The first step in the design process is to sense the gap. That is, to recognize in fact, that there is a problem. Now, in some cases, you, as the designers are handed the problem as part of your job, Or as part of an assignment. But, in, in, in many cases, you're, you're responsible for detecting the problem yourself and for identifying a problem that you want to tackle. That, in fact, is the way we're going to proceed in this course. I've given you an assignment to find the gap. That is, to identify some problem in your own life that you can take on as a, as a course project. So, I want to give you a sense of some of the kinds of projects or gaps that I think you can address. Let me start by identifying the main criteria that I want to apply to your projects. The first is that you personally feel the pain, that is, this is a gap in your own life. That's important because our first assignment is going to be to just design something for yourself. And in fact, this is a really common pattern in, in design. That the designer, him or herself, is the one whose identified a problem in his or her own life, and seeks to, to solve it. The second criterion is that, you can have access to, at least, five other people who share. Some related gap or some related pain point in their lives. That's important because one of the things that we're going to learn in this course is how you understand the user needs from a group of people, and you need to have access to those people. And I'd prefer that, that access be face to face, as opposed to an online a connection or relationship. Third, the problem has to be simple enough that you can reasonably imagine addressing that, in an, in an eight week course. It, it's not going to work if you say, I'd really like to find a better way to get from New York to, to California. I'd like to invent a vehicle that, that will make that travel easier. That's going to be, that would be a project that would take more resources, more scope, more people, and, and more time than we really have capacity for in this course. I want to pick, you to pick something that's relatively simple. And lastly, I want you to pick a problem that's likely to be addressed with skills and capabilities that, that you have. Now, If it's a simple mechanical device or a physical object of some kind, a piece of apparel don't worry so much about that because I'd like to believe that any of you could, in fact., Make some headway against a problem like that. But, if for instance, you envision that a solution might involve software and you have no software skills, that would be a bad choice. If you think the, the solution might involve fundamental advances in science, physics, or chemistry, and you don't have those skills and capabilities, then I'd prefer you steer clear of that and pick maybe a simple physical, something that might be addressed with a simple physical object. So, let me give you some examples and things that I think would be the kinds of projects that will be very appropriate in this class. I just sat down and thought about a few gaps in my own life, about some problems and pain points that I feel that, that could be addressed with, with artifacts that might reasonably come out of, of this course. So, let me start with, with this object. This is, this is, its an iPad case, although I don't use it to hold an iPad. Instead, I hold it, use it to hold my wallet, Sunglasses, Pencil, keys and a few coins. it's, my children call it my murse, that is my man purse. But, they've declared it very uncool and kind of nerdy. And so, the gap that I feel is, how can I carry these objects to work every day and carry them around my, my daily life in a way that would be hipper, cooler, more functional, more interesting, more stylish. And so, that's, that's an example. A second example is, is my desk. Now, it's with great trepidation that I show you this photograph, but this is my photograph taken this morning of my desk. Now, I'm the midst of a move, I'm doing this, These videos. There's a bunch of stuff happening in my life that, that makes it pretty chaotic. But still, this is inexcusable to have this level of chaos and mess on my desk. I, I wonder in what way I might better organize my desk through some kind of system that might make my life more orderly and, and, and make it less likely that I'll, that I'll, that I'll drop things and forget things and, and lose things. Third example, let me tell you about this shirt. I was on vacation once and I needed a shirt and I went into a sporting goods store, think it was a Sports Authority. And, and they had this shirt on sale and I bought it. And, I was using it for hiking and it's, it's made of nylon, it, it's breathable, it's very light, it's very comfortable. It also has these nice snaps on it instead of buttons. It has a really nice pocket with a little flap on it, and it fits me really well. So, so, I like the functionality of the shirt quite a quite a lot and I went to look for a replacement and discovered that this was a short run shirt that they, they produce one season, don't produce anymore. And, and it also has a problem that, that it's bright green. And what I really like, I like a, a shirt that would be appropriate to wear to work but would, that would have these performance characteristic that is, I can, I can wear it on my bike ride to work. It would breathe well, it would be cool, it would be comfortable, but would also be stylish and, or maybe not style, so much stylish as appropriate. Less green, let's say, for, for, for wearing at the office. So, that's an example, A better shirt. Fourth example is, I, I set up in the midst of a move. I'm moving from a pretty spacious suburban home with a big shop and office, in fact, I'm standing in it right now. And, And in an, in the corner of the shop I have, I have, I have room to hang a couple a bicycles. These are bikes I don't use all that often. But, But that I, I can store readily. I'm about to move to a much smaller inner city or center city apartment building in which, in which I don't have a lot of storage space. I'm trying to figure out where I'm going to put the bikes. Is there something I can do to get them up around the ceiling? Is there a way I could adapt a corner of the laundry room in order to better store those bikes? And lastly, Lest you think all these examples have to involve physical devices. Let me tell you about a problem that I, that I felt for a long time, which is where to get lunch every day. If you, it, at, were, at the University of Pennsylvania,, many faculty will go out to a food truck or to a local eatery to get lunch. That on average takes about a half an hour by the time you fit-factor in waiting in line, going out of the building, and so forth. It costs $fifteen, ten or $fifteen to, to get lunch. And, and I generally try to make my lunch, but sometimes I don't, I'm not able to do that cuz I don't like to spend the time. But, I really feel like there ought be a solution. Some kind of business model or service that would let me reflect my preferences and reliably have lunch, say, in my mailbox when I want it that's nutritious, tasty and affordable. And available on those days when I actually want it. And, that service has never materialized. I've never seen that service, at least in the United States. And, I, at least, in Philadelphia in the United. States. And I very much like that service. So, that's an example of a, a problem that's likely to be addressable with some kind of service or business and, and is not so much about an artifact. And so. I want to encourage you to think about those kinds of pain points as well. So again, I want you to find a gap in your own life. You feel the pain, you have access to at least five people who also feel the pain, face to face access to them. You, it's of reasonable complexity so it's, Likely you could address the problem with some kind of prototype in an eight week time frame. And, that it's likely to in, in involve a solution that, that builds on your skills and capabilities. Again, if you don't have any particular skills and capabilities related to design, if you pick a simple mechanical or physical kind of challenge, you'll probably have the relevant skills. But, you should probably in that case steer away from software or challenges that might require basic knowledge or basic scientific knowledge that you don't
