As a group we were tasked to help the NSW EPA design a bin liner made of newspaper that would be placed inside a small benchtop organics bin. To me the design I thought had to be extremely simple. Maybe pessimistic but I felt that even just a couple of folds is too much for many people to bother to attempt. I believe the solution lied not in constructing an origami construction but in the manor of how the paper is placed within the bin. However I was alone with these thoughts in my group so we continued with the origami solution. I do think the origami solution is more effective and still very easy but I didn’t feel very confident in being able to communicate that to the public and motivate them to try and use this solution.
As a group of different specialised designers I believe we were able to use what we knew as designers to envision a user based solution to the problem given. In the early stages of the project we designed our mission statement. Which was helpful to provide clarity and guidance for each decision (Bader & Jaeger 2014). Our main concerns for the project were; clarity, Simplicity, affordability and practicality.
The brief of designing an origami paper bin liner was very direct in its objectives. In designing the liner we took great concern over the user experience. This meant not just considering what we think would be awesome or what the client wants but instead how the users will interact with our design (Gube 2010). So we needed a design simple and easy enough that people would actually be motivated enough to make it. Also we had to be able to communicate how simple this design was. We considered whole experience, from making the liner, to placing waste in the liner, to removing and discarding the liner. We made changes to the liner so that it would be strong enough to hold as much waste as what could fit in the caddy. This was a balance as if it was too complicated people would not make it in the first place but if it was not strong enough it would break on people and then they would not make it again.
By Understanding the user experience through observation and interviewing and reworking the findings into our design we would be able to impel the user to correctly dispose of organic waste. As our target users are almost everyone in NSW this meant interpreting the different reasons why different demographics don’t dispose of organic waste properly. Conducting practices of design thinking as described by Tim Brown from Harvard Business Review became a big part of this project (Brown, 2008).
Our final design fulfilled the brief outlines and was an effective design, however I do question how prevalent newspapers are these days and how this trend will continue. With more time for this project I would have liked to explored this question more thoroughly and if appropriate considered alternatives to a newspaper based liner.
Reference List
Bader C. & Jaeger M. 2004, What Makes an Interdisciplinary Team Work? A Collection of Informed Ideas, Discussion Prompts, and Other Materials to Promote an Atmosphere of Collaboration, Trust, and Respect, Pacific University, viewed 12th June 2017, <http://commons.pacificu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1051&context=ipp> >
Brown, T. 2008, Design Thinking, Hardvard Business Review, viewed 12th June 2017, <https://hbr.org/2008/06/design-thinking> >
Gube, J. 2010, What is User Experience Design? Overview, Tools and Resources, Smashing Magazine, viewed 12th June 2017, <https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/10/what-is-user-experience-design-overview-tools-and-resources/ >
Wealth From Waste 