Prototype

 

The concept I have chosen for this design challenge is one which is clear, simple, easy to navigate, and effective in the way it will help the understanding and monitoring of energy use inside a household. My interface is designed for the average family, based on an iPad or iPhone product application. This application provides the opportunity to see where power is being used, at what time of the day. I believe time is an important factor that must be taken into consideration alongside understanding where the power is being used. Based on a 24 hour clock my application has an aesthetic appeal which bar graphs, or spread sheets don’t. The user can monitor how much energy is being used through this idea, when and area of the clock is glowing bright, too much energy is being used, therefore to reset the clock the user must save more energy. Over a period of 24 hours this will leave a trace of how much energy has been used and where. The motivation to better personal energy consumption comes from the social networking side of my application. Once you have recorded a full 24 hour day you are able to upload your data to facebook or twitter via a ‘Smartwatch’ page. This allows the user to compare how they are doing based on friends results or similar house’s in a similar area.

Development thoughts

Throughout my development and concept stage i have learnt that sometimes the raw data does not mean anything to some people. I think this is a result of being surrounded by new technologies and modern design where data and spread sheets are deffinately a thing of the past. As i brainstormed ideas for my interface it became apparent that to design something that communicates the data effectively, but at the same time is interesting, is harder than it had seemed. I have allowed for a broader age group and taken into consideration that not everyone has the same skill and knowledge level when it comes to modern technology, therefore i have designed to a minimalistic aesthetic code and has kept my interface very simple and easy to navigate.

Concepts

This is a research page which was done in class, i found this interesting into which means of comunication perhaps works best.

 

These are my 2 ideas which i wanted to research further into and develope, both very similar. However they take different approaches into how they display data. I was trying to keep away from the traditional graphs and data, but at the same time keep the basic facts in the picture as this is what is important to the understanding of how much energy is being used.

The top idea is like a clock, it is a live stream of how much power is being used and where it is being used. I think time is an important part of understanding how we could save energy. This idea aslo includes a sort of points system where people can see how they compare to otheres near them in similar housing situations. I think this would work great as this adds a bit of competition and rivalry. The second idea is not based on time as such, instead just the raw picture and where is is being used. I think although this would work it is a little bit too simple, there is no real motivation to better the amount of energy used, unlike the top idea which has an element of personal achievement.

Project 2 Research

This is an innovative device because it instantly tells you how much power an appliance is using at one time. According to research it helped people save up to 20% on their power bill. It works well because it has an appeal towards consumers with its eye pleasing aesthetics and easy functionality.

My research into project 2 was inspired by modern technology in the form of communiaction. We are exposed to so much technology in this day and age, to the extent where modern ways of communication are becoming more and more invisible. My inspiration comes from the ipad applications concept. We have all heard of ipad, and iphones which makes designing a way to communicate an arising global problem very aesthetically based. Energy consumption and monitoring does not sound like the most appealing idea, however when faced with something other than graphs or hard figures, this concept becomes a little easier to take in. I personally find i will not read something if it looks 'messy' or too hard, so in making an interface, or application i believe getting the message across will be alot more effective.

Personal Research

As i recorded data from my house during the break, i foiund the energy monitoring device hard to use, motivating me more to make a more effective way of monitoring personal energy usage. However i compared things like my laptop on standby but plugged in using 6W compared to my laptop being used constantly using 27W and found the differences between them very intersting. I also found how much power our house uses intersting. During the week the results were reasonably similar, but when friday night came, and the weekend passed i noticed our consumption had increased alot. Obviously this was a reslut of everyone being home, but i think there are ways to combat these high numbers in this situation. I looked into renewable energy such as wind, water and bio mass. Each of these had their positive sides, but also came with a couple of negatives such as, the ability to store wind does not exsist, and the wind does not always blow.

Description

Tricky Putt is an interactive object which engages with the tactile sense, touch. In making an object which engages with touch as the primary sense I wanted to create a fun and interesting interactive way to see how people judge textures by the way they look and feel.

My object is based on the same idea as mini putt, or golf. But instead of having a level surface like golf I thought adding various textures would make it more of a challenge as our perception of how the ball would travel changes when we are given different surfaces.

The 3 surfaces consist of fine chip stone, corrugated card and a fine wire mesh. The idea is to make the user understand and judge the surface through touch and then to make an estimated guess on how far the ball will roll when rolled down a ramp. The green zone is when the user has succeeded.

Final Photos

In my final photographs i have tried to clearly show the variation in textures between the 3 lanes. There are also photos of my object in use which demonstrates the simple steps of using this object. I have tried to emphasise the difference in textures and the connection between the ramp angle in my shots, becasue that is the key to scoring the maximum points, in the "green zone".

Crafting development and images

This was a small mockup i made to show how i intended on using textures and materials to vary the speed and alter the sense of touch.

This is a ramp being made for my final design, made from cardboard.

These images show the process and craft in making my object, it also shows how i selected materials and developed a better understanding of what materials would give a good variation in speed and texture.