Experiment: Sketches

I’ve narrowed down my topic focus to two ideas– something to help people find their perfect pet and a redesign of the face mask. So I came up with two very rough sketches of what they might look like.

I showed this sketch to a friend of mine and explained what I initially envisioned here. The mask would be two parts, an upper half and lower half. I thought the upper half could be like the current disposable surgical masks, at least in the sense that they are form fitting and cling to the face pretty well, so here it would cling to just under the nose rather than the chin. The lower half would be clear fabric, some sort of plastic either rubbery or hard like on face shields. Then there is could be lining on the top part in Velcro and at one end a latch so that the bottom half could be pulled back. I tried to show this in the bottom drawing, the bottom peels back and you can loop the elastic around your ear.

User feedback: It would probably look silly and that might deter people from wearing it because it’s made of two different materials. Also, rather than the entire bottom half peeling back it could be just the area that covers the mouth. The elastic latch is still exposed to the face part that you are supposed to avoid touching, so is there a better place to have the latch to avoid touching the front. Why not have the whole thing made of clear plastic?

Pros:

Clear (people can see facial expressions, read lips), provides some protection while eating (people can still wear a mask while eating or drinking and leave it on, the nose is covered the whole time, wouldn’t have to keep removing it or leaving it on surface to spread the bacteria or get dirty).

Cons:

Visual appeal, disposable/cleaning

Other:

Is there a way to use the Velcro aspect to replace the top part, the part that covers the nose, daily because technically we’re supposed to be able to wash masks or throw them away. But it could be wasteful to throw away plastic/Velcro, so a way to spray down or change the upper half and clean the bottom half. Maybe the whole thing could be made of plastic, but I did want something that could easily and comfortable sit between the nose and mouth to create that barrier.

New direction? A potential path that stemmed from this discussion is if instead I should think about the placement of masks when not in use. When people do sit in restaurants either they pull them below the chin, in their pockets, on the chair, table, etc. In general none of these seem like the most sanitary ways to go about it, because the whole point is to not touch the front part or let it touch other things your hands may eventually touch. Would there be a point to having a case for masks? Maybe something with UV lights but portable?

Forgive my rough sketch here as well. In this case I have an app drawing to search for pets. In this case, I thought of it as both for cats and dogs. I want it to include shelters, breeders, and stores that sell these animals. I fit most of the filters I thought were important to people in their search (type, breed, weight, color, age, gender, provider as in shelter store or breeder) but would also include a location/max distance. For the search results I wanted only what felt like the most important pieces of info and if the person was interested they could click to learn more. In this case an image of the animal, its breed, price, and gender seemed like the main points.

User feedback: Consider limiting the type of animals to either cats or dogs. This person preferred dogs and couldn’t name more than two breeds of cats, and thought people who do have cats probably can’t name many either, whereas most people can name many dog breeds. Suggestion to add reviews for sellers. Suggestion to block pet names.

Pros:

The simplicity, the inclusive filters.

Cons:

Being able to differentiate it from other existing pet searches.

Other:

The biggest pet search engine out there seems to be Petfinder, however this app appears to be strictly adoption-only from shelters. There are a lot of people and places which emphasize “don’t shop, adopt” and while that’s okay and I think it’s great to help a sheltered animal, I don’t really agree with pushing a stigma on people who want to buy a pet from a breeder or store, and we know it’s going to happen anyway, so with an app it could be easier and more trustworthy since there are a lot of people who try to scam wannabe pet owners. Another site is called PuppySpot which is for breeders only and claims it vets all the breeders to make sure they are trustworthy. Both of these search engines seem to exclude two of the three types of providers. Both don’t have all the filters which would be really helpful in finding a pet. Lastly, both sites include the names for most if not all the animals listed. This makes sense to an extent but I think one of the best parts of getting a pet is picking a name, and while someone can always change this, if the animal is too old the new owner may not be able to pick a new name; or in general I think people might psychologically choose or dismiss an animal based on how much they like the name.

New direction? Another idea that stemmed is (if already non-existent) to try and create more of a listing app for all animals? And what about encouraging it for people who for whatever reason can not look after their pet anymore instead? So do we limit it to the average person who no longer wants their pet and not have it targeted toward shelters/shops with a surplus of animals? Is there a large enough market for everyday people? I think I am more inclined to let anyone use it but maybe still restrict to just one type of animal because it could get complicated. Although I am certainly open to additional feedback.

Cornell Box: 

I created my box in terms of the mask redesign. The biggest inspiration for it was from seeing people drink their beverages walking around the streets or indoors, which is why I included a paper cup. I also included other representations of the pandemic including sanitizer, one of the most popularly used masks, a face shield, and blood pressure monitor to represent the people who have underlying conditions and need everyone to distance and wear masks so they don’t catch it if they go out or live with someone who goes out.

People Related:

Brand called “Feeke” which manufactures clear plastic masks, geared toward deaf/hard of hearing (or other brands who make clear masks).

Disney –this may be a stretch, but if articles are up to date, Disneyland CA is closed and Disney World FL hasn’t opened its restaurants or food stands to make sure people keep their masks on, I think if they had masks or required a type of mask that could be kept on while eating and walking around then they might consider reopening.

ASPCA –I see their commercials constantly of abused or sheltered animals but they usually are always asking for donations in their TV ads, I can’t recall them asking for people to adopt but according to their site they do have adoption centers in NY, so I think they could benefit from listing onto a search app (if they aren’t already using Petfinder).

Dog breeders and stores which may have sites but struggle to stand out and want to let people know they sell dogs.

 

Note: I did focus on these two ideas this week, but part of me still goes back and forth to thinking about the car idea. I like that it’s helpful and different than other apps that currently exist for cars/safety, so I might post another journal entry in a couple days with similar research about that to really get better clarity for which of the three could make the most suitable topic for me.