What Bugs Us?
Through empathizing with others, I identified a meaningful problem. Then, I designed a solution, built a website for it, and pitched it.
Ideate
I started by listing about 60 “bugs” - problems that come up in everyday life. I asked my peers which ones they most resonated with, and incorporated their feedback as I narrowed the list down to a single element.
I found the most compelling bug to be the anxiety associated with forgetting whether you locked your car long after you’ve walked away from it.
Currently, the only way to dispel this anxiety is by making the trek back to your car just to make sure it’s locked. This voyage is rather inconvenient at times, depending on how far away your car is.
Design
My most intuitive solution was a smartphone widget that connected to car keys. Through the key, it recorded the car's status (locked/unlocked) and displayed that information on the phone screen simply and elegantly.
However, I decided to stay in the hands-on spirit of the class and transpose the essence of my solution to a physical medium; I saw an opportunity to rethink the experience of using a car key instead of merely adding an incremental improvement.
That's why I decided to design an entirely new car key that challenges current conventions in favor of an innovative user interface.
Prototype
The process of adapting the locked/unlocked display to a physical medium was an invitation to design something truly novel. I experimented with different representations of "open" and "closed" rooted in strong, engaging visual cues.
It was my goal to make the key feel natural to hold. To that end, I optimized for ergonomics when I designed the shape of the key, giving rise to a pod-like appearance.
The final element of the key is its sliding joystick. It replaces buttons with a highly intuitive interface that synergizes with the key's shape; the user's thumb naturally comes to rest on the joystick.
(prototype 1)
The ergonomic aspect of the design engrossed me; the majority of the prototyping process involved carefully tweaking the key's geometry. Thus, the final prototype remains in a highly experimental state.
(prototype 2)
As part of the assignment, I made a website for the product. I dedicated equally as much focus to the web design as I did product design; I aspired to tell a meaningful story about the vision I had at the onset of the project.