designapalooza’s posterous

Name:

Kevin Rustagi

What is the 'thing' you are observing?

 A plastic bag

What is the purpose of it?

            The purpose of a plastic bag is to carry groceries and other shopping items.

How is it a part of one's everyday life?

            People use the plastic bag every day when shopping or carrying clothes or lunch or general, everyday things.   

How is it designed well?

            A plastic bag is easy to carry and easy to store.  People often keep plastic bags at their home because they are so compressible.  Grocery stores can fit hundreds into a stack less than a foot high.   Its strength to weight ratio is very high and it can be double bagged very easily.  It is also completely waterproof and easily tie-able or sealable.

How is it designed not so well?

            One of the main issues that people have with the plastic bag is it is made from petroleum products and not biodegradable like paper bags and infants can suffocate through its misuse.  Also, though its strength to weight ratio is very high, past a certain point, the handles tear, which is not a problem on cloth bags.

What improvements would you make?

            I would make it biodegradable while maintaining structural integrity.  I would put miniature holes on the sides to lessen the risk of child suffocation.   Size-wise I might make the generic plastic bag slightly deeper to better accommodate carrying larger objects.

Name:

Kevin Rustagi

What is the 'thing' you are observing?

The generic park bench  

What is the purpose of it?

            The purpose of a generic park is to provide impromptu seating.

How is it a part of one's everyday life?

            Sometimes people just need to sit down.  They've been carrying stuff.  They've been having a rough day.  They just need to rest their legs.  The park bench is a part of all of our everyday lives and it provides a place to sit when we are weary, especially in public places. 

How is it designed well?

            It is designed well in that often when it doesn't have arm rests, many people can sit on it.  Without any specific denoted chairs, it can hold several adults or up to a dozen school children.  Low to the ground, it can accommodate almost anyone.  Also, it's generally a very clean way to rest in a public so filled with germs.

How is it designed not so well?

            The park bench is often cold and hard, especially when used outside, it is often made of metal that does not hold heat well.  As there are no dividers, it often opens one up to general public sketchiness, as ill advised advances are made much too easily.  In addition to the general discomfort one might feel after a time sitting on the generic park bench, there is no way to recline or rest one's back after a long day.  The park bench can be misused as a bed for potentially dangerous vagrants.

What improvements would you make?

            If I could start from scratch or make changes, I would change the general shape of the top of the bench.  I feel that by making several concave areas it could be made a lot more comfortable.  Also, if the bench were made out of slightly more advanced materials, it might hold heat better or wick away moisture better while still being long lasting.  Something as simple as a coat of Teflon might do it a lot of good.  But overall, I feel that this design has stood the test of time because it is simple to make, easy to use, and thus a universal solution.

   

Click here to download:

The_Generic_Park_Bench_Hall_Be.zip (685 KB)

I came across this nifty little bag while strolling the street vendors in China a couple summers ago. I think the way it's designed is really awesome and a good reminder that even though most mundane of tasks can be done in a new and unique way.

   

Click here to download:

The_Sliding-Folding-Fabulous_C.zip (25 KB)

I was shopping for groceries at Shaw's the other day, and when I was ready to
ring up my groceries, I noticed that all the cashiers were busy with other
customers. To avoid wasting time standing in line, I decided to check-out my
items myself.
 
The idea of self check-out is an excellent one. It is quick and useful,
especially when you only have a few items and do not want to stand in line. It
is designed well in that anyone and everyone who chooses to use it will easily
understand how it works, even if it's their first time ever using it. Another
good thing about it is that when errors occur, automatic alerts are sent to
attendants' beepers, who can then quickly come and help us out when we're
having difficulties.
 
One bad aspect of its design has to do with the sensor beneath the plastic bags
that we use to put our items in. The sensor can detect when the shopping bag
full of items is removed from its place to be placed in the cart. Sometimes,
however, the computer starts telling you to place the bag back on the sensor
even when it is full of items. Then the computer stops ringing up new items and
asks the customer to wait until an attendant arrives to assist them. This can be
really annoying, especially when it keeps happening constantly, and for an
unknown reason! That is the only thing I would improve on the design.
 
Iman

The other day, I was making tea for myself in my apartment, and started to think about how the electric water boiler works. Electric water heater, also known as electric dispensing pot, electric water heater, or electric water urn, consumes
electric power to heat up a heating element on the bottom surface of its reservoir, which in turn, boils the water.
 
What I like about the design is that it boils the water very quickly (I timed it: it takes roughly about 4 minutes to boil 1 L of water from room temperature). I began to think about how it boils it so quickly, and found that the high surface roughness of the
heating element, the material composition of the heating element, as well as the high power rating (3000 W), cause to the water to boil at such fast rate.
 
However, one problem I see with the design is that the product does not address the needs of the portion of the demographics of the tea drinkers, whom like to prepare the tea with tea concentrates (not tea bags). In other words, a kettle provides the freedom to heat a teapot on top of it, while the electric water boiler does not allow this.
 
If I were to improve the design of my electric water boiler, I would modify the design such that a tea pot can be heated by situating it on top of the electric water boiler.
 
Avid

I love the new MIT ID card. I believe it's a very well designed piece of
technology, because as you can see from the random dude's ID above, there are
so many forms of identification packed in this one tiny card. The MIT ID
includes your name, picture, the name of the school you go to, and what type of
MITer you are (student, staff, etc.) in a color scheme that's easy to read from
far away. In addition, the magnetic strip on the back includes information
about what buildings you have access to, how much money is on your TechCash
account, and your ID number. A barcode on the back also has your ID number
encoded, and an RFID chip inside the card lets you enter many buildings without
having to even take the card out of your wallet. In a way, the MIT ID serves as
an ID card, Charlie Card, and credit card all in one, which I think is pretty
remarkable. The only complaint I have is that its material seems to be pretty
brittle, as I've broken three ID's in the last three years.

-Eugene

Don't you hate it when you set an alarm on your cellphone BUT forgot to turn it off the silent mode?! 
I don't know about you, but I can't see the screen flashing "ALARM!" when I am getting my beauty sleep.

But of course, the reason the phone is on silent in the first place is because you don't want to be interrupted during a class or a meeting.
Sadly, my phone always finds the most inappropriate time to let out a loud "BEEP!" to let me know that I have voicemail.