El Rakeinator 6000

We spent this unit discussing and learning about the basics of design, like the general process, how to test if a design is effective, and how to survey to find out what a design should be. For this project we had to design a gardening tool with making it useful specifically for an elderly person in mind. We used principles of empathetic design to accomplish this. Empathetic design is designing while putting the needs of the user as a priority. To research what tools are doing well and what we could improve, we conducted interviews with gardeners. I interviewed my dad, who is an avid backyard gardener. He told me that he likes gardening recreationally as a sort of emotional output. He said that his main issue with tools is misplacing them. He also said he has some trouble planting smaller seeds since they are harder to see and keep track of. We also went to Home Depot to conduct research. My partner AG and I learned rakes are primarily made of either metal or plastic. They are usually pretty tall, and they either come in a fan shape or a shorter comblike shape. Our new tool is also a rake. It is designed with a hooked rubber grip for easy holding, and it adjusts length so that people of a wider variety of heights can use it. It is made of a fanned part for raking, a long handle that the end can go into for slimmer storage, and a rubber handle. Our rake uses a lever and a fulcrum, because when the person using it places their hand on the pole to hold it, their hand becomes the fulcrum of it.

 

As a class, we learned about how designers use the design process to conduct research and improve their ideas. It was very interesting to think about this in the context of products we all encounter in our day to day lives. It was easy to collect research, since there are so many resources online. It was difficult to try to think of a way to redesign the rake that was both unique and more functional. It’s difficult to escape the engrained ideas of what tools “should” look like, but once I got a decent idea it was easy to expand on it. If I did it again, I would’ve wanted the chance to interview more people on gardening, but I am still pretty happy with how it turned out.