Multi-functional Space and Folding Furniture Design Challenge
In this design challenge project, a relatively small living space (17.5 feet by 11 feet student dormitory bedroom at the University of Georgia) with some existing furniture pieces was used to design a multi-functional space. Multi-functional products (including furniture and working space) are valuable for end-users, saves the Earth’s limited resources, adds values to the products while saving consumers money; encouraging design of multiple-functional products helps to foster divergent and convergent thinking abilities and synectics thought process, and to overcome functional fixedness and thus guiding students into future engineers and designers with greater creative and innovative potentials. This design project was originally an assignment submitted for the BIE 5993 (Design Thinking in Engineering and Technology Education) course (the National Center for Engineering and Technology Education Fellowship Cohort Core Course 2) taught from the University of Minnesota (Summer 2008), a doctoral-level graduate course. This page displays images from PowerPoint slides developed for classroom presentation related to the Multi-functional Space and Furniture Design Challenge project.
Problems with the existing design include: (1) The light from supplied light bulb is too dim; (2) stacks of mail, books and papers everywhere, easy to get lost and difficult to locate what is needed; not enough space for storing books and notebooks; (3) lack of working table space for writing by hand, drawing pictures or sorting things; (4) lack of a dinning table space for myself and for entertaining friends in privacy; (5) no place to display arts and crafts works collected.
Constraints of the existing conditions and the ways to overcoming constraints include: (1) Limited time for redesign, vs. maximum use of furniture supplied by the management or available in local stores; (2) small budget for material purchase and fabrication, vs. purchase of economical furniture and materials from local stores (Lowe’s, HomeDepot, Michael, and Family Dollars); (3) not allowed to make permanent changes to the bedroom space and new furniture must be transportable and easily dismantled, vs. rearranging the positions of supplied furniture and purchase or construction of ones that can be easily disassembled.
Resources for the new design include: (1) Plenty of extra power outlets are available in the bedroom; (2) supplied furniture can be creatively rearranged.
Potential benefits for re-design include: (1) Changing a single-functional bedroom into a multiple-functional working and living space; (2) reduction of time spent looking for needed items; (3) addition of working desk space; (4) maximum time of reading, writing, typing, and drawing pictures comfortably; (5) no more books in piles; fewer small items on desk; (6) enjoying 5-minute break-time without leaving the bedroom, by listening to music or enjoying arts and crafts pieces; (7) open square footage in the bedroom during the daytime.
There are five areas of values identified by Hicks et al., and by Roberts, which affect design decision-making (Coles, R., & Norman, E. An Exploration of the Role Values Plays in Design Decision-Making. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 2005, 15:155–171):
1. Technical values (e.g., flexibility, precision and confidence);
2. Economic values (e.g., value, price and cost);
3. Aesthetic values (e.g., self expression, workmanship and proportion);
4. Moral values (e.g., impact on the environment, religion and needs);
5. Hedonic values (e.g., the senses, desires and demands) (1993).
In this design challenge project, I subscribe to the following:
1. Technical values: Simplicity and feasibility;
2. Economic values: Affordability;
3. Aesthetic values: Folkloric (simplicity combined with elegance);
4. Moral values: Progressive and humanitarian ideas of social justice and ecological stewardship;
5. Hedonic values: Ethical and moral enjoyment of life based on the principles of “deferred gratification,” and of “work before leisure.”
This project integrates (1) traditional design techniques using sketch pads and manual model building, (2) 3D modeling with CAD programs, and (3) hands-on construction of prototypes or custom-made products.
Any question? Please email me: [email protected].
Problems with the existing design include: (1) The light from supplied light bulb is too dim; (2) stacks of mail, books and papers everywhere, easy to get lost and difficult to locate what is needed; not enough space for storing books and notebooks; (3) lack of working table space for writing by hand, drawing pictures or sorting things; (4) lack of a dinning table space for myself and for entertaining friends in privacy; (5) no place to display arts and crafts works collected.
Constraints of the existing conditions and the ways to overcoming constraints include: (1) Limited time for redesign, vs. maximum use of furniture supplied by the management or available in local stores; (2) small budget for material purchase and fabrication, vs. purchase of economical furniture and materials from local stores (Lowe’s, HomeDepot, Michael, and Family Dollars); (3) not allowed to make permanent changes to the bedroom space and new furniture must be transportable and easily dismantled, vs. rearranging the positions of supplied furniture and purchase or construction of ones that can be easily disassembled.
Resources for the new design include: (1) Plenty of extra power outlets are available in the bedroom; (2) supplied furniture can be creatively rearranged.
Potential benefits for re-design include: (1) Changing a single-functional bedroom into a multiple-functional working and living space; (2) reduction of time spent looking for needed items; (3) addition of working desk space; (4) maximum time of reading, writing, typing, and drawing pictures comfortably; (5) no more books in piles; fewer small items on desk; (6) enjoying 5-minute break-time without leaving the bedroom, by listening to music or enjoying arts and crafts pieces; (7) open square footage in the bedroom during the daytime.
There are five areas of values identified by Hicks et al., and by Roberts, which affect design decision-making (Coles, R., & Norman, E. An Exploration of the Role Values Plays in Design Decision-Making. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 2005, 15:155–171):
1. Technical values (e.g., flexibility, precision and confidence);
2. Economic values (e.g., value, price and cost);
3. Aesthetic values (e.g., self expression, workmanship and proportion);
4. Moral values (e.g., impact on the environment, religion and needs);
5. Hedonic values (e.g., the senses, desires and demands) (1993).
In this design challenge project, I subscribe to the following:
1. Technical values: Simplicity and feasibility;
2. Economic values: Affordability;
3. Aesthetic values: Folkloric (simplicity combined with elegance);
4. Moral values: Progressive and humanitarian ideas of social justice and ecological stewardship;
5. Hedonic values: Ethical and moral enjoyment of life based on the principles of “deferred gratification,” and of “work before leisure.”
This project integrates (1) traditional design techniques using sketch pads and manual model building, (2) 3D modeling with CAD programs, and (3) hands-on construction of prototypes or custom-made products.
Any question? Please email me: [email protected].
Design Challenge
Design Philosophy
Design Ideation
Design Process
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Figure FT-4D. The re-designed space is multi-functional; in daytime, the mattress could be folded up against the wall, and the folding tables could be opened to house 5 to 6 students working together on homework assignment (bottom left). At night, the folding tables could be closed and the mattress could be folded down on the floor as a comfortable bed.
Design Fabrication
Design Outcomes
Suggested Project:
Given a room (dimension: 25 feet by 20 feet), design an integrated living and working space performing similar functions as in the above project, using similar traditional techniques and process (such as using notebook sheets and construction paper cutouts to create design layouts, as shown in Figure FT-3C through Figure FT-3C) and a 3D CAD modeler (Autodesk AutoCAD, Inventor, SolidWorks, Sketch-Up, and others). Scan the design layout, take screen shots of 3D CAD models (the screen shots should indicate the software used), and digital photos of completed room with purchased or fabricated furniture pieces. Email me the scanned images, screen shots and digital photos for possible publications on this website. For the protection of intellectual property rights, do NOT email the original CAD files of the 3D models, or any 2D drawing files. Please include a short paragraph stating your request and authorization to publish it on my website’s Student Works Section, including your name and the name of your school; if you want viewers to contact you through email, please indicate so. Please number your screen shots and include short paragraphs to describe the parts, subassemblies and assemblies. If your work has been recommended by your instructor, or is interesting to me, I will upload it to my website. To create a screen shot, press the Print Screen Sys Rq key on the top right corner of your keyboard to copy the screen image into the Clipboard, create a new file in Photoshop (Ctrl+n), paste the image (Ctrl+v), flatten the layers and save the file as a JPEG file; if you do not have access to Photoshop, then create a new file in Microsoft Word, paste the screen shot (Ctrl+v) and save the file.
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