Project 2 design research - 2024
Project name: “Ceramics: a suitable replacement for plastic?
Co-designers: -
Grade: P
Expertise Areas: CA / TR / US
Project description
The researcher was interested in changes in behaviour caused by materials, seeing if rematerialisation can influence people’s perception, interaction, and behaviour towards the object. A ceramic computer mouse was fabricated to create this interplay between a delicate and fragile material, and an object which is usually not cared about that much.
Using a field approach and a diary study, data was gathered. The participants appreciated the attention to detail and crafty aspect of the ceramic mouse, but found the transport and the handling of the mouse a bit awkward. Therefore, they suggested using ceramics for stationary objects, and (in this case) plastic for more dynamic objects.
Reflection
This project introduced me to the field approach (Koskinen et al., 2013) Usually I want to keep control and be present when data is being gathered, but deploying my research probe in the context resulted in more reliable and realistic outcomes. Furthermore, using a diary study was also something new to me. When I look back on these two things, I still prefer to conduct a user study in which I am more involved.
One important part of this project was the introduction to ceramics. I learned how to work with ceramics from start to finish, but also how people perceive ceramics when recontextualised.. These skills were also applied during my FMP.
By using components from conventional computer mice and building a ceramic shell, I was able to construct a working ceramic mouse. This made me realise that there are ready-made components which can add to my own design, instead of creating everything from scratch. The interactivity aspect also sparked some interest in working with electronics. Up until now, I did not work with electronics because it seemed intimidating, but this project gave me some confidence when working with electronics.
Koskinen, I., Zimmerman, J., Binder, T., Redstrom, J., & Wensveen, S. (2013). Design research through practice: From the lab, field, and showroom. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 56(3), 262-263.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/6583271/