Lamp Prototype Design
2020
This project called for us to interview and design two prototypes for a client. I chose my sister Abby as the client and we had to design a visualization and specification prototype.
Design Brief
Design and prototype a lamp for a friend or family.
My Target User
I am going to design for my sister, Abby. She is 21, works in a chemistry lab and has pretty ‘basic’ style in terms of fashion and decor. I know that she is routine based and has a fear of change, though she is still adventurous in my opinion and enjoys doing something unexpected every once in a while, such as travelling. Being the middle child, she was often the mediator in sibling disputes and can be a bit of a people pleaser. Abby has always been a hard worker and I look to her as a role model and hope to create something she loves.
This will be a challenging design project as Abby already has a lamp she deems perfect. I want to think outside of the box and create something that can be used as more than a lamp to benefit her.
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Design Statement
From the interview, I found out that Abby has trouble getting out of bed in the morning, despite waking up to natural light every day. I set out to design a lamp that would also function as an alarm clock and feature stained glass panels.
My Goal
I want to create a portable, wireless lamp that is also an alarm clock and gradually lights up as she needs to get up as she often wakes up due to the brightness outside. The alarm clock would be away from her bed so she has to get out of bed to turn it off. The lamp could have a base that gives Abby a mindful activity to do in the morning like simple stretches and she can’t turn the alarm off until she’s done it. The alarm wouldn’t be jarring though, but more peaceful.
Abby’s Goals
Abby wants to incorporate yoga into her life more and have more ‘me-time’.
Insights
Abby devotes a lot of her time to other people, I think that she should take more time for herself. She has a stressful life that has carried on from academic stress at uni and I think that this stems from her trait of being a people pleaser. She has a rushed morning and I think this doesn’t set her up for a calm and stress-free day, I would like to get her to have a more relaxed morning.
Design Statement
Abby needs a way to take more time for herself because she devotes a lot of time to others.
Visualization prototype
I took to Illustrator and Photoshop to create a more effective visual prototype. I have beginner experience with Illustrator and no experience with Photoshop so this process was very frustrating and long, however I am very proud of the end result. I first traced my original scaled drawing on Illustrator and then transferred it to photoshop to create different colour palettes.
Specification Prototype
To show the function of the lamp, I decided to create a storyboard showcasing how the lamp would work in a real scenario.
The first frame shows how the lamp is on the lowest setting, creating an ambience around the room. The second frame shows an example of what the app could look like, where you set the alarm and the fade time for when the light first comes on.
The last frames show how to turn the alarm off, by touching the edge of the lamp, the light goes off.
Reflections
Strengths
I think the strength of my lamp was that it fit Abby's needs. It visually fits the aesthetic she asked me for in style and colour. There is no way to test whether the lamp would help Abby have more time in the morning unless we actually created a physical prototype of the lamp, but I am positive that it would definitely wake her up basing off that she naturally wakes up to light anyway. I am happy that Abby likes the look of the lamp so much and that it has different features to her current lamp.
Improvements
I think that I spent a lot of time focusing on the aesthetic and not so much the function. As I already knew that light alarm clocks existed, I didn’t think too much about the electronics. I think if I were to do a similar assessment again, I would put more energy into figuring out the electronics and code as it is a huge aspect of the project. As I am not comfortable with working with coding or electronics I found myself shying away from it, and I need to step out of my comfort zone and give it a go.
I also think that I could’ve spent more time thinking about how to sustainably make this lamp, especially around the wasted material that comes out of cutting the glass pieces. Could the glass be donated to the Fabrication Lab and used by its students? Or is it possible to melt the glass materials down to create another colour? I did some initial research into this but found it hard to find much information about melting down glass and hand mixing it.
Lastly, I need to improve my interview skills. As Abby is my sister, I felt comfortable finishing her sentences and trying to make her say what I wanted to say (eg. asking her a specific, closed question). I got more out of the interview when I asked open questions and allowed Abby to talk and I actively listened instead of interrupted. I think by being more prepared before the interview and writing down questions would help me to do this.