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The Clawforde

Welcome back to my blog. This post is for the first Action Project of the STEAM class Design and Engineering. In this class we observed garden tools and learned how they are only fit for a specific audience. We examined a few tools and investigated how they could be remodeled to consider empathy and serve all customers. Empathy is putting yourself in another person’s situation and sharing feelings with them. We planted some flowers outside the school building to see how different tools have a certain purpose and later had a Field Experience at Home Depot to help us choose a tool that would be the core of this Action Project. I also interviewed a gardener who does hydroponics and he talked to me about the tools he uses and how they could be made better. This AP was asking us to redesign a tool so an elderly person would have an easier time using it. An elderly person is a unique audience because there are not many products designed for the elderly and it may make gardening a little easier for them. Products could also be made with the purpose of being usable by elderly people but also usable for everyone. Empathy relates to this project because we have to understand how a product may not work for an elderly person and feel how it is difficult to use. To observe this work I have prepared a slideshow containing visuals for the garden tool and some math to explain the dimensions of it. 

For the interview during this unit, I spoke to my neighbor who does hydroponics. The purpose of the interview was to ask a gardener about their tools and if they thought the tools could be made better. While we were talking I learned about what hydroponics requires and how the constant checks of nutrient and water levels can be difficult to keep up with. The tools my interviewee uses are a hose and a nutrient sensor. The nutrient sensor measures the amount nutrients in the water and the hose is for filling the plant pots with water. When I asked what they thought could be made better about the tools they use, they had a couple ideas. First, the sensor could be digital and kept in the water at all times. The sensor could also be made to measure the water level and be connected to a phone so seeing the measurements would be easier from a distance. Second, the hose could be improved by being connected to all of the pots and set on an automatic timer that could fill all of the pots without the gardener being there. This way, someone who might not be able to water the plants for a day or two could ultimately keep their garden. My interviewee also said, "Gardening can be very relaxing but shouldn't be a chore to maintain." This really stood out and stuck with me for the design of the Clawforde. When you are gardening, taking care of weeds can feel like a chore but I wanted to see if I could make the task not as meticulous. I hope that the electric components can reimagine pulling weeds so a chore wouldn't be the description.



Overall, I had a lot of fun working on this project. I could not have done it all myself and I am grateful for having a partner to build the idea with. I learned a lot more about the math portion just because there was a new math problem I had to solve. While this was a bit difficult, I pushed ahead to try to work things out and I eventually was able to solve it. I don't think I would do anything differently with this Action Project except add more time because we could put some more time into the design and see if anything could be changed. I think the added time would enhance the quality of the garden tool. I am very proud of our visuals because the storyboard drawings were made by my partner and I worked on the coloring which we both think turned out amazing. I do not think of myself as a great artist but when I think of designing something that comes into my head I spend a lot of time trying to draw it out and eventually I think it looks good even if it serves no purpose. I am grateful we had the chance to go to Home Depot and look at all the different tools and especially the weed pullers, so we could create our idea. This AP was very fun and I hope you enjoyed seeing our redesigned weed puller. Thank you for reading and I hope to see you in the next blog post.


Sources:  

"Learn the six principles to work differently." Work Differently, https://www.salesforce.com/workdifferently/principles/, Accessed 1 Oct. 2021

"MAX 43.75 in. WeedDESTROYER Weeder." HomeDepot, https://www.homedepot.com/p/Corona MAX-43-75-in-WeedDESTROYER-Weeder-LG13655/314032781?MERCH=REC-_-searchViewed-_-NA-_-314032781-_-N&, Accessed 1 Oct. 2021

Norman, Don. "I wrote the book on user-friendly design. What I see today horrifies me." Fast Company, 8 Mar. 2019, https://www.fastcompany.com/90338379/i-wrote-the-book-on-user-friendly-design-what-i-see-today-horrifies-me?utm_source=nextdraft&utm_medium=email. Accessed 1 Oct. 2021
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