Pocket Things

Product Design, User Research, Fabrication

This idea grew out of my increasing frustration with myself for constantly forgetting something when I leave home (usually my wallet). Inspired by this piece created by designers Anna and Maxim Maximov, I wanted to create something that would unobtrusively remind me to keep my important things in the same place and to take them when I leave.

Role

Designer

and Fabricator

Course

Prototyping for

Interaction Design

Duration

5 weeks

Tools

Laser Cut Acrylic

and Plywood

Because of my one less LED than I originally planned,

I made a simple heart instead of the more complicated

arrow design that I was originally inspired by in the

piece by Anna and Maxim Maximov. I ended up liking this

version even better than the arrow and glued it on.

Fabrication

I decided to power my try with a wired 5V wall connection

so that it could be turned off and on externally. I filed a small

hole out the back for the wire to fit through since I did not

include that in my laser cut plans. I also ended up 3D printing

and gluing spacers on the true bottom to hold the false bottom

so that I could still access the wiring. I drilled two holes on the

bottom to be able to push the false bottom out since it was a

pretty tight fit.

I used MakerCase to create a general outline

for a box, then edited it so that I could get the

curved front lip as well as the curve to a longer

back panel. I also had to account for a false bottom,

which would give space to keep the Arduino and all

the wiring. I imagined either gluing or using screws

to attach the false bottom piece.

prototyping

wiring

Next, I worked on wiring and writing the code that would

allow the LED to be triggered by the distance sensor. I had

some difficulty in getting the blinking right (it would

continue blinking at a slower rate even if not triggered),

but eventually got all the code to work.


I also had to think about powering the Arduino and accidentally

fried one LED filament, meaning I had to rethink the shape of the

lights I was going to make.

inital research

I first conducted some initial research

through a Google survey in order to get

a general idea of the types of items that

people often carry around in their pockets,

where they keep them, and how often they

forget them.





The most common items people forgot

were their wallet, keys, and phone. People

usually currently kept those items by the

door or by their bed, but the most amount

of people did not have a designated place

for them. And over half of the participants

have left home without an important item

at least a few times a month.

first sketches

I began ideating on what this thing would look like and

how it would work. I imagined a tray or holder to be

wall-mounted or placed next to the front door. I also

imagined having LEDs that blink when a person was

coming in or leaving as an unobtrusive reminder.

Storyboarding

After interviewing 6 participants, I

found that all liked either the proximity

sensor or the door sensor the most.

Some people were worried about being

able to put other things into the tray

with the RFID sensor.

In my first round of user evaluation, I

created 3 storyboards surrounding the

journey a user would take in interacting

withthe tray involving different types

of sensors.

I also heard suggestions for other types

of interactions, such as pressure plates,

as well as having different types of

notifications other than an arrow LED,

like having different lights for different

objects, or using sound.

final prototype

form evaluation

From what I gathered in my first round of

research, I decided to go with a simple distance

sensor on the side of the tray that would

theoretically be activated when you enter and

when you leave. The sensor would trigger a

blinking LED that would catch your attention.

Next, I did another round of evaluation on

the form of the tray itself. I wanted to get

feedback on height and depth of the tray,

the material, andoverall shape. I created two

sketches covering a variety of materials and

shapes. I interviewed 5 participants and

received consensus that the size made sense

and most people like the opening lip in the

front rather than a flat panel or netting. I

decided to go with the curved front lip but

with ahigher back to give space for the LEDs.