Charette Reflection

The charette was an encouraging new experience that conveyed a very diverse amount of ideas. It showed me that more thought needs to go into the attachment to products so that they don't get thrown out as fast. Many products are thrown out far before their time and it is our job as designers to lengthen the attachment consumers have with the products so it does not quickly become landfill. I found that the most interesting way in which designers can do this is by playing on the users psychology creating memories and emotional attachments to everyday products that would urge the user to hold onto that product for a very long time.

I think designing beyond the original product is also very important. It can aid in the lifespan of the product and also lengthen the time that the user wishes to be with the product. By creating aftermarket attachments products can be reinvented and the user will not move on from the product as quickly.

The collabrative problem solving I thought was really productive. In short intervals people were put under pressure to push out a number of concepts. This led to a very diverse range of ideas and as we moved through the stages these ideas became better and better from each person as repercussion of the groups discussions and pin ups.

If I were to now design a piece of furniture from scratch I would come up with a range of concepts to increase the userability of the piece of furniture and extend its attachment to the user. These concepts could then be looked through and relevant ones could be chosen to be incorporated into the product.