Claire Portfolio 2011

CLAIRE KONGPORTFOLIO 2011

THE COVE

April 2011, Sponsored by TeknionAcoustic Shroud System

The central-idea behind The Cove is to create a personal space in the open plan office. It defines a room within a room only for one person. The acoustic panels provide a peaceful oasis for phone conversations and relaxation. The system also functions as a visual screen to minimize interruption from the surrounding environments. It accomodates most sizes of lounge chairs up to 36 inches width. The Cove is designed to ease the office worker's stress from the busy office environment.

THE COVEResearch Office workers are highly encouraged to share and discuss their ideas because collaboration is the most important work trend in today's workplaces. The noise level and distraction due to en-couraging informal encounters are becoming serious issues in the open plan office. It may create fatigue and mental exhaustion espe-cially for the static workers who spend at least 8 hours in the office. The research from interviews and a site visit found that most office workers wished if they could take a rest from all the noise and stress at times during the day in an isolated zone. Efficient relaxation will motivate office workers to be more productive and healthier throughout the day. Ultimately, it may help an office to be a pleasant and healthy workspace where people want to come back to work.

User Scenario

Interviews and user observations were per-formed in Wesley Clover in Ottawa, Canada. It was a good opportunity to see the real office environment and to confirm that the design opportunity of creating a personal space in the public area was demanding in the current office environment.

How will office furniture motivate workers to be more productive throughout the day?

a typical busy open concept office

Teddy,project manager

Cynthia,Junior Designer

Thomas, Creative Director

Teddy,project manager

just 10 minutes...

Thomas, Creative Director

just 10 minutes...

Cynthia,Junior Designer

just 10 minutes...

ah..........

The couches were placed in a quiet hallway for employee’s relaxation. However, many people were reluctant to take their break in the area because they felt uncomfortable to see other people walking by espe-cially when they wanted to stay alone for a short break.

Hallway, Wesley Clover, Ottawa Hallway, Wesley Clover, Ottawa

It becomes a trend that office furniture is designed not only to encourage collaborations but also to provide individual space in the office. Most of existing products are designed with the seating that are attached to the dividers.

1. Vitra, Alcove Highback Sofa

2. Bene, Koja High

3. Buzzispace, Buzzibooth

1 2 3

User TestingTHE COVE

User Testing 1.

Will this product be in demand for the next generation?The goal of the first user testing was to find out the need of the prod-uct. The previous research on published material, interviews and an office visit proved that people in the office wanted to have an isolated zone to take a break from all the noise and distraction at times during the day. The initial idea of creating a personal space in the public area was tested by 10 industrial design students. The testing model was prepared to create a small room about 24inches by 24 inches space in the school corridor. The subjective feedbacks of the users were the most valuable findings during the user testing.

1. 7 out of 10 users preferred to have the canopy because it helped to stop eye contacts with the people passing by.

2. 8 out of 10 users preferred to have the canopy because it cut out the fluorescent light.

3. 8 out 10 users were able to concentrate on their work such as reading inside the booth while the outside was crowded.

Findings

User Testing 2.

What will be the ideal size and translucency of the shroud? The test objective was to figure out the ideal size of the shroud that could create atmosphere for effective relaxation in an isolated zone and to find out how the user would perceive the level of transmitted light through the canopy.

a

b

c

d

Dimensions of the shroud to be tested To test how the user percieves the different depth of the canopy

500, 600, 700 mm

600

400

b

a

e

Steps of User Tesing 2 to find out the ideal size of the shroud

Wooden armature for the testing pieces

The user is participating to test the level of the transmitted light through the canopy.

Overall, people felt comfort-able when the side panels were closer to their body and the canopy stayed high over their head. It must be care-ful to create a comfort zone without creating a feeling of trapped inside of the panels. Interestingly, almost every user had specific preferences with the angle of the canopy. It was a useful finding to consider the next user testing to have an adjustable canopy.

Findings

User TestingTHE COVE

User Testing 3.How the user will interact with the shroud system in the public area? The central objective of the third user testing was to find out perception and emotion of the product. The testing model was designed based on the dimension from the previous user testing.

The User Testing was perfromed at the Pagebreak in the Carleton University Library.

Snapshots from observation during the open review of S.I.D at Carleton UniversityReading Conversation

Number of Responses

Type of the canopy

01

2

3

456

a b c d

�e most favorite choice

4 different types of canopy materials were used to test how the texture and the level of translusency of the canopy would affect the emotions of the users. The interesting finding was that the canopy material with aes-thetic texture and colour was preferred the most. Most of users answered that they enjoyed looking at an object with beautiful pattern than a plain design.

This last user testing was helpful to observe how the users inter-acted with the shroud system. The backgrounds of the users were office workers, students who were studying business and some engineers. It was intended to have users who were not related to design field to observe spontaneous reactions. The observation turned out to be the most useful resource to make decisions on the design features such as having bulletin boards, head rest and cushions inside of the panels.

Findings

a. Without a canopy material b. The most sheer one

c. Semi translucent, loose & rich texture, sage colour d. The most translucent one

The view from the inside of C testing material

The view from the inside of D testing material

THE COVEIdeation and Form Development

The most challenging part was to create welcoming environment for the users as well as to be functional. In addition, designing the product to be part of a beautiful interior design element was considered consistently in the process of form development. The following images show the development of ideas from the early phase using sketches and models.

THE COVEFinal Design

Aesthetic translucent canopy: The height of the canopy is adjustable in re-sponse to preference. When it is fully closed, the semi translucent canopy shield screens the view of the surroundings and softly diffuses the florescent lighting.

String Curtain : It filters the surroundings without detracting from the elegant structure.

Bulletin board inside of the acoustic panels: While enjoying one's own time, a person can still check out company news postings and post a message for colleagues.

Cushioning inside of the acoustic panels: The cushion on the side panels and the headreast on the back panel provide a comfortable zone to lean on for resting.

THE COVEProduct In Use

The Cove

The Cove is designed to accomodate most sizes of office lounge chairs. The ideal context would be casual spaces such as the cafeteria and lounge area. It may be placed as multiples or on its own. The Cove will be a beautiful interior design element in the office environment.

The Cove provides a quiet zone for activities such as phone conversation, reading a book or conversation with a colleague in the office.

STUDIES ON LIGHT AND TEXTUREEXPERIMENTAL ENVIRONMENTS

With the University Centre Galleria at Carleton University as the site of study, the project was to study how light and texture could create different atmosphere without an alteration of the existing interior structure.

December 2010, In Collaboration with Eugene Pityk

STUDIES ON LIGHT AND TEXTUREEXPERIMENTAL ENVIRONMENTSExperiments of light and texture

10:30 am 11:30 am 1:30 pm 2:30 pm 3:30 pm 4:30 pm 5:30 pm

Cardboard

Concrete

Wood

Cork

Acrylic

Creased translucent paper

Left: The experiement was to determine how differnet lightings influenced the coloured background and what kind of atmosphere was going to be created from the mixture of the lighting and background. Right: The purpose of this experiment was to study the reaction of natural light to different materials and textures. The conclusion was that rough texture retained colour better than smooth surfaces which reflected light.

Red Yellow Orange White Green Blue

Red

Purple

Blue

Orange

Yellow

White

12:30 pm 1:00 pm 3:30 pm 4:30 pm 5:30 pm 6:00 pm

Rough/Glossy

6:00 pm

Smooth/ Matte

Left: The experiment was focused on tex-ture and gloss of the material. The conclusion was that glossy materials, especially with rough surfaces responded more dramatically to natural light than matte surfaces.

December 2009

Electric toothbrush to aid people with spinal cord injury

SMART D

Smart-D was designed to enhance self-esteem and assist independent living style for the people with spinal cord injury. The project was a comprehen-sive industrial design project that started with intensive research and ended with a final design proposal. An existing product was redesigned to meet specific needs of people with spinal cord injury in the level of C-5 and 6 tetraplegia. The designed components were the toothpaste dispenser, the electric toothbrush and the charger. Each component was carefully designed to meet the user’s specific needs. The form of the electric tooth brush was achieved successfully to be hold easily without an assistvie holder. In addition, the final design was able to propose the lightest weight (only 100g) by using 13g of micro motor. The design of the charger was consid-ered deliberately for the both users who used an assistive holder and non-users.

Touch Sensor

Overmold This groove helps to prevent a hand touching the touch sensor accidentaly.

Charge Indicator

Research, Ergonomic Testing and Preliminary Design

Most people with spinal cord injury try hard to be independent in their daily care as much as they can. More than 41,000 Canadians live with spinal cord injury and 1,200 new injuries occur each year. Tetraplegia refers to the cervical (neck) injuries in four limb paralysis. Injuries below C-5 tet-raplegia can perform daily care such as oral, facial hygiene and dressing themselves with the use of assistive device and a little help from an as-sistant. C-5 tetraplegia patients have no control at the wrist of hand. C-6 tetraplegia patients have a little bit of wrist control but no hand func-tions. Depending on personal preference, a holder is used to grab a toothbrush. Most of people uses electric toothbrushes however they still need an assistant to turn the power, squeeze toothpaste onto the brush and place a holder to their hands.

Image Source: www.spinalistips.se

Image Source: www.spinalistips.se

Image Source: www.spinalistips.se

Dental Sigma 360 developed by Japan’s Vivatec for people with disability

Mechanisms of existing products were studied to understand the operation of an electric tooth-brush. Understanding of the parts was necessary to reach the right solution..

Colgate 360 degree electric toothbrush, Battery operated

Braun Professional Care 8900 DLX Oxyget Center, Rechargeable

13 g of micro motor found in the Collgate 360 degree electric toothbrush

Preliminary selected concept

Considering weight, appearance, form were the major challenges to solve.

Great opportunity was given to meet the actual users through Angela Clair who was a bilingual regional services coordinator at Ottawa Canadian paraplegic association.

The initial prototype on the user testing

Testing the initial prototype with the designed assistive holder

SMART D

Form Development

The goal was to design the form that have the generic appearance as other electric toothbrushes and to be hold firmly by the user without an assistive holder as much as possible.

The body was designed to be thicker than the regular electric toothbrushes. The cylindrical form had flat surfaces in four sides to be hold firmly without an assistive holder as much as possible. In addition, it helped to indicate the product orientation when it happened to roll on the flat surface accidently. The detail of the indent was considered carefully to prevent touching the power accidently and also to be used with an assistive holder if needed. .

SMART D

DRAWING NUMBER : CU.101

11" x 17"

DIMENSIONS mmUNTOLERANCED DIMENSIONS

SCALE

Num

ber

Description

Deta

ils

Quantity

SCHOOL OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

DRAWN: C.KONG DATE: DEC09.09CHECKED:K.MORGAN DATE:DEC09.09 CLIENT : BRIAN BURNSPROJECT: TOOLS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY DRAWING NUMBER: CU101

DRAWING: ELECTRIC TOOTHBRUSH

SHEET 1 OF 1

CARLETON UNIVERSITYCOLONELBY DRIVEOTTAWA CANADA K1S 5B6

Initia

ls

Date

Revi

sio

ns

Issue

1:1 DO NOT SCALE

SECTION A - A

2

3

1

67

8

4

5

A

A

1. MICRO MOTOR

3. MOTOR CASING 2. SHAFT

4. RECHARGEABLE BATTERY5. COILS

7. CASING FOR MOTOR

8. SPRING

6. ELECTRIC CONNECTOR

Use Cycle,Technical Drawing and Suggestive Furthur Development

A suggestive way of holding the electric toothbrush

An assistive holder can be developed further to integrate with the design of the electric toothbrush. The preliminary prototype suggests having a small window in the front because the user may require rotating the orientation of the toothbrush by sliding the surface to the side through the window.

CNC Polyurethane Foam

SMART D

CHICKADEE HOUSEModern Bird HouseMarch 2010 The Chickadee House is designed exclusively for the black-capped chickadees. They are the one of the most popular North American birds. Their name follows their typical call, chkak-a-dee-dee. They frequently show up back yard feeders and stay in one area through the year. Ideal bird house for chickadees would be to protect them from rain, wind and predators as well as create an appropriate space for their nesting. The man-made bird house should en-courage their natural habit of roosting. The birds like to dig out their cavities in such as rotten wood. Accord-ing to Kluyver (1961), they will virtually always dig out a natural cavity rather than take an empty hole such as a nest box – unless the box has been partly filled with sawdust. Based on the research, the Chickadee House was built to create natural environment as much as possible for black-capped chickadees. The birdhouse had 1-1/8” diam-eter hole to entice the chickadees. The hole was small enough for predators to enter. The oil-finished natural pine wood was a beautiful addition to any area. Stainless steel screws and glass roof were carefully selected to create modern architecture.

CHICKADEE HOUSEUse Cycle, Technical Drawing and Preliminary design sketches

Moon was used as a metaphor for the appearnce of the birdhouse. It was used to convey a meaning of providing a peaceful place for chickadee family. The repetitive use of horizontal lines helped to emphasize a feeling of calm and the round edges of the transparent eaves were designed to resemble the softness of the moonlight.

The Chickadee house was designed for easy access of cleaning and monitoring breeding.

THE SURFACESolidWorks Computre ApplicationDecember 2010, In collaboration with Khulood Alawadi The project was to simulate the workflow of creating a plastic part for a mass produced product. We participated in creating sketches, measurements, digital geometry, rapid prototyping and reverse modelling. It was to reverse design the top surface part of a computer mouse and it was 3D printed on the Dimension machine. Emphasis was made on surfacing and enclosure details.

HI SOAPHIEMass Production Technology For Industrial DesignOctober 2008

Jigs, Fixtures and Fabricating The objective was to understand fabricating by manufacturing a simple product which could be used in the daily life. Matched wooden tool with a curvature was designed to form a simple product like a soap dish in low volumes. Edge trimming was the in-tegral part since excess material must be cut from the formed part. Bandsaw was used to produce a quick rough cut and edge finishing techniques such as scraping, filling and sanding was treated after. Hi Soaphie has a simple and elegant curvilinear form. The line flows beautifully from one angle to the other.

Medium: Blue Hard Pencil

GREEENSHELVECardboard Book StorageDECEMBER 2007

The most challenging part of the project was to design the cardboard furniture without using any adhesives out of one sheet of 100 inches by 60 inches cardboard. The actual model has been used carrying over 90 pounds books for the last four years. The form was inspired from the theme of Bauhous. It influenced me to study how the basic geometric forms could create interesting composition.

RED BLOOMS

July 2010Acrylic Painting

Studies on texture and colour

Red Bloom was painted to add vibrancy in the living room space.

Contact

Email: [email protected]

Tel: 613-316-8353(Ottawa, Canada)

ANY QUESTIONS?