Hi all, I need a little help for my Final Year Project my BA(HONS) course. The project requires high level of research, and certain level of problem solving. I’m struggling for new fresh ideas.
The only thing that I have in mind now is to design a modular backpack for backpackers.
Aims:
To correct the posture of carrying the pack.
To increase the ease of accessing the contents in the bag.
To cover certain necessities like water, food, and medication.
My general aim is to increase and enhance the user experience of these travellers. I need some comments for this. My lecturer doesnt really like the idea because there are so many other good backpacks around.
Also, are there any other interesting topics/areas of research that you guys have??
Problem finding is one of the most valuable skills a designer can have. I would recommend that you look at your own passions. What do you want to spend your final year designing? What do you think you could improve? Don’t just ask for suggestions and pick a topic someone else gives you. For example, Sain/Emmanuel is doing his senior thesis on prosthetic. He is an amputee himself - perfect project with tons of room for innovation! I never found a cell phone I was happy with, so I designed a new one for my thesis.
I personally find that it is extremely important that products have an optimum user experience for people, which includes good aesthethics, usabilities, and functionalities. That is why i thought of designing something to improve the overall experience of travelers when they are in their trips.
The first sentence you said is so, so broad. Any project could do that. Do you like traveling? Is that something you are passionate about and want to spend months researching, designing, developing? If the answer is no, then look elsewhere.
I suggest exactly what Tarng is saying, do something that interests you (and narrow it down).
A simple tip that I’ve been doing for some time:
Just start writing down a list of things, unfortunately if this project is during this semester, it is a bit late, so make it quick!
I’m a junior, and I’ve currently got 3 things that I can foresee myself spending an entire semester designing on for my senior thesis. All of the projects I’ve written down are of particular interest to me. They come to me from either flaws I’ve found in the systems over the years that I’ve observed or just by pure enthusiasm for the product. Every once in a while I come up with contacts that will be able to help me flourish the ideas and I write those down too. I do this for regular projects that I’m working on too. It’s a great habit to have where you can go back and evaluate (or simply remember) your thoughts.
I think a very good idea for backpacks is to simplify them waaaaaay down. Being a student at a school with lots of woods, mountains etc a lot of us go camping around the area, however many of my friends do not use the hip belt, or chest straps that are on so many backpacks. They claim that they do not work at all and they feel no difference between belt or no belt. Making a backpack with straps that looks clean (not ten skinny pieces of material hanging down looking like a mess and tangling up). The best metaphor I can make is what apple did for phones with the Iphone. They took away all the other “features” that other companies were cluttering the interfaces on their phones and people loved the simplicity. Maybe try incorporating the hip belt into the shoulder straps and making the whole backpack seem more as one peice of material vs a bag with two straps.