Recycling Unit
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Planning
Inspiration
Lawrence Murphy
Lawrence Murphy of Murf is a chief of global design and user experience team for the Industrial Designers Society of America and is responsible for product design, interaction design and human factors teams for GE Healthcare. Murf has designed products in all of GE’s Healthcare businesses and holds patents in MR, X-ray, patient monitoring, etc. In 2017 he retired from GE and currently works at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (MIAD) as a part time faculty member in the Industrial Design program. He teaches technical skills such as sketching, concept development and visual brainstorming.
Empathy Chart
I met a Starbucks employee.
I was amazed to learn that they try to recycle as many plastic cups as possible but are not successful in doing so. Resulting in many of their cups, straws, lids and products ending up in a landfill. It would be a real difference if I could design a recycling unit that different coffee shops could use where it would make it easier for customers to be able to recycle their cups. |
Process
Beginning Ideation
First SketchFor my first sketch I knew I wanted to do two separate sketches as to what the unit would look like.
I decided that I would like to have five individual compartments which the recycling could be sorted by, those compartments would be: paper, cups, liquids, lids and straws. For the first sketch I followed the sort of style that the recycling bin at Starbucks has where its circular and all the compartments would be spread around the circular unit. But quickly realized that would be an effective use of space. All the compartments would not be optimizing the space given and it overall did not seem like a good unit. For the second initial sketch I did a more rectangular unit where all the compartments where side by side and would be a bit of a simpler design to follow. |
Mind Mapping
A mind map is in this case a visual brainstorm that I used as a means to write about the ideas I had about this project and ways it could impact the environment surrounding me. The function of a mind map is to look at the problem or idea and rather than just thinking about the product or end goal, describe its function and really explore what you are trying to do.
My mind map had three main points, one being about the different compartments, another being about who it will benefit and the last being about coffee shops (or the location of the recycling unit). My mind map helped me go more in depth and think logistically about what was possible, and think beyond that this was a recycling unit. It helped me go into detail about environmental factors and share empathy with the person who would have to clean it (employees of the coffee shops), as well as think about the customer and how useful ti would be to them. |
Further Ideation: Planning Sketches
After I had an idea as to what I wanted to do I continued to branch out and draw the unit more. The planning sketch on the right shows how the recycling unit will be proportionally to a human. I wanted to be about waist height to an average human, so about 2.5 to 3ft tall. The sketch also shows the action of someone throwing something away in the unit.
My last sketch was that of my final product, where after speaking with an industrial designer she recommended I color coded the compartments again to make it easier for the customer. I also placed the compartments by order of what has to be thrown away and my logic is seen with the cup in the bottom sketch. Someone would first throw their straw out, then their lids, followed by any excess liquid and then the cup, finally if they have any paper waste they throw it in the last compartment. This makes it more efficient as a process and clearly labels where everything must go. |
Ideation Board
After finalizing all my sketches and having a clear idea as to what my end product was going to look like I gathered all my ideas, sketches and thoughts and put them into an ideation board. I made this on Photo Pea which was a program that resembled Photoshop but I was able to access it through my Chromebook.
I included my Point of view statement, my empathy chart and mind map as well as some of my planning sketches in my board. |
Step by Step Process
1.) For this project I started off by looking for a problem that I see or often encounter in my life, and I chose recycling cups at coffee shops.
2.) After identifying the problem I went on to sketch ways that this problem could be solved and came up with a few sketches and prototypes.
3.) Following that I then made a mind map to thoroughly identify the problem, a way to solve it and identify who the solution of problem will help as well as who it will hurt.
4.) After mind mapping I was introduced to an industrial designer who gave me feedback on my ideas and explored my problem with me.
5.) Following that I did the final sketches for my unit.
6.) Lastly I transferred all my written and sketches ideas onto an ideation board on Photo Pea, which I then printed and transferred onto a foam core board.
2.) After identifying the problem I went on to sketch ways that this problem could be solved and came up with a few sketches and prototypes.
3.) Following that I then made a mind map to thoroughly identify the problem, a way to solve it and identify who the solution of problem will help as well as who it will hurt.
4.) After mind mapping I was introduced to an industrial designer who gave me feedback on my ideas and explored my problem with me.
5.) Following that I did the final sketches for my unit.
6.) Lastly I transferred all my written and sketches ideas onto an ideation board on Photo Pea, which I then printed and transferred onto a foam core board.
Experimentation
For my experimentation I played around with scenarios that could occur at a coffee shop, sort of like a story board. The first story board on the top right is just a general overview of what the problem is. The second storyboard is on the bottom left and shows once again more in depth as to what the problem is and how someone gets confused while throwing their cups away at coffee shops. The last storyboard is the one on the far bottom right which shows what the solution to the problem will be and how simple separating the recycling process could be made.
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Reflection
Critique
I overall enjoyed the process of this project, it was a very tedious and time consuming process but it gave me new ways to come about projects. I think that if I had not procrastinated so hard on many aspects of this project I would have enjoyed it a bit more. This project has allowed my to think about projects as a whole process rather than just seeing an outcome right away. Mind mapping ans story-boarding allowed me to understand my project and the recycling unit better because as a whole they allowed me to think of this project as just a recycling unit but rather who's day was this going to improve or who was this going to affect in a negative way. Something I wish I could have changed about this project is my ideation board, I thought I had done it the correct way and entered the correct measurements and resolution but I had not. I had entered the correct measurements but not the correct resolution resulting in my ideation board being blurry. On my board in person you cannot really tell unless you look very closely but digitally you can really tell.
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ACT Responses
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork:
Murf is an industrial designer who uses visuals as the main focus of his brainstorming and planning process which in turn made me use a lot of visuals such as sketches, storyboards and mind maps in my planning.
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Murf wants to make the planning process easier and more in depth so one thinks about a project as a whole rather than just jumping to the end product.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
That industrial design is a very challenging field but pays off as jobs in that field are growing more in demand.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea was trying to create a recycling unit in order to make recycling cups at a coffee shop easier for the customer.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I inferred that Murf has had much success in his field and is a world renounced industrial designer, that has made a big impact in that field.
Murf is an industrial designer who uses visuals as the main focus of his brainstorming and planning process which in turn made me use a lot of visuals such as sketches, storyboards and mind maps in my planning.
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Murf wants to make the planning process easier and more in depth so one thinks about a project as a whole rather than just jumping to the end product.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
That industrial design is a very challenging field but pays off as jobs in that field are growing more in demand.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea was trying to create a recycling unit in order to make recycling cups at a coffee shop easier for the customer.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I inferred that Murf has had much success in his field and is a world renounced industrial designer, that has made a big impact in that field.
Bibliography
“Lawrence Murphy, IDSA.” IDSA, 22 Mar. 2017, https://www.idsa.org/lawrence-“murf”-murphy-idsa.
“Larry Murphy.” Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, https://www.miad.edu/faculty/larry-murphy.
“Larry Murphy.” Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, https://www.miad.edu/faculty/larry-murphy.