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How can products be used to improve a teenager's study area at home? -…
How can products be used to improve a teenager's study area at home?
Client - Teenagers
Hobbies
Sports
Art
Cooking/baking
Entertainment
Movies
Music
Social Media
Video games
Age range
13-19
Comfort
Chair: Is is tall/short enough so their feet can lay flat on the gorund?
Posture: Do they have to lean their head forward to look at their laptop/paper
Desk: is it big enough for their size?
Lighting
Lamp?
Must have more than one function, too basic on its own.
Speaker?
USB charging?
Can hold other items? (small storage space)
LED lights on the back wall?
Allows for the entire room to appear a certain color or lights up the wall nearest to the desk well.
Distractions
Phones
Laptops
Food cravings
Friends? (If not in study group)
Desk
Things to put on desk
Whiteboard for rough notes/drawings
Bluetooth speakers?
Could cause distractions in some cases
Stationary holder for pencils/pens/etc
Laptop kickstand
Allows for good posture as laptop will be around eye level with the consumer.
Foot stool?
Under the desk - allows for feet to reach the ground comfortably.
Shelf/filling unit to store books/notes/papers
Safety
Edges and corners of product - should be sanded/chamfered. This also makes the product look more aesthetically pleasing.
Product is heavy enough so it doesn't tip/fall over on the desk.
If plastics are used, they should be non-toxic in case they are found by a child, the product should still be safe around them.
If wires are used in the product, they should be concealed properly to ensure the client doesn't get electrocuted.
Manufacturing
Materials
Plastic, woods, metals
Thermosetting plastics will be a better choice over a thermoforming plastic because if lots of heat is applied to it, the form of the plastic will change (this is because thermoforming plastics do not have crosslinks in their structure)
Hardwoods such as oak and mahogany are expensive but have a very attractive grain when finished. They are mainly used for high-end furniture. Other softwoods such as pine are easy to work and not as expensive because they grow quickly.
Acrylic is tough, easily finished, easily cleaned and easily scratched.
Oak is strong, durable, hard to work with and corrodes iron.
Aluminum is ductile and easy to machine. It's a reliable and easy to use metal. It's lightweight but has an excellent strength-to-weight ratio. Aluminum is non-ferrous so it cannot rust when exposed to moisture.
Pine is very durable, easy to work, quite cheap, reasonably strong, can warp/crack and splinter.
Stainless steel is corrosion resistant, hard, tough, magnetic, resists wear and is hard to cut.
MDF is cheap, easy to paint/stain, easy to machine and it can blunt tools.
Aesthetics
Design trends
Minimalism
A minimalistic design usually only prioritises the essential function of a product whilst avoiding any unnecessary things.
Contemporary
A contemporary design focuses on using simplicity, clear lines and a little bit of urbanity.
Modern
Simplistic design, appeals to a certain percentage of the target demographic (more catered towards adults than teenagers?)
Function
Primary function:
Must aid teenagers in studying/organising their study space.
Store books
Prevent distractions
Store notes
Make the area more comfortable/easy to focus in
Environment
Bedroom
Dining room
Living room
Office/study room
Ergonomics
Anthropometrics
Arm length, height, hand size, thumb breadth, neck length.
The final product must take these into account so that the client is able to use the product comfortably. This means that I will have to design it to match that of a young teenager. In order to do this, I will have to research the anthropometric sizes of males aged 13-15 years old. This will allow the product to be used easily by the client.
Psychology
Certain shapes are associated with desk products. The shape should be cubic/cylindrical which can be generic however the product needs to come across as familiar so the client would like to buy it. This depends on the material choice, shape, proportions, etc. Aesthetics will play a large part in the psychological features of the product.
Physiology
Clean finish, high quality wood, materials cut with high levels of accuracy, 'fancy' look.
In order for physiology to be seen as a product that is high quality, it must meet the criteria of a number of different factors that make a product seem higher class. The factors I have outlined will affect how the customer feels due to their upper-class feeling.
Environment of use
Study room/office
Dining room
Bedroom
Living room