CONTEXT
Fall 2017
Project for IPD551: Design Processes
Insights from user research on living rooms inform furniture design
KEY TAKEAWAYS
User research, conducting interviews, design synthesis
Woodworking, Photoshop, product photography
DESIGN PROCESS
IPD551 is the first of four core courses for the Master's degree in Integrated Product Design, and an introduction to the design process as well as physical product design.
Living Room Interviews
The concept for the RISE Table came from interviews of living rooms of people willing to invite me into their homes to observe their spaces. Based on my network, the 6 interviewees had similar demographics: located in Philly, students or young working professionals, and with housemates. Part of the interview protocol included asking for a timeline of their use of the living room. From many, many post it notes and pictures, I found an interesting theme around shared living spaces and a correlation between how clean the living room was and the respect of the interviewee for his or her housemates. I focused on the idea of "resetting" the living room for the next furniture design part of the project.
Rising Design Concept
I started designing a height-changing table with a height from 16" to 24" that would be placed in front of a sofa. The transforming RISE Table design allows considerate users to “hit the reset button” when they finish working, and keep the shared living space organized for their housemates.
Physical Prototyping
The RISE table formed from a sketch of 2 triangles that used the side view profile to create a contrast between the lighter top shape and the heavier bottom shape. I considered human factors, material choice, design for manufacturability, and the sliding mechanism in the design. A small-scale prototype was presented at the Philadelphia Museum of Art for the Collab competition.
Travel Inspiration In a mood board at the start of the design process, I drew furniture design inspiration from Patricia Urquiola, who finds material inspiration through travel.
I found myself sketching in a Norwegian airport, when I looked around and saw a very natural, clean Scandinavian design of wood and glass that conveyed the same attributes that I wanted for the RISE Table. I envisioned the RISE Table made out of wooden dowels and glass instead of solid wood.
Final Thoughts
This project introduced me to a range of skills that I knew I had so much more to learn about! It was my first time in the woodworking space on campus, designing furniture, and using Photoshop and Illustrator.
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