DR 2 Tessa & Emilia

Emilia Tracy + Tessa Martin

Design Review 2

After much consideration, we narrowed our ideas down to three prototypes

Our Prototypes

The problem we are addressing, our definition, and why it is important

01

The Problem

We will be working on the problem of sustainable clothing consumption. Clothing waste starts locally, with poor personal and community-wide sustainablility practices and as the economy and presense of consumerism continue to promote fast fashion and unsustainable practices. Unsustainable clothing habits end in extreme pollution of lower socioeconomic countries and pollution of our atmosphere.

The Problem Statement

The evolution of our defenition of the problem

Our definition of the problem changed from focusing on excessive amounts of clothing overflowing dumps in lower-socioeconomic countries to a more local view of substantial unsustainable habits within our community on a personal and local level.

Why...

We are motivated by this topics because we feel responsibility as clothing consumers to make a positive impact in our community

Are we motivated by this project?

This problem needs an innovative solution now because current solutions are not working. Even solutions on a small, local level will have an impact on this growing issue.

Do we need an innovative soluction?

The problem of clothing waste is important because it affects our environment and world in a negative way.

Is this problem important?

Strategies, assumptions, skills and processes, obstacles, etc.

02

The Method

We then divided our ideas by type (physical product, service, community event, etc) and chose our top three ideas.

Narrowing pt. 2

We discussed and decided what kind of prototype we wanted to create: something physical or hands-on, something unique, something new, and something that would be fun for us.

Narrowing pt. 1

We brainstormed over 80 ideas for local solutions

Brainstorm

We evaluated the focus of our problem and examined the problem on a local level

Focus

We identified problems that our users held and created HMW questions that involved both our problem and the needs of our users

User Problems

Design Work Steps

Physical

Sketch

Google Slides

Paper Modeling

We used pencil and paper to draw out each frame of our screens for our first button swap prototype

We used google slides that were navigateable by button to allow the user to experience a second interation of our button swap prototype.

Prototype Strategies

For the first iteration of our shirt prototype, we sketched out various designs.

We created a physical low-res prototype of our rug using strips of fabric sewn together and braided.

Prototyping Assumptions

We assumed that people would not purchase unsustainably if they could purchase sustainably and be happy with their purchases. We back this assumption through our end user interviews, where users said that they wished they could buy sustainably but didn't know how or couldn't find something they liked.

Shirts

We assumed that people would take time to learn an activity with family and friends and that people will create together. As we talked to our end users, we learned that they want something to connect them to the loved ones in their lives. Our prototype assumes that they will take the opportunity we provide to have a fun activity to do together.

Rugs

We assumed that people would take the time to upload pictures of buttons they have and search for what they are needing.

Buttons

We used scrap materials to make sure that we didn't waste anything and keep true to our sustainability goals.

Scraps

We used physical protoyping strategies like making our prototype small and using materials we already had.

Physical

We made sure to write down everything that we thought of and never discount an idea. This allowed us to build on our prototypes and come up with new ideas.

Evolving ideas

We went through the stages of ideation and prototype through our iterations of our prototypes.

Prototype stages

We used skills of paper modeling for more complicated processes that we learned in Freshman year.

Paper modeling

Skills and Processes

Obstacles

As we were creating our shirt prototype, we ran into the problem of our impact. We knew that the current iteration of the shirt prototype was more about raising awareness than solving the problem of clothing waste. We talked through this issue and came to the conclusion that the best way to make our prototype impactful was to include people in the creation of the designs. Although we didn't have time to persue a seondary prototype, we decided that an option could be hosting a screenprinting workshop where attendees could put our designs or their own onto old clothing to give it a new life.

Impact vs. Information

While making our physical rug prototype, we encountered a lot of obstacles. We began with braids knotted together, but found that this left the final product too bulky. Instead, we sewed the shorter fabric strips together to make long strips and then tried to braid those. However, we found that it tangled and was unbraidable. we eventually found that if we wound the long strips up before braiding we could braid it without tangles. We will need to keep this method in mind as we move forward with pushing out our prototype.

Physical Prototyping

Our prototypes, prototyping plan, and brainstorming sessions

03

The Deliverables

Building

Writing

Natural idea generation

Talking to outside parties

We talked and ideated with other groups, writing down all of the ideas that we came up with. This allowed us to have new ideas that we wouldn't have come up with on our own.

We began conversations with eachother and other people in other groups and let the conversation, and, in turn, the ideas, flow naturally.

Ideation Assignments

We wrote down absolutely everything we thought of, from dog toys to activities with children to an app that allowed people to track their waste. No idea was too big or too small.

As we came up with ideas, we made sure to hone in on each one individually and come up with more unique and targeted ideas. This allowed us to get very specific and generate lots of creative ideas.

We used our current prototypes to inspire even more ideas about directions that we could go.

Evolution

We created many iterations of our protoypes even before we began making them. This allowed us to explore a wide range of ideas within our initial prototypes.

Iterations

We used the Wizard of Oz technique on our button prototype. We know what slide they are going to go to no matter what button they choose, and thus we can have control over the prototype. This allows us to control our future testing to test our assumptions

Wizard of Oz

After we made our paper button prototype, we realized that we wanted something more interactive so users could engage with our prototype more fully. We also created a physical prototype so users could feel and see the rugs in 3-d. Our next steps for our shirt prototype include making physical versions of our screenprint ideas.

Interactive

We decided to persue multiple prototypes. This allowed us to not get too tied down or attached to any ideas, letting us change and adapt our prototypes as we went

3 prototypes

Prototyping Assignments

Biggest questions, feedback, next steps, and possible iterations

04

Questions & Concerns

To test the rug prototype, we will make a larger version of the one we have right now. We will ask the users to take them home and record their experience, as well as anyone that used the rug within their home.

Next Steps: The Rug Prototype

In order to find people to test the prototype, we will send out a survey and ask people from different demographics to be testers.

Finding People

We hope to find out unbiased experiences of everyday use of the rugs.

We Hope to Achieve

How We're Measuring

Next Steps: The Button App Prototype

In order to find people to test the prototype, we will send out a survey and ask people from different demographics to be testers. We want to focus on people that sew or work with buttons often.

Finding People

We hope to get feedback on using the interface for our prototype and the whole idea of a button app in order to improve the experience.

We Hope to Achieve

We will collect feedback on different parts of the app, like the interface and the and navigation. We will ask them questions about the effectiveness of the app and their thoughts on its usefulness in their lives.

How We're Measuring

Next Steps: The Shirt Prototype

In order to find people to test the prototype, we will send out a survey and ask people from different demographics to be testers.

Finding People

We hope to get statistics on the likely hood of people continuing purchasing renewed/sustainable clothes that are available.

We Hope to Achieve

We will make a test batch of shirts and hoodies and ask people to test wearing them. After, we will gather feedback on the designs and prototype in general. We will also ask the users about their personal opinions about the project.

How We're Measuring

Possible Iterations

Possible iterations to our rug prototype include rug making kits, changing the idea from rugs to tapestries, writing a guide on how to make your own rugs, or hosting rug-making workshops

Rug

Possible iterations of our shirt prototype include screenprinting, workshops, and sewing old scraps into quilt-like patterns on old shirt.

Shirt

Possible iterations of our button prototype include making an app instead of a website, creating community boards within our website so sewing and button enthusiasts can connect, hosting button swaps or craft fairs where all the items are made of or with buttons.

Button

Biggest Questions Moving Forward

Which prototype do we want to continue with? There are parts of each one that we love, are there ways to combine or mix ideas?

01

How can we make sure our users needs are still being met? We made a lot of decisions based on our end user profiles. Through testing, we need to make sure that we are still answering to the needs of our users.

03

How can we move forward keeping sustainabiity in mind? As we continue with this project, we want to make sure that we live up to our goal of sustainability. This means sustainbly sourced materials, sustainble production, and sustainable distribution.

02

Using our feedback, we will need to revise our prototype and then test and interview until we and our end users are satisfied withe the product.

Revise

We need to interview our end users to understand whether their needs are being met and if we need to make changes to our prototypes

Interview

We need to test the prototype we pick

Test

We need to brainstorm changes or adaptions to the prototype we pick. Is there a way to add parts of the other prototypes we liked?

Brainstorm

We need to talk to users, have them identitify which prototype is best for their needs, and choose the best option

Pick

Our Next Steps

Thanks!