This chapter introduces the co-design methods that have been used in this project as well as display the whole ideation and conceptualization process. The goal of this chapter is to come up with a final product direction that will enable the detailing phase making the prototyping of the product much more efficient and precise.
Preliminary requirements
Now that the design team has gathered some insights into the problems that the case owner faces on a daily basis, it is necessary that some preliminary requirements are written down. Said requirements will constitute a basis for the ideation and conceptualization phase. Requirements are shown in the following list:
1 – Light must be attachable to a dog.
2 – Light must be able to turn on/off(/flash) also regarding visually impaired functionality.
3 – Light must be bright enough.
4 – Product must have enough battery to walk the dog twice a day for 3 days. A walk is estimated to be 1 hour long.
5 – Product must be cleanable
6 – Product should communicate low/no battery
7 – Product should be able to gain battery.
8 – Product should be waterproof and shock-resistant to prevent damage from accidental drops or exposure to water.
Ideation
In the ideation phase, all possible directions within one product are considered. The goal of this chapter is to come up with three different concept directions which fulfill all the set requirements.
Collages
To create a product that fulfills this challenge first some collages were made to help the design team envision the environment, context, and product functionality:
Rough Ideation
All ideation starts from rough sketches, potential ideas and directions. The following images represent the ideation process from rough to medium to fine level sketches:
Requirements 2.0
While in the ideation process, it was clear that an update of the preliminary requirements was necessary. Updating the requirements would enhance the quality of the concepts as well as help the design team have an even clearer image of what the product should look like and function. Said requirements were also discussed and reevaluated with the co-designer.
1- Product should be attachable to the case owner and the dog. (Multifunctionality)
2- The attachment of the product should be fast, secure, simple and intuitive.
3- Product should not be heavier than 150g
4- Product must be hygienic.
5- On/Off mechanism function should be clear to the user.
6- Product should have the option of being attached and still not being on.
7- Product should have enough battery to walk the dog twice a day for 3 days (A walk is estimated to be 1 hour long)
8- Product should communicate how much battery the light has left to the user, both when the light is turned on and when the light is turned off.
9- Product should be able to change or recharge the battery.
10- Product should be waterproof and shock-resistant to prevent damage from accidental drops or exposure to water.
11- Light should be a 1-part product.
Design Challenge 2.0
The ideation process helped the team to really think of the purpose of the product and what they are trying to help with. Hence, the design challenge was modified to clearly represent the objective of the whole project:
“Develop a product that enhances the visibility of the user and his guide dog to their environment. Therefore, it needs to be attachable to both a person and a dog. The product has an intuitive design that is accessible to the user by means that it gives feedback in a noticeable way for the visually impaired user“
Final 3 concepts
After the first round of ideation, three main concepts were chosen.
Concept 1
The first was the light strip concept. This concept is a light strip that can be wrapped around the neck of the dog or around the arm or middle of the co-designer. It has an electronic box on one end. On this electronic box, a magnet is located which can be attached to the other side of the strip. There are multiple magnets on the other side of the strip which allows the user to tighten the strip.
For this concept, a version that wraps around the cane of the visually impaired was also considered. But this was ultimately rejected due to the significant difference in diameter between the neck of a dog and a cane.
Concept 2
The second concept was the ‘camera’-concept, called this way because of the tightening mechanism that resembles the lens of a camera. The idea of this concept was that it could slide over cylindrical shapes like a cane. To tighten the light a twisting motion can be performed by the user. This motion twists the black part relative to the red part and makes the light turn on. It was assumed that the co-designer might like the light being turned on simultaneously to tighten it because it makes it easy for him to determine whether the light is on or off.
This concept also had a feature shown in the second drawing below this text. This feature is an elastic band that the user can use to attach the light to forms that have closed ends. Forms that you cannot slide the light over.
Concept 3
The third concept is called the two halves concept. It is called this way because the concept has 2 haves that can attach around cylindrical shapes. They attach to each other by using magnets. The light will turn on when the two halves of the concepts are attached. This was done because we assumed that it would make it easy for the co-designer to tell if the light is on or off. The inside part of the lamp is made of a foam-like material which will increase the grip the product has on the shape that the light attaches around.
Haptic feedback ideation
Some ideation about sound or haptic feedback was also done. The idea was that the light would make a sound or a vibration when it is turned on. This sound or vibration would then also imply how much battery the light still had. We thought this was important because the co-designer would need a way to tell if the battery is empty or not. If no sound or vibration is made by the lamp the case owner knows that the battery is empty
You can see some ideas about which sounds or vibration patterns the light could make.
Co-design Workshop
To ensure that assistive technology is really going to be used well and will be helpful, there are multiple factors that come into play. The usability of the product should not be flawed and shouldn’t be too complex. It is also required that it matches the user’s needs and expectations. Therefore, it is important that the user is involved in the process to find out what works best for them. This way of co-design can make sure the person can use the product optimally.
The co-design method that was used resembled the first workshop of the ‘Musical haptic wearables for visually impaired performers’ project example that was discussed in context mapping. In the sense that the three concepts were taken to the co-designer. The concepts needed to be presented in a physical form since the co-designer would not be able to see the sketches.
We also took playdough to the workshop which can help the co-designer to visualize his own ideas. We took inspiration for this idea from the loaded dice for the visually impaired project example.
Co-design workshop results
The co-designer responded quite positively to the concepts. The 2 halves concept was the most well-received concept. This was because the light strip concept would interfere with the collar when attached to the dog. And because the elastic band feature of the camera concept would dangle too much in his opinion.
The two haves concept was able to be connected to both the dog and the cane like this:
He also mentioned some features of the concept that he would like to be changed. He would like the light to be a single-part product, he thinks he might lose one of the halves of the product otherwise. He would like the product to have a separate sliding button for turning it on or off the light. The reasoning is that he wants to be able to put the product around his cane or dog without the light turning on. This way he does not have to detach the light when he goes inside for a brief period. He wants the button to be sliding because he is afraid he will bump into something and accidentally turn off the light otherwise.
He would like the product to be USB-chargeable. He would like the product to be attachable to different radiuses because he has multiple canes with different radiuses. Also, the collar handle has a different radius than his cane. The diameters of the canes he uses range from 12 to 22 mm although he also has some canes that he does not use that are 30 mm.
He seemed to like haptic feedback more than sound feedback. He would like to receive feedback on the state of the battery when it’s turned on and when it’s turned off. After some ideation, we came up with this system with him:
The length of the stripes in the picture indicates the duration of the vibration. So for turning on the light you get one long vibration followed by one, two or three shorter vibrations depending on the condition of the battery. And for turning off the light you get two medium-length vibrations followed by one, two or three shorter vibrations.
Lastly, he mentioned that the light should not way too much because then he would have more trouble with keeping the cane lifted when he walks.
Further development
Things that still needed to be changed about the two halves concept were the hinge the button and a way of attachment.
For the hinge two options were considered:
Option 2 was chosen over option one. This is because it is easier to pass wires through this hinge. Moreover, the light will be rounder when this hinge is closed which makes for a more aesthetic design.
Separate sliding button
After some ideation, the idea with the red background was chosen as a sliding button.
The button works as follows:
The idea is that the user can feel whether the light is on by checking if the button is aligned with the stripe.
Attachment
Some ideation about different attachment options was done. The idea with the red background was chosen.
The attachment works as follows:
The idea is that there are springs on the inside of the light that can adapt to different diameters. We choose This option because it seemed to be the most user-friendly and stable of our ideas.
Thanks to the previous ideation and the feedback given by the co-designer the design team is able to move onto the prototyping phase. In this phase, the team will evaluate what type of prototype they would like to make as well as consider what materials they will use.