Month: February 2016

Siqi Wang

The initial idea came from my curiosity of transforming the properties between “hard“ and “soft“. So I have seat cushion as my original object. Working with wood board, I’m trying to add another layer of information to the object which will make the soft cushion visually hard, but potentially responsive and deformed. I designed some possible patterns as a way to divide the wood board. Eventually, the wood pieces were attached to the cushion.

When my audiences first saw the new object, they thought it’s hard and wood made product. Then, I ask them to press on the surface of it. They realized it’s actually responsive and not “rigid“. I asked if they would still want to use it as a seat cushion. They said definitely “NO“ (it will poke them). Their suggestion is about how to make it playful and interactive, which also could be used for pets (they may want to stay on it).

I borrowed my friend’s cat to test out if she likes the new object for her. She shows great curiosity on it, but hesitant to stand on it at first. When she found out it’s safe, she became more active and plays with it.

Wenqin Chen

Trash bags usually evoke negative emotions from people, as it is associated with garbage, decay, unpleasant smell, and bad hygiene. I wanted to make a fashionable skirt out of trash bags. I hoped that the skirt would make people re-associate trash bags with fashion and beauty, and transform trash bags into something beautify and desirable.
When I presented my skirt to the class, I was able to accomplish the intended outcome. I first asked the audience about their association for trash bags, the words thrown out were along the line of decay and disgust. Then a volunteer put on the trash bag skirt, many audience member uttered “wow”; one student commented that the dress reminded him of fashion icon Lady Gaga and he liked the dress. Two students commented that dress “looked like leather”. These comments indicated the audience saw the trash bag skirt as a fashion item instead of an object associated with garbage.
This project made me realize that trash bags are great materials for practicing fashion design, as they provide large canvases that can be easily cut and joined together. Their texture is sturdy enough to hold shapes, and as a bonus, they are dirt cheap and available everywhere! Kids should use trash bags to build their own dream clothes.

Jason Wen

Inspired by my walk to the Berkeley BART station past both a bar and a bakery, I combined the visual and olfactory experiences of smoking and freshly baked pastries to create a cigarette-pierced bun. The original blueberry and cream cheese bun brings up associations of pleasure, a pick-me-up, a smile, warmth, and family. However, the soot covered bun brings up associations of confusion, questions, and a suggestion of darker themes. The combination brings up associations of waste, deliberate or accidental harm or loss of value, carelessness.

My initial thoughts was to leverage this association as an anti-smoking strategy: replacing ash trays with ones that reminded the smoker of objects that smoking would be damaging e.g. taste (ask tray would look like a pastry or pasta), health (tray would resemble a clock or lungs), earth (plant, animal). But probing deeper, the smoker is often aware of those costs. However, the benefits of smoking still outweighs those costs. So the design must eliminate the value of the routine of lighting a cigarette and smoking.

1) The cigarette is designed for a slow burn, allowing the user to enjoy the ritual for several minutes. An instantaneous flammable cigarette that burns into ash in 2 seconds would fundamentally change the experience of smoking and provide no time for enjoying the smoke. 2) We would replace the value of a cigarette by replacing the tobacco leaves with a firecracker or with a marshmallow. This provides the user the same routine of lighting an object but either ends with a light show or tasty treat. 3) Exploring a haptic analysis of the cigarette paper, the current texture is clean, familiar (paper), almost natural. We can bring on associations of combustion, ignition, smoke fumes, industry, and cold steel by replacing the paper with a metal tubing. Even the consequent heating of the metal and burning of the lips can be a useful haptic association. 4) What value do cigarettes provide for the user? Relieving an addiction to nicotine, an opportunity to break from their problems and routine. We take away that value by reminding users that smoking generates more problems. We design a cigarette that melts and drips paint as it is smoked. However, paint stains has a metaphor of childhood accidents and minimizes the severity of smoking to that of an inconvenience. More extreme would use corrosive acid. 4) In order to strengthen the association of cigarette smoke to toxicity and use the metaphor of the color green, we design cigarette smoke to be green rather than the more benign gray color.

The cigarette has been really well designed. From the visual (small, efficient) to haptic to cultural associations, the smoking industry created a product that delivers value with very few obstacles. How can we decrease that value or create a worse user experience?

Owen Hsiao-Unexpected Objects Part 2

My original object was an orange that I got from I-House. When I think about oranges, I always associated with its edible properties. As a result, some of my original associations with the object include orange juice, Sunkist, orange Fanta, etc. Wheat I intended to do was to change this object from its original purpose to other purposed like decoration purpose. And, I though about how Jack O’ Lantern turns pumpkin into a decoration, so I begin to draw a face on the orange and was going to carve it. But then, orange tend to be a pretty popular item in the I-House dinning hall and sold out quick. I kinda wanted to eat it afterwards so I didn’t really crave it. However, the smiley face on the orange is still serves its decoration purpose well without questions. Now when I see this orange I associate it with smile, fun, energetic, and other positive personality characters. The change gives the orange the kind of association that I didn’t perceive before.
Finally, in our last lecture, Emily Paul suggested that it will be really interesting to see this orange to be put back into the dinning hall next to other normal fruits. I took the suggestion and put it back in to the fruit tray in my dinning hall and took a picture. I think the result was interesting. What do y’all think?!

Andrew Lambert

I described my Unexpected Object, the “ketchup-in-a-body-lotion-dispenser abomination” in last week’s blog post: https://blogs.ischool.berkeley.edu/i265s16/2016/02/19/andrew-lambert-3/ Pictures of the original are below, and you can also see the modified object in-context.

Next, I decided to place my abomination in-context to see how people interpreted it. I bought some French fries and took them to unsuspecting participants in the student lounge. I sought to compare people’s associations between ketchup packets and my abomination. I offered people the following scenario: you’re going to eat these French fries. Here are some ketchup packets. What are your associations with ketchup packets? Next, I revealed my abomination. What are your associations with this?

I was successful because people thought what I was created was “gross”. However, it was gross for a reason different from what I thought. People didn’t seem bothered by the spa brand, because they didn’t have strong associations with it. (Perhaps a Dove body lotion container would’ve had a stronger association?) Instead, they were “freaked out” that the ketchup had been removed from its “sterile” and “hermetically sealed” container (the ketchup packets) and transferred into a new one. One participant explained that he he finds it “gross” when his wife moves food and sauces into new containers.

After the study, I threw the ketchup-covered abomination in the trash so I wouldn’t risk contaminating my backpack with it. Let us never speak of this unholy creature again.

Joshua Appleman

I started this project by rummaging through my Halloween costumes for an object that had strong symbolic representations. I ended up choosing a wig because they have a rich history of being used to show one’s social status. For hundreds of years they were worn by kings, judges and the aristocracy as a sort of fashion statement separating the haves from the have nots. Since wealthier people wore them, they were typically well maintained and clean.

I wanted to repurpose the object for a function that had the opposite associations, so I transformed it into a feather duster. Whereas wigs are extraordinary, cherished and associated with power, feather dusters are mundane, filthy and associated with subservience. My aim was to flip around associations so spectators could better recognize the material properties of the object rather than what it represented as a symbol. The audience seemed to appreciate the simplicity and clarity of the transformation.

Alexander Jones

Unexpected Object Part 2

For my unexpected object, I chose a brown ceramic bowl. The bowl is from IKEA and is regular-sized, about 5.5 inches in diameter and 2.5 inches deep. Typical associations with bowls are that they’re used to hold cereal, soup, and other foods, both hot and cold. They are also often associated with a feeling of comfort in the home, including cooking, happiness, and family. One might also think of bowls as associated with relaxation and healing when they’re filled with hot chicken noodle soup. These associations were echoed by the class when I presented the bowl to them and asked people to call out associations that came to mind.

In a more abstract sense, bowls are typically used to hold or contain physical items. For my manipulated object, I wanted to contrast this typical sense and demonstrate how an object can be used in a different context for a different purpose without having to manipulate it in any material way. Just like most people, I love music and love making playlists on Spotify. But perhaps not like everyone, I have been a copyeditor for a music publication, I have run my own music blog, I have created music, and I have experience being a DJ. I often find myself ‘DJing’ parties or gatherings by playing music on my phone. However, not all places have a proper stereo through which to play music, and the volume of my phone is often not enough to overcome the volume of conversation. This situation is where a bowl has served me well many times before. My trick is to place my phone inside the bowl, shifting the bowl’s utility from a container of physical things to a projector of non-physical things – that is, sound waves. In this way, I have thus transformed an ordinary bowl into an unexpected acoustic amplifier. It is like having a miniature amphitheater in your kitchen. Who needs an expensive sound system, anyway? In a real bind, even a plastic Solo© cup can be used in place of the hardier ceramic bowl, though with lesser effect.

When I demonstrated this new use for the common bowl in class, I could tell that many students were surprised. The raised eyebrows and open mouths of some students indicated to me they had never seen such a thing. I could tell by the upturned mouth corners and smiling eyes on the faces of others that they had clearly seen, or even used, this exact trick before, but were still surprised to be seeing it again in a classroom setting. I would guess that both kinds of surprise were possible because I had, not 15 seconds before, just asked everyone to put into their minds the things they normally associated with bowls. To this point, I think that this kind of explicit mental or physical priming followed by immediate juxtaposition is an effective measure for inducing maximum surprise. I would also imagine that many students in the class would now associate bowls with music, phones, Spotify, parties, dancing, talking, laughter, smiling, and friends. Several students told me after class that they were, indeed, surprised by my ‘stereo bowl,’ so I would confidently say that my intended effect was achieved.

Ursula Kwong-Brown

Object: kitchen grater

Characteristics of the original object: a culinary device that shreds cheese and vegetables. Not fancy, very functional. Utilitarian.

Characteristics of the new object: a jewelry display device. Still functional, but much more fancy! Instead of being associated with potatoes and parmesan, it is now associated with hair clips, bracelets (hidden inside), dangly, sparkling earrings, titanium and gold necklaces.

The first comment that I received from the audience was “Can you use it for post earrings?” This question made me happy because it was clear that the person had fully accepted the new functionality of the cheese grater, and was even hoping to carry it one step further! In fact, it does work for post earrings, but I didn’t bring any to class because they fall off easily.

The second comment that I received from the class was: “has it changed your perception of the original object?” This question caught me by surprise, as I had never thought about it before. In fact, my perception of kitchen graters has changed in that I’ve realized they are not very sharp! I used to think they were much too sharp to trust with my expensive jewelry, but the truth is that graters cut vegetables because of the force the user exerts, not their intrinsic sharpness.

My intended outcome was accomplished. I successfully found a new functionality for a an already-useful device! I’ve bought myself two graters: one for the kitchen, and one for the bedroom. It’s a very space-efficient way to display my jewelry.

Daniel Brenners

The battery, specifically the AA battery, has an immediately recognizable shape. It’s become a universal symbol of electrical energy and an icon on our mobile phones. However, as well as it’s shape is known, it is only distantly related to its actual function. Of course it must be made to fit inside electronic devices, but the barrel shape of the battery is somewhat arbitrary. Instead of seeing the battery for its function, I wanted to specifically take advantage of this form.

I decided to combine three batteries into a long cylinder shape to create a writing utensil. In this way, the battery loses all ability to function as it once did. It now solely relies on its form to carry out this new affordance. I like this transformation because it turns what is typically seen as a digital object into more of an analog tool. It also no longer supports other objects from hidden compartments. Instead of empowering another tools, it becomes the tool to be used.

Yang Tan

Original Object: Tea Candle (brown, cinnamon-spice scented)
Original characteristics & properties: wax portion is round, symmetrical and smoothly shaped, in line with the candle holder. Able to be lit. Pleasantly scented (cinnamon spice)
Original emotions & associations: warmth, comfort, romance, happiness, positive ambience, mesmerizing soft light, home, fire (and thus potential).

New Object: Wax model of a whimsical poo, shaped from the wax from the candle, in the candle base (still cinnamon-spice scented)
New characteristics & properties: wax portion more organic/asymmetrically shaped (into pyramidal poo pile shape). No longer follows shape of the candle holder but sits in it. More fragile. Not able to be lit. Still pleasantly scented.
New emotions & associations: disgust, mischievousness, bathroom, harsh light (as found in a bathroom), finished/done (no potential).

About:
I had a hoard of very positive associations and emotions with the scented tea candle, which evoked home, romance, and happiness. I wanted to break that positive emotional association as much as was possible, within the medium of the object. Because of its form factor (roundish, and brown), a mischievous voice in the back of my head suggested that I try to shape it into the shape of a whimsical poo, which was inspired by whimsical toys I’d seen in Japan [similar example image also attached].

Because of my high level of negative associations and disgust with actual poo, I felt that this was a strongly negative association such that resembling it (even a small amount) would conjure some degree of disgust or negative emotion in the viewer. Furthermore, there was an interesting tension that is created because the smell is still that of the original candle. So if you interacted with the new object long enough and smelled the wax, you would be driven to want to smell it because of the scent and have positive associations, which clashes with your sight (glistening brown turd) and also what you expect the smell to be because of the visual.

Thus, the changing of the shape from candle to poo already creates an uncomfortableness, which is then heightened by the discordant smell that was not changed. As I talked about, it was even hard for me to bring it to my nose to try to smell it (because of the mental image of what that act would be if the poo was real).

In terms of audience feedback, I was one of the last people to present in the class so there wasn’t time for much in-depth interaction with the audience. Lisa mentioned mischievousness in relation to poo, which I definitely felt when I was making it. So I supplemented by asking more peers outside of the class to give feedback. The feedback was that the poo was quite realistic looking, and people had the proper associations with poo I’d imagined. Also people tended to have similar associations with the original candle to my own (if not as many associations, still positive – warmth and fire and soft light was predominant). In addition to the normal associations with poo that they had, it was interesting to hear that for the candle they associated with “potential”, because the wick can be lit, so the candle had potential to become something, whereas the poo did not (was already final state). This was a change in association beyond what I had thought of. Also some people associated bathrooms with harsh fluorescent light, and they associated the candle with soft pleasant light, which was another reversal of association to add to the reversals I had planned. Due to this feedback I think the changing and reversing of the associations was successful.