Ben Jarrett's blog

DS6 Intro

I am designing a soundsystem for apartment dwellers as my major graduation project for Product Design at Unitec in Auckland, New Zealand.

I will be approaching this project from a different point than most high end audio companies start point.  Traditionally, audio start ups arise from one person’s electronics, or loudspeaker construction hobby, that eventually morphs into a small business, and expands in a haphazard fashion, responding to the demands of the market, as opportunities arise.  Indeed my own interest in this niche is from building many loudspeakers and amplifiers over the years.  However, as personally fascinating as I find the subject, it is from an industrial designer’s stand point that I am engaging in the subject.  This involves framing the project from the user’s position and will involve user interface/experience design, fundamental user research, market definition, product life cycle analysis, cognitive research and many other modes of investigation that are not generally used in high end audio circles.  This front end research will allow me to respond with a design for a sound system that is an accurate response to the design brief.  Of course, I shall also be using more traditional technologies for the physical design, such as computer modelling, Finite Element Analysis, CAD/CAM and prototype testing, as the project proceeds.  The project has an 18 week time span before it is due for marking, and then a further three weeks of finalising prior to the Graduation Show in the last week of November.

I prepared myself for this project for quite some time, so it’s great to finally get started!

 

Ben Jarrett

25 July 2010

             

My first pony

Here is my first attempt, and render of, an animation using After Effects.  It was for Sustainable Practice and is of an iPhone app.  A lot of the timing is off, it's super low resolution and it's missing some stuff, so I will re-render it later and re-post it when I can....

SusPrax - low res - Ben Jarrett and Meg Kane

Eigenharp

I have a fascination with emerging electronic instruments - whether it be software based like Ableton Live, or controllers such as Tenori-On.  But today i just got shown the Eigenharp...........this is the craziest instrument to come out of the digital revolution thus far, methinks.  Awesome at 4000 pound stirling.

Buckland link

Here

Urbis Design Day

Urbis sponsored their annual design day.

I have to say that most of what was on offer was tat, and it was essentially a booze crooze in a kitchen/bathroom.  I couldn't see really where the value was for the retaillers, because all I could see at the end was a lot of drunk punters, looking for the nearest free beer.  Not, of course, that I was one of them!

I found very little that I liked:

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Luckily enough, a couple of things I really liked were made by ex AUT students:

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This set of drawers above could be independently opened from each side - a steel frame inside hold each drawer.  Nice.

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This light was also nice, simple with a great line. These fonts were fun too!

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Most of the things on offer were truly terrible - I guess it sells.........grimace.  I have always like Gaggenau, but look at this..............have they thought about cleaning?  Crap.

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And lots of plain ugly.  Post modernism peaked in the 80s and it's still there.  So Remuera baby!

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There was also a little, absolutely pointless, touch screen technology:

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One of the nicest things I saw all day was Nick's Raymond Loewy fridge.  He also has a great refridgeration technician.  Makes me think I need a cool tech too.

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Eliza

Natahn Shedroff also mentions ELIZA, this is a simple dialog app that mimics a Rogerian psychotherapist.  ELIZA was programmed by Joseph Weizenbaum around 1965.  Kinda cool - some people though ELIZA was a real person!

Here was my sample dialogue:
 
* maybe!
> You don't seem quite certain.
* no, now i'm not
> Do you believe it is normal to be not?
* why have you done this to me?
> You're not really talking about me, are you?
* yes, i am
> How long have you been ?
* loving you?
> Oh...  ?

Experience Design - Nathan Shedroff

I have been reading this book, which is really aimed at web designers, but has several passages that are pertinant to this project:

The elements that contribute to superior experiences are knowable and reproducible, which make them designable.

The presentation of an experience or design (it's apperance) is separate from it's organisation. For example:

Like user behaviour, experiences can be modified through awareness of their users and their environments.  In particular, experiences that modify themselves based on behaviour seem more sophisticated.  These changes might be environmental (temperature,  humidity, ambient sounds, light, time of day, and so forth), technological (bandwidth, compatibility, or performance), as well as social (number of participants, types of relationships, subject matter, interaction with others, among other factors).                                                                                             Awareness isn't necessary for experiences to be successful, but it can be a vital component of sophisticated and more personal experiences. 

The creation of identity is one of the most important aspects of our lives - certainly a key part of our personalities.  Experiences that allow us to contribute to this creation - or help us form bonds with the creators, or other participants - are often more meaningful and memorable.

Story telling is one of the oldest and still one of the most powerful, because it organises the information in a way that allows us, usually, to draw personal meaning and create knowledge.

He comments on the Simon Wiesenthal Center in LA, citing the use of three different characters representing the different design perspectives of the museum (historian, exhibit designer, and photo editor) .....perhaps this is useful for us in our targeting of three layers of information?

He also has an excellent resource of links here
 

Design Brief - Basic Text

DESIGN STATEMENT

Create a holistic brand strategy for Highwic House that preserves and elevates the historic narrative the property owns, increasing public visibility and creating a flow on of greater visitor numbers.  Increased revenue made from larger visitor numbers and takings per customer this the intended output.

DESIGN MANIFESTATION

Primarily, the reception area and interpretation room at Highwic House need to be re-invigorated.  In both of the rooms, any alterations must be reversible and non-intrusive due to the preservation status of the house.

Additionally, design material should be produced, whether physical or simulated, that that extends the integrated narrative, and allows the Highwic House management to continue the intended message into future public relations.

Nike Photo ID

Nick put me on this, I see it as a great piece of storytelling - one understands how the idea works in a natural order, and it skips steps one doesn't need to see .ie: he /she only taps one letter and the rest of the phrase fills out itself...

Interpretive planning

Lisa Brochu says the following on her site:

The experience doesn’t begin at the door or when we see our first interpreter on site. The experience begins with the idea and decision to go somewhere (even if going somewhere just means heading to a virtual activity on a website). And if we’re really good at our job, the experience doesn’t end when we drive out of the parking lot or put down the mouse. The experience continues with our memories and the thoughtful conversations or actions that take place later, sometimes later that day or maybe later that year. Ideally, we’ve planned an experience that engenders some sort of commitment on behalf of the visitor that may manifest in a variety of ways. Everything that happens in between reinforces the experience and helps communicate the message (theme) that relates to our mission.