PROCESS
The key to succes is hidden in the simplicity.
After a lot of research, it was time to show the rest of our class members and tutors our process until this point. We could get a Go or No Go. Matijs and Bart were our presenters for this time and took care of a clear and powerful presentation which was rewarded with a Go. We had a few questions and tips that we could use in the further project. You can find the presentation in the blog of week 6 here.
01 RESEARCH
The Global Grand Challenge took us a lot of research time. First getting to know all the Global Challenges on its own. Secondly some more specific research of a few possible challenges and third, specific research within the chosen topic. This phase was an iterative process. Sometimes we found the right way in one time, and sometimes we needed to take a step back and start over in a new direction. By taking steps back we were able to choose a topic that was not our first “easy” choice. We challenged ourselves to look further and ended up with a topic that interested us all. A solid foundation to begin the project.
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Within the research process we defined our main question that described our project.
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How might we increase the biodiversity of cities with 200.000+ citizens in the Netherlands?
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This question was chosen due to fact that the Netherlands is doing bad when it comes to biodiversity. It lost almost all its original biodiversity trough agriculture and urbanisation. Urbanisation is a strongly growing development with a lot of consequences for the near future. Because we wanted to focus on the future we chose to tackle biodiversity due to urbanisation in the biggest cities of the Netherlands.
Some of the tips we have gotten in the presentation and lessons leaded to some more research. We found out that we still needed to know a little bit more about some aspects within the theme so new research had been done. After answering some crucial questions, we decided to change our main question. In the original question, we wanted to increase the biodiversity. But after some research we noticed that this meant that we needed to bring back extinct species to the Netherlands. This was too big to tackle, that is why we changed increase in to preserve.
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How might we preserve the biodiversity of cities with 200.000+ citizens in the Netherlands?
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With all the research that have been done and the changed main question it was time to start the next phase; brainstorming.
02 BRAINSTORM
A concept for some more recognizable than others. Each team member had their own interpretation and had used it on their own way in earlier projects. When starting this phase the combining of different approaches was sometimes a challenge. But we managed to create a planning that suited all. The usage of different kinds of creative techniques triggered our brains to think different with each session. Techniques like the super hero, purge and futuristic brainstorming came by. This ended up in over 50 different ideas. A lot to choose from! That is why we used the COCD-box to narrow down all the ideas down to the useful ones.
Eventually it came down to 17 possible concepts. By voting we narrowed down the 17 concepts till 10 possible concepts. Out of these 10 concepts we decided to choose the top 5 of which we were going to discuss the possibilities. Discussing the remaining concepts helped us to quickly chose 3 possible concepts that could have an impact and has a good first sight feasibility.
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To ensure that everybody’s opinion is used in the end design, we all had to work out each concept with our personal vision. These visions were later discussed in the group so we could made a final choice. You can find more about this in the blog of week 11 here.
Our final concept in this phase is the biodiversity pillar.
03 TARGET GROUP
The next step in our process was to define our target group. Because of the big theme we waited to define the target group. All ideas in the brainstorm phase were appointed to government organisations of the cities, which made it a little unsure what target group was most influenced by our concept.
During our brainstorm session, we had the choice to combine the biodiversity pillar with an aspect of another concept. The option to design more of the less the same item for people to place at their home. By doing this, people were giving the choice to contribute to a better biodiversity in the Netherlands. This meant that we needed to focus on a specific group of people, as well as the government.
To get a better understanding of the target group we set up a little survey in which we asked their opinion on several subjects within biodiversity in the 8 cities. All the research and visions combined were the foundation of our persona.
For more information about the target group you can read the blog here.
04 SKETCHING
Not completely sure about the form and function of our chosen product, we organised another brainstorm session. Trough moodboards of three different subjects, (design, stacking options and connecting options) we started to think of the final look and technical specifications. Due to the pillar design, we’ve got the idea of using a construction around street lights. A space that is often not used and perfect as a foundation for more biodiversity.
Now it was time to design a shape that was suitable for building around a street light as well as a wall or something else. The product needed to be modular so people were giving the choice to collect and build their own biodiversity space in gardens or balconies.
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When we came up with a shape that was solid enough to stand on its own and modular for people at home, we could start with the digital drawings.
05 DIGITAL
After the concept was created with sketches on paper there was a 3 Dimensional drawing needed. The dimensions were not determined yet so we started with the main part of our product. We tried some different dimensions and you can see the immediately outcome in the 3D program. After some discussions, what dimensions were the best in the design we went further. Because the product is all about nature we wanted to create an organic form which would be also feasible in production. After the first part was drawn all edges were rounded for a better look.
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This was the basic form for the product but we also have more parts. We did the same with those parts but we needed to keep in mind that the dimensions needed to fit the main part. Also, the parts needed similar rounding’s as the main part for an overall good looking product.
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After all the individual parts were created the assembly was put together digitally. The colour and material was added and the final product was ready for the first test print and assembly.
06 TESTING
Testing the concept on such short notice was difficult. That is why we choose to contact an expert in biodiversity within urban areas, Trudo. We had the chance to present our idea to one of the directors of projects within the organisation. We discussed our concept and the possibilities and risks. This leaded to the conclusion that our concept had a high vandalism risk if we should place it around street lights. In his opinion it was better to focus on the people so they can contribute to a better biodiversity. This has a higher likeability factor and triggers people more to think about the biodiversity than when they see an object in the city centre.
After this meeting we brainstormed again about our concept, looking what our options could be this far in the process. This is where we decided to focus on the consumer and trigger them to buy our project by placing a few objects in those 8 cities for marketing and creating awareness.
07 FINAL PRODUCT
See more about Urbio here.