The official Assignment 1

Today's Spectacular Product: SPECTACLES!

#1 The Funky, Trendy Spectacles




Fashionable eyewears are making the statement these days, and it's not just restricted to the sunglasses. Increasingly, it is becoming a popular amongst youngsters. These are affordable and comes in wide ranges.

Visceral:

-Frames designs are bolder, louder and comes in different patterns, shapes and colors.
-Attractive, attention seeking and unique.

Behavioral:

-While some of these do serve the function of a spectacle, there are also many people who wear the spectacle as a fashion accessory to match their outfit.
-As an accessory, the lenses are usually made of poor quality, which may even worsen one's eyesight.
-Brittle frames.

Reflective:

-Considered a youngster's 'image' thing
-Attach notions of 'cool', 'in', and 'fashionable'

#2 Transition Spectacles



Spectacle has advanced photochromatic lenses which can rapidly darken to become as effective as sunglasses when the wearer is outdoor. When indoors, it will change back to become as clear as ordinary spectacles.

Visceral:

-Appearance is simple and sleek, with a sophisticate touch.

Behavioral:

-Lens tint varies according to UV rays making it a multipurpose spectacle.
-Effective in protecting our eyes from UV-rays and the glaring sunlight.
-Good choice of spectacle for drivers.

Reflective:

-When indoors, it looks just like another simple and modern spectacle.
-No one will notice it until the wearer goes outdoor.

#3 LOTOS Spectacle



Stephan Schmidt, owner of LOTOS Gold Jewelry Diamond Eyewear. His dream is to offer 'the most beautiful gold glasses in the world'. LOTO's emphasis is its finest materials and noblest glasses settings.

Visceral:

-Luxurious and high class.
-Diamonds and gold make the spectacle look pricey and exclusive.

Behavioral:

-Made of the finest material and glasses thus its high quality is ensured.
-Hand manufactured aspect and good reputation further ensures the product durability.
-Functions like a normal traditional glasses, no advance lenses or what nots.

Reflective:

-Diamonds and Gold are symbols of high social standing and affluence.
-Fact that it is hand manufactured and not mass produced makes spectacle rare.
-Made for selected public: owner must be one of exquisite taste.
-Elevates one's self image and reputation.

My Reflections:

Though it may be the same product, people are seeking to be satisfied in different ways. Some may look for a spectacle for functionality, like transition glasses, while some may be searching for a spectacle to join in the fashion fad or to stand out from the rest. Perhaps it is also possible to argue along the Maslow hierarchy of needs. Once certain aspect has been satisfied, people climb upwards to fulfil their desire for more prestigous products. From this assignment, I learn that there is no specific crowned best product. The best product will be one that matches and complements the user's needs and tastes.

Assignment 1: Bad Design-capture user reaction

Capture user reaction
Their feelings towards the product
Lesson they learnt from the interaction
Their impression on brand
Your reflection on the product and user reaction


This is a story of a 50 year old housewife, Mrs Mak who had just bought a new household cleaning tool called the "MAGIC MOP" to clean her house. This mop was different from the traditional mop. Firstly, instead of the soft strands of water-absorbing soft fabric, it was made of sponge. Secondly, it has an additional inbuilt wringer function on the handle of the mop to squeeze the it dry.

However, much to her dismay, the mop wasn't as magical as it seems.

Below are pictures of MAGIC MOP







#Complain 1: NO STRENGTH LA!

The grip wringer handle is so frustratingly stiff it requires alot of energy and effort to pull it up in order to squeeze the sponge. This defeats the whole purpose of the design of the MAGIC MOP since its function is to make the whole cleaning feat easier by eliminating the cumbersome process of manually wringing the conventional mops.

#Complain 2: WORKS UNI-DIRECTION?!

Unlike the water-absorbing soft fabric strands that can move freely and smoothly in different directions, the sponge in MAGIC MOP creates alot of friction and irritating squeaky sounds when it is being pushed in the direction away from the user. Hence it only works best when the mop is being dragged inwards to the user, making the user looking quite queer.

#Complain 3: WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY!

As you can already see, cleaning seems more troublesome and tiresome with the use of MAGIC MOP. In fact, Mrs Mak commented that it takes twice the effort and time to clean the house, compared to using conventional mops. The poor design of the mop not only drains the energy of the user, it also decreases one's efficiency. She feels that she'll be better off using her cheap traditional mop and bucket wringer. "At least using body weight to squeeze the mop is far less tiring than trying to pull the grip." she added.

Lesson learnt:
Mrs Mak expressed regret for not taking a closer look at material of the sponge. It would have been easier the sponge was softer or if it were wrapped around with a layer of soft fabric to counter the friction problem. Also, she learnt to test the product personally instead of trusting the demonstrator, who had turned out to be a man.

Impression on Brand:

The score on brand impression is pretty low. MAGIC MOP has failed in its promise to make Mrs Mak's life easier. She feels that it is not a trustworthy brand and will not make any future purchase of its products.

Reflection:

In my opinion, the designer of the product deserves some credit for coming up with the hybridization of functionality of a wringer grip in a mop. However, the inconvenience in use has not done justice to the product's unique design. The usability factor of it has not been considered, in fact it works totally in the opposit to what it preaches. The grip for wringing should be versatile and as effortless as possible. My suggestions is to fix in a lubricator or rollers inside the hinge of the grip so as to ease the pulling action.

From this assignment, I learnt that product design is crucial in making or breaking a product. Especially with mops being such a low-involvement product purchased by largely housewives, it is often dependent on the spread of word of mouth by previous users. If the experience of the user is bad, it will definitely affect the reputation and eventually the sales of the brand. Hence to avoid this problem, products should have user experience testings to gain insightful feedbacks and comments that may bring "light" to areas necessary for improvements (these often obscured in designers' eyes).

not another blog!

Phew, my brain always get constipated when it comes to naming a new blog. +__+ now that it's done, welcome to my new playground!