Summary
Research Synthesis Design Solution

Design

03 Physical Form

We had so many ideas about how the physical form should look! We wanted the form to allow and encourage a girl to wear the player on the outside of her purse or clothing, rather than being hidden away. To ensure wearability, the player had to be small and light, and have a simple design that can match any outfit or style. We also wanted the player to have retractable earbuds, which places a size constraint on the player - it must be large enough to house all the extra wire, and the earbuds! We considered wireless headphones to rid ourselves of this constraint, but the form for the earbuds then would have to be larger in order to accommodate the wireless receivers. We also had user data that support the fact that wireless earbuds were too problematic.

Below are images and sketches from our final physical design session. This was after we had presented our initial form, which looked something like a cellphone. In this session, we strove for a more interesting shape, and turned to anthropomorphic forms to inspire us - most specifically a shell. The final prototype was made in clay, painted with white spray paint, and decorated with shimmery nailpolish.

DSCN0080 DSCN0081 DSCN0083
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PLAYER3 DSCF0013 physical_with_screen
product-1 DSCF0019 DSCF0021

IID 2005 . Human-Computer Interaction Institute . Carnegie Mellon University