Design 21: Social Design Network

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Summary:

• $2538.06 prototyping estimate
• $7917.61 limited run production estimate

Cost Analysis- Five Times Lamp

Cost Analysis- Five Times Table

Cost Analysis- Five Times Chair

Cost Analysis- Fair Shares Lamp

Cost Analysis- Fair Shares Table

Cost Analysis- Fair Shares Chair

My primary NFP contact, Ed Woodham, volunteered to host my second user testing at his home in Brooklyn.

He invited a group of people that fit my age/income bracket for my target users to test my prototypes.

Unlike the first round, which was completely blind in order to test the strength of aesthetics to communicate the idea... this round focused on testing supplemental information. How much is needed for a user to understand the issue that the pieces are trying to illustrate?

We had the testing set up on two floors of his building. People gathered in the lower level, where I had appetizers set up, and individually I would guide each person up to the top level, where Ed was waiting to introduce them to the pieces. I stayed on the lower level, so as not to influence any of the responses. Upstairs, a video camera was set up to record each person testing the pieces and reading the product description cards. When they were finished with the pieces, Ed would ask them to describe what the pieces were trying to illustrate - in order to identify whether the selective information was enough to make an impact. Afterward, they were given a short survey, which asked them about the amount of information, clarity, project interest, etc..

The testing was very promising. With minimal information, a majority of the audience was able to describe the purpose of the project and expressed stronger interest in the issue than before the pieces were introduced.

I will be keeping in contact wi...

The over consumption of natural resources occurred logically. With a Darwinist approach to life, humans simply settled on land and began taking from it what was available to them. Those who were able to gather, provide, and consume the most, usually lived the longest, and were considered the wisest. Those who settled on land that was unable to supplement its inhabitants, died off in proportion to the resources available. Nature kept the control of it’s own consumption.

As knowledge and technology grew however, and the possibility to take from lands farther and father away from one’s immediate surroundings became commonplace, humans were able to start consuming faster than the resources were capable of replenishing themselves. Humans were settling in areas that historically had been uninhabitable because of weather or lack of local resources, and they began depending on others to survive. Why did the others decide to diminish their own natural resources in order to provide for others? It wasn’t because they were kind, and believed that every living thing deserved an equal share of the earth’s bounty (well except for the Buddhists), it was because of profits. Those with resources had no problem selling their harvest to make money, because they figured that with more money they could always buy more resources with their profits from others – if they were ever in need. The problem was, that the resources became so valuable that poorest of people were no longer making enough p...

The mid-review went quickly. I felt that I didn't speak to as many people as I was able to in the last review, but during this round, I was speaking to large groups at a time (which was really helpful - to get a lot of feedback all at once, not to mention saving myself from repeating over and over until completely exhausted and over-whelmed). Mainly I think it went smoother, and felt so fast, because I'm much farther into the project, and the explanations and discussions came so much easier.

Overall, my pieces were well received. I recognize however, that it was difficult to get people to talk about my proposals for the future, rather than the prototypes that I was displaying at the review, because that was what (for the most part) drew them to my corner in the first place.

The first person who spoke with me, was the resource librarian.. when I started to talk about some of my research and why I became interested in trying to address a global problem - such as over-consumption, you could see her face drop. She told me that it made her think about her own home.. and she started to look horrified as she told me (almost like a confession) that she had five chairs around her dining room table... and how silly that seemed now, when she lived alone, and usually wouldn't even use the others. This was a great example of what I see as a successful response.. she reflected on the concept and was able to look at her own lifestyle with a new critical view. She suggested that I use &q...

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Mission:

I am designing a discussion by introducing a series of products that embody a critical view on American consumption.

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