Project Brief

A well known company, in my case IKEA, wants to enter a new product area, and develop a new product for portable light in the private home environment. The handheld lighting device the company wishes to develop is a product for enlightening the surroundings when needed. The product must have physical buttons and be battery operated. 

Target group and company

I chose to design for IKEA and aid them in improving the little things that occur in the private home environment. The target age group that I was assigned is 65+ years of age. 

RESEARCH AND SURVEYs

At the outset of the project my group decided to canvas downtown Umeå for people who fell within our target age group, +65. We prepared a set of questions that had come up during our initial brainstorming sessions. These questions included:

• What kind of house do you live in?
• What does a typical day look like for you?
• How do you enjoy your evenings?
• What type of lighting do you have at home?
• When was the last time you were in the dark and needed light?
• You need new furniture, where do you go to shop?
• What comes to mind when you think about IKEA?
• Do you have a mobile phone?

The perception of Ikea as a company is: Economic, Fun/playful, Practical, Easy/simple, Organized, DIY, Accessible design.

After brainstorming with my classmates and analyzing the responses of seniors from Umeå, we concluded that the perception of IKEA as a company is: economic, fun/playful, practical, easy/simple, organized, do it yourself, and accessible design. According to the IKEA website their self described motto is "It's the simple things that can help the day to feel extraordinary. To create moments that are special, even through everyday living...Make every day more wonderful". I embraced this concept and set out to analyze the daily life of users +65 and create a lighting product that made the little things in everyday life easier and more enjoyable.

standards:

• Reliability
• Preserve Habits
• Responsibility
• Selflessness

GOALS:

• Stay healthy
• Safety
• Comfort

attitudes:

• Being cautious
• Take it slow
• Conservatism
• Save money
• Being generous

Hiding in plain sight

Through the user research I determined that a traditional flashlight was rarely used by our test group. Those who did own a flashlight often had it hiding away in a drawer somewhere, unused. Drawing inspiration from IKEA's concept of designing products and furniture for the everyday tasks and doing it in a simple and effective way, I decided to work on a light that could adapt to the user. During everyday life the light would function as a normal atmosphere light. If there was an emergency the light could transform into a emergency flashlight.

fORM EXPLORATION

In order to design an adaptable light I explored the various ways a product could be designed to change shape. This research led me to origami. What fold called a "water bomb" would allow for a sphere to change shape to a cylindrical form. I set out to make a model myself but was ultimately unsuccessful in doing so. This effort was not a waste however as this origami inspiration led to the final design form.

GRIP STRENGTH AND pERSONAL SECURITY

The research and surveys led to me confirming that elderly people +64 in age spend majority of their time in their homes. While some do get out and exercise by walking or meeting friends majority tend to be significantly less active than they were in their youth. From this one of the first areas that this decease in strength is noticed is in their hands. When you lose control of your own surroundings your sense of personal security deceases. Everyday activities like opening doors, jars, and activities that require fine motor skills become more and more difficult.

Why focus on grip strength?

I am an avid climber and I use a grip strengthener to help train increase my grip strength. This work out device was my initial source of form inspiration as it got me thinking about the various motions that could be used in building grip strength. the main ones I began considering were squeezing and twisting. My grandmother experiences a similar lack of hand strength and this caused me to start thinking about concepts that incorporated hand strength into a lighting device. 

After focusing in on using grip strength training to make the little things in life easier and increase the user's personal sense of security I came up with three potential solutions. My goal remained to make a light that hid in plain sight and one that was used in everyday life rather than being stored away in a drawer. The first concept was a dynamo powered light that charged itself and strengthened the user's grip simultaneously. 

This was less appealing because it functioned more as a traditional flashlight. The second was a mug that had a twist grip strengthening feature and a LED light in its base. The concept was once you were finished with your beverage you flip the mug and use it as an atmosphere light. The final concept was an interactive light that turned on once you started squeezing the training ball connected to it. 

Light interaction

Rather than only use light as the end result I decided to use it as a reward to encourage further use of the grip training ball. The way the light functions is through these basic steps:

• The user removes the ball from its cradle.
• By pressing the button at the bottom of the cradle the user activates the system.
• The grip training ball has a sensor inside that detects when it is being squeezed.
• Once it senses that the ball is being used it turns on the light.
• For every 1 minute of use with the ball the light stays on for five minutes.
• After 1 minute of continuous use the light pulses indicating the user should switch hands.
• When not being used the light slowly dims.
• The ball must be returned to the cradle to turn off the system to help prevent the ball from being lost.