Tag Archive for 'prototype'

Design of a remote control for elderly people

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on July 20, 2009
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. Closed

zenith_space_commandThis post has been in my drafts for a long time, it looked like I’d never get around to finishing it. Probably it was because the design of a remote control for the elderly is not my favorite subject. However, I really enjoyed working on this project and I think we got a neat result, and a quite original one if you think of how many remote controls for the elderly are already in the market. Also, I didn’t want to omit this project because to me it shows how there’s still room for substantial improvement even in long standing commercial product ranges, and how you wouldn’t even think there’s something wrong until you introduce a UX designer and then it seems unbelievable that no one came up with these simple but life changing tweaks sooner. And, no, it’s not about boosting our egos, it’s about bursting those of the people who think they can do without us :P

I worked on this project, some time ago, with Wenzhu, Valentina, Paulo. When I was told we had to design a remote control for elderly people, I googled it, and then sighed. Usually I try to avoid the “yet another…” projects but this time it was not up to us, so I set to work thinking at least that socially it was quite a relevant project. Actually I learned that most developed countries have around 10% 65+ people (I knew it was a lot, but 10% is mind blowing) and that they watch TV an average of 3,5 hours a day, so it makes sense to want to adapt remote controls for their especial use. Continue reading ‘Design of a remote control for elderly people’

The book, the clock and the toaster. Part III

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on June 8, 2009
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Finally, part 3: the toaster. A toaster is a small electric kitchen appliance used to toast slices of bread. It has been around, almost unchanged (in its mainstream version) for more than 100 years. Our interaction with it, I suspect, hasn’t changed much either:

toast

During our week-long course with Bert Bongers; Maria, Valentina, Dominika and I redesigned a toaster. You may also want to read part 1 and part 2 of this series of posts to learn about the concepts that we put into practice. Part 3 presents our analysis of the current toaster, and our redesign.

Continue reading ‘The book, the clock and the toaster. Part III’