Week 3 - Design Challenge

In this semester, we are given the topic to design (solution and process) something which is helpful and plays a vital role in the health and wellness of a world in need. The design may include any type of design that helps people stay safe, connect with others, and face the challenges ahead. There were three sub-topics to choose from.

I choose Human-Centric Principle: Product/Industrial/Furniture design. I decided to design furniture that is comforting and embraces social distancing.

The worldwide spread of COVID-19 has affected our daily lives and has changed our way of living. Being safe is now the fundamental need of the hour. Our whole idea of living, working, and going out is now distinct and social distancing, isolation, and being self-sufficient is now the new normal. The world is now slowly adapting to life amidst the pandemic and designers are rethinking ways to provide designs and innovations that fits the new world.

To design furniture for the covid-19 pandemic, I needed to think and research into questions like what kind of furniture to design, for whom and for where, and therefore, I brainstormed few ideas to get a clearer vision.

Image 1: Mind mapping furniture for covid-19

Brainstorming helped me explore the types of furniture, location of furniture, the target users, and other different aspects that I need to consider while designing for the covid-19 pandemic. After mind-mapping I came to 4 potential ideas to design for the selected topic:

1. Lounge chair for waiting area:


Image 2: Capsule by Casala and Kateryna Sokolova (Watts, 2020)

Lounge chairs are designed to give a luxury feel and to provide comfort. They are slightly bigger than the normal sofa chairs and are usually occupied to rest for a longer period. During the pandemic, lounge chairs can be redesigned in a way to ensure privacy and comfort along with embracing social distancing.

2. Private working sofa for commercial use


Image 3: Private working sofa (Joshi, 2021)

These sofas are designed for commercial places to work in privately. They are usually accompanied by an attached desk or a table. They portray a modern look and are mostly found in office spaces.

3. Social Distancing bench


Image 4: The Wahda Bench (Cheng, 2020)

Outdoor benches are designed for people to rest in public places. The occupancy may vary according to the design. In the time of the covid-19 pandemic, these benches are modified or redesigned to accommodate people with social distancing seating.

4. Social Distancing seating for restaurants


Image 5: The Tjep studio (Garcia, 2018)

With capacity limits and social distancing guidelines of the covid-19 pandemic, restaurants now have to rethink their seating arrangement for their customers. They are optimizing their restaurant seating layout to keep their customers and staff safe while maximizing profits.

Among these few ideas, I decided to redesign furniture for waiting areas with social distancing seating. I choose this category because I feel there’s a larger audience to focus and it can cover many areas like- waiting area of a clinic, office, bank, commercial building, etc. The chosen target users for the project are young adults from the age of 18-40. This group of people are more likely to go out during the pandemic to run their personal errands or to even help their younger or older family members with their needs. Choosing the right target audience plays a vital role as it enables the designer to direct its study and resources to the audience with high potential or to catch their interest in the design.

Design thinking is an essential process that will help me to moves from problem to solution. There are many ways to use the design thinking process to incorporate different methodologies, perhaps I will be going through the following process:

1. Defining – The problem is defined to start the study and research of the project.

2. Research – The designer examines the data and proceeds to the problem-solving process.

3. Ideation – The designer starts the designing process with the available data and generates new problem-solving ideas. Thereafter impractical ideas are eliminated, and potential ideas are further developed.

4. Prototyping – The best ideas are developed into mock-ups and explored with users.

5. Choosing – The best idea is selected from the multiple prototypes.

6. Implementing – The idea is developed and presented as a product.

7. Testing – The product is tested with the target users to ensure it solves the original problem effectively.

There are many different approaches to incorporate the design thinking process, and it varies from designer to designer. The ultimate aim is to embrace your process and find the best solution.


Reference list

• Cheng, L., 2020. American hardwood benches designed for social distancing unveiled at Dubai Design Week. [image] Available at: <https://architectureau.com/articles/american-hardwood-benches-designed-for-social-distancing-unveiled-at-dubai-design-week/> [Accessed 25 May 2021].

• Garcia, A., 2018. WOULD YOU SAY THAT THESE INTERIORS ARE FROM PIZZERIAS?. [image] Available at: <https://www.elledecor.com/es/hoteles-restaurantes-planes/g21851474/interiores-pizzerias-decoracion-originales/> [Accessed 25 May 2021].

• Joshi, S., 2021. Meet the social distancing consultants that will keep you six feet apart. [image] Available at: <https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/meet-the-social-distancing-consultants-wholl-keep-you-six-feet-apart/articleshow/76257601.cms> [Accessed 25 May 2021].

• Watts, M., 2020. Capsule by Casala and Kateryna Sokolova. [image] Available at: <https://homeadore.com/2020/07/23/capsule-by-casala-and-kateryna-sokolova/> [Accessed 25 May 2021].