Phonebook - An Industrial Design Project

Matt Marchand The Phonebook Prototyping / 137

The Phonebook Adv. Prototyping DSID 137 / 2017

Marchand

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Objective Design a phone accessory with an emphasis on prototyping.

Scavenger Hunt The design process began with an idea generating exercise known as a “scavenger hunt.� This prompted some of the earliest concepts, the most intruiging being an etch-a-sketch case.

Brainstorm Working with peers to get more eyes on the problem helped generate new ideas, expand the perspective, and explore different applications.

The Favorite Most ideas revolved around this simple plastic film laid over a waxed sheet of cardstock. When drawn on, the plastic would stick to the waxy surface, recording whatever marks were made. “Erasing� simply involved rolling your palm across the screen to seperate the two layers.

Design + Direction Brainstorming helped refine the scavenger hunt ideas into a new approach for note-taking and sketching on-the-go, Inspired by low-tech children’s toys, this accessory takes users away from tech distractions and drives focus back on the subject-matter.

Early Mockups Many discoveries were made by crafting the parts and exploring form and function. User testing proved the tri-panel design to be the most comfortable in any note-taking postion.

Feedback Meeting at IDEO with industry professionals was an amazing opportunity.

Experts with decades of practice took time to look at our mockups, ask questions and make insightful suggestions to help develop our projects further.

Final Direction A low powered e-ink notebook for phones that gives users a simple tool to plan, sketch, or record thoughts. This tool would encourage a more analog approach to note-taking with all the same great digital features.

How It Works The E-ink screen, in conjunction with the pen provides a low powered, high accuracy experience for users. When closed the Phonebook stores all the information at no extra energy expense to the battery.

E-Ink & Final Mockups Using fabric on the back gave the case a seamless, flexible surface while also making the design more inviting. Getting the E-Ink screens to look realistic was very difficult since they had to be thin enough for the book to close but thick enough to look like they had depth. The final screen was comprised of three layers - black paper, thick marker vellum and textured plasti-wrap.

Tolerances Getting everything to fit together meant paying attention to the details. The exact location of buttons and ports had to be in all the right places for the pieces to come together successfully.

Making It .A final model not only has to look nice, it has to incorporate all the functions and features developed from the mockups.

Being patient and methodical during this time was critical to making sure the phone would fit precisely.

Bondo. James Bondo.

When it came to making a high precision model I realized I was not nearly as suave as the inaternational man of mystery. This meant using every tool at my disposal to get a clean result.

With high attention to detail, sanding and patching became an iterative technique to achieve the final finish.

The Phonebook

With you when you need it.

1. Quick notes Phone backs have long been neglected - put the “always on” screen to use by jotting down to-do lists and reminders.

2. Flip to book Open up to utilize the bi-fold notebook. Handy for when you need more screen space but don’t have a solid surface nearby

3. Sketching Work comfortably anywhere on a space the size of a standard notebook sheet.

4. Pull to open Pull the red tab to open the bi-fold into a tri-fold workspace.

4. Workspace Sketch and annotate as needed on the e-ink screens.

No matter what, your work is saved and safely recorded.

5. Office on the go Need to reference an image or email? Use the phone in conjunction with the book to maximize your work flow.

Make your mark.

Thank you