the child can play with a craft kit, which allows them to draw and laminate pictures onto the seatpan of the chair. This customization, begins to translate into memories for the family and child, as each laminate changes with every picture. 

A footrest designed specifically to slot in underneath the chair enhances the comfort of the chair. The footrest foundation contains vertical magazine slots that can be easily accessed when in use and then stored securely underneath the chair when not in use. The footrest comes in two compartments and can therefore be stackable, or some left behind under the chair. 

Socio-Attachment

This concept attempts to bring character to the chair, to make it much more interactive for the child. Little silicone rubber shoes are given to the chair, a reading light, an ergonomic back-rest and finally a pouch on the side of the chair for pens and texters.

 

Though maybe not as practical, I wanted to explore the concept of a more organic chair, whereby the consumer would be supplied with a roll of sandpaper to encounter the task of rounding legs and square tops of the chair. 

DESIGN PROCESS REFLECTION

Promoting long-term satisfaction with the one chair was an interesting exercise to explore how a product could be enhanced over time.  The consumer’s life stage and personal interests can be the most beneficial for this modification. As a result its no wonder the consumer will increase their emotional attachment of the chair in their ability to customize.  This concept I believe has the power to enhance the products lifetime in a fun and creative way and reduce the planned obsolescence of most products in the marketplace today.

Designing beyond the original product is good in a way as it can allow you to develop all those other wild and crazy concepts that you had originally planned for the one object. It certainly makes the product more flexible and interesting over time for the consumer.

It was fun to collaborate with other designers; as it represents what we will be doing as a design team in the ‘real world’. Brainstorming for modification was defiantly the most interesting aspect for the task; as you got thinking creatively as a team and bounced off each. Finding a solution that everyone agreed on was the hardest.

Comfort in a chair is a must. After all people will be sitting in the chair for long periods of time and need to enjoy that experience. Touch and feel of the chair is highly relevant for consumers to build an emotional attachment to the chair, unlike that of any other on the market place. Difference. Exploration and manipulation of materials is effective to explore a balance between form, comfort and material.