This unit is based on learning about tools that we use on a daily basis and how they can be applied in different ways. We also talked about the design process which was something I enjoyed observing. Overall, I learned how to apply the design process by watching other people use it to develop new products. I saw that this process sometimes changed how things worked. We also looked into tools, how they are built, and the different purposes they serve. Empathy was also a big focus in the unit. It is important to learn to design things with a bigger audience in mind because a lot of designs are built for a certain type of people and leave other people out of the equation. With empathy, the goal is to understand how people with various needs look at things. I want to design products that also fit their needs.
To understand this concept, we talked to a designer who applies empathy into her designs on a daily basis. Leading to the action project to design a tool that helps senior citizens who want to garden but might have certain constraints because of their age. Senior citizens are a unique group because they don’t have as easy of a time completing certain tasks compared to people in their twenties. Even though they may have physical limitations, they might also have more insight because they have many experiences. Before creating a design, I first had to interview a gardener so I could understand how they might use tools to garden. One quote that I got from the interview was, "Though I don't have to use too many tools for gardening, it would be helpful to have specific things that served multiple uses in one". After doing the interview, I had to choose what tool to improve. I chose to work with my friend PC. The tool that we chose to improve is gardening gloves.
Now a lot of the common gloves used in gardening have similar features. They all cover the user's hands from dirt in some way. With that in mind, sometimes the material used is not the best. They are all similar in price and design.
With those things in mind, we began to brainstorm different designs that might be more effective than the average glove. This led to the creation of the All in 2, a glove that serves multiple uses instead of just covering up the user's hands. This glove has webbing in between each finger making digging an easier process giving the user the ability to scoop dirt or moss with their hands. Along with that, it has an option to store seeds in a pocket on the glove. These few features can help senior citizens garden in a more effective way. The All in 2 has multiple ways that can be used. There's also a solid leather and canvas material which makes doing the work more efficient. There’s also a velcro strap that makes sure dirt doesn’t get inside of the glove.
The gloves are more efficient than other gloves because of the fact they can cover the hand and arm from getting dirty. With a lot of gloves, the wrists are somewhat exposed on the bottom, but the velcro strap prevents that from happening. Another reason this glove is more effective than the average glove is because most are made of flimsy materials which can make them only last a few uses. Compared to the one that we made, the materials are better quality which will help them to last longer than the average brand. A lot of gardeners sometimes struggle to bend down with a shovel in order to get to a certain surface. With the webbing on the gloves, bending down is made a little bit easier and not as much of a struggle because the user controls how they want to dig with the gloves.
To get the arm measurements, PC measured her hand with measuring tape to get the radius and height. We then found the equation for the volume and surface area of the arm and applied it to our equations. The volume came out to be 1,130 square inches and the surface area being 603 square inches. Out of the simple machines we learned, the All in 2 is best used as a lever. The user's hands are meant to be used like a shovel. It comes out as a class 3 lever because of the fact the inputs are a part of the wrist. Along with that, when someone is digging with the gloves, the main parts change from the fulcrum being the arm, the input being the gloves, and the output being the webbing.
In conclusion, I really enjoyed working on this action project. Doing the drawings for me was difficult because I don't draw a lot and I'm not used to doing visuals. It was also difficult to find a vector and measurement for the arm because it can vary for different sizes. Along with that, connecting the simple machines aspect was hard to apply because of the fact it doesn't correlate in the best way. Having a partner to help work out these challenges made developing the glove simpler to manage which was really important. If I were to do this again, I might want to tackle a different tool and see how I could make it better than the average type. I hope that this tool can help to make gardening an easier experience for people who have trouble using their hands. I'd like to use empathy to help me develop other tools in the future.
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