THE NAME
Initially I went with various synonyms of words 'make-up' and 'holder' , looked at the words' origin where possible , to try and come up with an original name .
However, I quickly realised that might not be the right way to go . I have originally wanted to create a whole set of all kinds of handy storage for make-up and bathrooms, but for the purpose of the course had narrowed it down to just one type of container - the cotton pads holder.
Therefore, what I needed to create was not just a name for that one product, but a name for a whole line of products that would (in an ideal world) serve as the brand name.
At the end I have rewatched the lectures for this week and realised that the answer was staring me right in the face:
I needed to work with acronyms .
The very first one that I came up with was the one that I decided to keep as my brand name:
Make Up Storage Solutions = M.U.S.S.
In other words, MUSS - I have checked and even though the domain with an ending .com is already taken , my country of residency ending is available . So far so good.
I want my MUSS brand to be fun and for people to see it that way, so as a possibility for future names of other makeup storage items I thought this brand name can be used as a play on words.
For example , for small bathroom bins the name can be 'Everything MUSS Go' , for small bathroom mirrors ' MUSS Be Pretty' ,
Now back to the actual artefact I have been working on all this time, the cotton pads holder, the name for that is 'MUSS Hold On', and then if I ever create other holders / containers, I can refer to them as 'editions' - for example this particular holder would become ' cotton pads edition' .
Initially I went with various synonyms of words 'make-up' and 'holder' , looked at the words' origin where possible , to try and come up with an original name .
However, I quickly realised that might not be the right way to go . I have originally wanted to create a whole set of all kinds of handy storage for make-up and bathrooms, but for the purpose of the course had narrowed it down to just one type of container - the cotton pads holder.
Therefore, what I needed to create was not just a name for that one product, but a name for a whole line of products that would (in an ideal world) serve as the brand name.
At the end I have rewatched the lectures for this week and realised that the answer was staring me right in the face:
I needed to work with acronyms .
The very first one that I came up with was the one that I decided to keep as my brand name:
Make Up Storage Solutions = M.U.S.S.
In other words, MUSS - I have checked and even though the domain with an ending .com is already taken , my country of residency ending is available . So far so good.
I want my MUSS brand to be fun and for people to see it that way, so as a possibility for future names of other makeup storage items I thought this brand name can be used as a play on words.
For example , for small bathroom bins the name can be 'Everything MUSS Go' , for small bathroom mirrors ' MUSS Be Pretty' ,
Now back to the actual artefact I have been working on all this time, the cotton pads holder, the name for that is 'MUSS Hold On', and then if I ever create other holders / containers, I can refer to them as 'editions' - for example this particular holder would become ' cotton pads edition' .
THE ARTIFACT
My gap is a cotton pads holder.
I wanted to create a holder that was horizontal and could keep my cotton pads easily accessible in my bathroom.
The key user needs are as follows:
- the holder is visually pleasing
- the holder can be operated with just one hand
- it can be moved and is not permanently fixed
- it is not expensive
- the design and material is relatively sturdy
In my alpha prototype I identified problems with one of the holder's parts and have refined two slight variations of that part for the beta prototype.
Here is my MUSS Hold On beta prototype :
My gap is a cotton pads holder.
I wanted to create a holder that was horizontal and could keep my cotton pads easily accessible in my bathroom.
The key user needs are as follows:
- the holder is visually pleasing
- the holder can be operated with just one hand
- it can be moved and is not permanently fixed
- it is not expensive
- the design and material is relatively sturdy
In my alpha prototype I identified problems with one of the holder's parts and have refined two slight variations of that part for the beta prototype.
Here is my MUSS Hold On beta prototype :
Beta with a thick inner pad   | Beta with a padded inner pad   |
The artifact consists of two parts: (1) a container that holds the cotton pads and has an opening on one end (2) a moving pad that keeps the cotton pads straight and keeps them close to the opening
The pads above move inside the container in order to move along the cotton pads towards the opening so that the user can take out the cotton pads easily.
The thick inner pad gives the stability (that my alpha prototype was lacking) but I will have to carry out more user tests to see if the pad is too thick to fit comfortable between user's fingers.
The padded inner pad is lighter and more comfortable in use, but in my eyes is a bit ugly in design. I might have to carry out a users' questionnaire to determine whether this design is visually pleasing.
Here are the two pads together:
The pads above move inside the container in order to move along the cotton pads towards the opening so that the user can take out the cotton pads easily.
The thick inner pad gives the stability (that my alpha prototype was lacking) but I will have to carry out more user tests to see if the pad is too thick to fit comfortable between user's fingers.
The padded inner pad is lighter and more comfortable in use, but in my eyes is a bit ugly in design. I might have to carry out a users' questionnaire to determine whether this design is visually pleasing.
Here are the two pads together:
THE CONCLUSION
As I have learned over the course lectures designing an artefact is not a linear process, it is instead full of going back and forth .
This is exactly what happened in my case, I have managed to narrow down the design of the actual container part but at the same time have uncovered problems with the pad and its design.
This probably means that most stages that I have gone through will have to be repeated, but now just for this small part of my artifact - the inner moving pad.
I will have to have more users' feedback and probably might come up with different designs for this part, just to make sure I have the best solution.
Once the final design on all parts has been decided, if I was to try and actually take this artifact into production, i would have to look (probably through Alibaba online resource ) for a manufacturing facility and order an experimental batch. Try this batch on as many friends and colleagues as I could find. Make changes in design if needed and then try and create an online shop or to go through an existing online store.
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