Project Conscience

University Final Year Project
September 2015 - May 2016

During my final year of University we had three main projects, this project was focused on us as designers. The brief was open and revolved around Environmental, Commercial, and Social issues and how we prioritised them. After considering my interest in products for "Geeks" and Eco-friendly materials, I prioritised Social and Environmental over commercial. 

Although I personally identify as a Geek I wanted to do research into it seeing as it is a very broad term, along the way I did find two definitions that encompassed every person who says they are a Geek to get a narrowed down definition for my market. The first definition being "an expert or enthusiast or a person obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit", the second being "someone who is interested in a subject (usually intellectual or complex) for its own sake".

While looking into the term geek I was reminded of how many people who identify as geek suffer from anxiety and nervousness especially when trying to talk about a subject they are passionate about. I wanted to focus on helping people feel more comfortable in these circumstances and give them a way to partly relieve their anxiety should it occur. I found that a lot of people fiddle to relieve nervousness and anxiety, while there were products for people to fiddle with, the ones I found where obvious and cheap, or subtle and expensive.  

My first idea was a personalised small object (a coin, a key ring, or a necklace pendant)made from Bamboo or other Eco-Friendly materials, that through RFID would connect to an app, this app would allow the user to connect digitally with people in the area that share the same passions. The small object would be to fiddle with when nervous or anxious while the app would give them a place to talk to people they know share a passion a safe place.

I felt the design of this was lacking so did more research into people's passions and how people fiddle with objects. I created a bank of peoples passions to allow me to know some subject areas if I was to continue with the app or personalisation.  I discovered the objects tend to be those that they have on hand and that they tend to lean towards spinning and rolling motions when fiddling with these objects.

I created a further designs but felt I was going away from my original idea so I sat down with my lecturer to help get myself back on track, he brought was there a way to incorporate something "more techy, for the Geeky audience, make it electric?". This set me on the journey towards my final idea, what if I could turn peoples nervous energy into electricity by means of fiddling?

To test if the idea was plausible I wired up a dynamo to a power bank, I built up power into the power bank and this managed to successfully charge my phone, the dynamo would be connected to a spinner to charge as a way to fiddle and create electricity. From here it was only a matter of selecting the right components to build a basic casing around, this could then be used as a base to add a design to. During this time I discovered that using eco-friendly materials for the cases would hinder the product more that help it, but I thought the renewable energy aspect now would make a good replacement for the Environmental issue. I went through many different designs before settling on my final design.

My final design is called NPR, which stands for Nervous Power Revolution. NPR is a power bank designed for people who get nervous. NPR is charged using nervous energy, as the user become nervous they hold the power bank and use their thumb to spin the wheel at the end of the product, this builds and stores electricity to be used later. To use the electricity simply plug a USB cable into the opposite end to the wheel and attach to the device you wish to charge.

NPR is designed to fit comfortably into the hand of most users while also being subtle to use discreetly whenever they feel nervous. This product aims to help people calm themselves and become more comfortable when in a situation they are not comfortable in which as cause anxiety or nervousness.

The NPR allows the user to make use of their nervous energy in a way that is beneficial to themselves, giving them a eco-friendly source of power to use on the go without the need to charge before leaving the house via mains or USB. The NPR can be used subtlety by the user in a pocket etc, or out in the open if they like.

The casing for NPR is made from black anodised aluminium which has been engraved to give the product a pattern, the wheel also has a ring of rubber to help with grip and making it more comfortable to used for extended periods of time.

The packaging has been designed to give a high quality feel to the product even before the box is opened, made from card with renders of the product on each side and a brief description of the product on the bottom, keeping the outer packaging clutter free. Then the box is opened out lines are reveal on the inner sides of the box and the product sits in a foam padding to protect the product.

The product has a target market ofpeople who get nervous with a skew towards Geeks between the ages of 15 to 35 but is open to use from all people to use.

This product has a range of five initial designs. Firstly the Lightning Design, aimed at people who have an interest or passion for science, designed to give a visual prompt to what is happening when the product is used the lighting arcs from the wheel end with two bolts striking at the USB end. Secondly The Cog Design, this was inspired by the steam punk movementand the interest in mechanics. The third design is The Hexagon Design, the original idea of the five designs is a generic simple design to give a option to all without a theme. The fourth design is The Film Design, aimed at people with a love or passion for anything to do with movies. Finally The Konami Code Design, aimed at a audience of gamers by using the most famous cheat code of them all.