andreas larsson – Design for Wellbeing

Forskare ska stötta produktutvecklare i mikroföretag i Tanzania

Tobias Larsson — Tue, 03 Nov 2020 07:46:54 +0000

Forskare från BTH ska studera hur människor i Tanzania arbetar med design och utveckling med syftet att öka deras förmåga att designa mer framgångsrika produkter. Projektet stöttas av Vetenskapsrådet och syftar till att stödja mikroföretag i utvecklingsländer.

TAGS: andreas larssonBase of the Pyramid BoP ie microenterprises Product design Product Development PSS santosh jagtap Swedish Research Council vetenskapsrådet VR

Investigation of the Product Design Process in Informal Microenterprises in Tanzania | 2021-2022

Tobias Larsson — Tue, 03 Nov 2020 07:44:40 +0000

The products that surround us (e.g. furniture, bicycles, etc.) are outcomes of design processes. Product design is a fundamental aspect of human intelligence and creativity, attracting not only experts but also workers and self- employed without any formal design training. Although numerous people in developing countries design and manufact simple products in metalworking informal microenterprises, there is very little systematic knowledge about their design process. This project aims to fill this fundamental gap in design knowledge. The overall goal of the project is to investigate the design process in metalworking informal microenterprises, using a scientific method of ‘think-aloud protocol analysis’.

This two-year project will be carried out by four researchers — two from Sweden, one from Tanzania and one from India. In 2021, we will collect data in metalworking informal microenterprises in Tanzania, using the technique of ‘think-aloud protoc analysis’. In 2022, we will finish qualitative data analysis, will present results in one conference and submit one journal artic and will submit a joint research application to VR/Development Projects Grant. We will distribute the results in metalworkin microenterprises and other relevant stakeholders through seminars in Tanzania and India.

The project will primarily provide fundamental knowledge for models and theories of design processes, and will also help to improve design practice in microenterprises.

TAGS: andreas larssonBase of the Pyramid BoP ie microenterprises Product design Product Development PSS santosh jagtap Swedish Research Council vetenskapsrådet VR

User involvement in pharmaceutical packaging design -A case study

Tobias Larsson — Mon, 16 Oct 2017 11:54:34 +0000

ABSTRACT

Different levels of user involvement in product design range from understanding user needs to codesigning with users. Previous research shows older patients face difficulties to handle the medication packaging. Yet the participation of older patients in pharmaceutical packaging design is underexplored. The purpose of this study is to explore the role of older patients in the design and development of pharmaceutical packaging. Two empirical examples of one drug manufacturer and one pharmaceutical packaging supplier build one case study. The findings reveal new pharmaceutical packaging development starts with market research about patients’ populations. The packaging development is then led internally or with external partners. Later, patients test the packages concepts developed. These findings go in line with previous research about the involvement of users in industries with a high technology orientation. This study is aligned with the about limited resources in healthcare and contributes with a conceptual framework of user involvement, a useful tool for managers and developers to benchmark their design process.

TAGS: andreas larssonBTH case-study Design process ie md3s Older patients Participatory design publication

Innovation Engineering – Pedal Powered Cassava Peeling Machine | 2012

Tobias Larsson — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 09:35:15 +0000

A pedal powered cassava peeling machine has been designed to meet the needs of people living in the rural of Amazon region near Manaus, Brazil.

This Master’s Degree Project, carried out by Industrial Design student An Ni Le, was supported by the Innovation Engineering group at the Department of Design Sciences, Lund University, in collaboration with Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden and Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Brazil. A one-month fieldtrip was carried out at the rural communities near Manaus, Amazonas, focused on how to support people living in the Amazon region.

Cassava is the sixth most important crop plant, and its flour is a primary calorie source in tropical regions around the world. In the Amazon region, Cassava roots are processed into a type of flour called Farinha, which is extremely common and is used as a basic staple food. The product also provides an important income to huge numbers of households in the rural areas. Transforming cassava into flour is a long process which takes a couple of days and basically includes six steps: Peeling, Washing, Grinding, Drying, Sifting and Frying.

Men usually engage in machine operations for grinding, pressing and sifting, while women and children are usually responsible for any manual operations such as peeling, washing and frying. It has been reported that peeling the roots by hand is a major problem and takes 65% of the total time of the whole process. This hard and tedious job has low productivity and high product losses, and it is very time consuming and requires physical labour in poor working conditions. However, machines for peeling cassava are rare in this region due to the high cost of available machines in the market and the scarcity of electricity.

An Ni Le’s goal in this project was to design and develop a solution for how a low cost product could satisfy the identified needs, thinking about the importance of rural development and poverty alleviation and how small scale productions can contribute to households and livelihood security.

The result is a cassava peeling machine that improves working conditions, increases the productivity, reduces product losses, and reduces time consumption and physical labour. Due to the limit of electricity and high cost of gas, a pedal-powered concept was chosen. The rotating drum efficiently maintains the purpose of rubbing the cassava skin off, using high-tech abrasive rollers with wire brushes.

The testing has showed that the machine has a capacity of peeling 60-100kg/h (compared to 20-35kg/h peeling by hand), with an average flesh loss of 5% (compare to 25% peeling by hand), average peeling efficiency of 95%.Building a machine? If you look at p.178 and onwards in the below document, you will be able to see how to build one. As this is frugal innovation, you can hopefully source the materials locally: http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/3357792/file/3567812.pdf There are some people around the world that have built their own machines based on this blueprint, including this one from Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNSA0FvHlQc

For more information

TAGS: Amazonandreas larsson Brazil BTH cassava innovation engineering Lund

Workshop – Innovation at the Base of the Pyramid

Tobias Larsson — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 07:00:25 +0000

Late august, Andreas Larsson (DfW co-founder) and Santosh Jagtap from Innovation Engineering organized a workshop on the topic of “Innovation at the Base of the Pyramid (BoP)”.

The workshop aimed at:

identifying challenges and opportunities facing people and organizations at the BoP;
exchanging ideas about working together to explore and improve design processes at the BoP, and
building a network of partners for collaborative research and design projects at the BoP.

Read more about the workshop outcomes here:

Workshop – Innovation vid pyramidens bas (Swedish)
Workshop – Innovation at the Base of the Pyramid (English)

TAGS: andreas larssonBase of the Pyramid BoP BTH santosh jagtap workshop

Future Playgrounds AddACTIVE | 2004-2005

admin — Sun, 08 May 2011 09:43:51 +0000

PROJECT BRIEF

When: 2004-2005 (finalized)

What: Based on theme of Future Playgrounds, the main interest was captured in the words active, creative and development, while the team’s mission statement was “to construct something that will encourage children to be active and creative in a developing environment”.

Who: Student team at Luleå University of Technology, Stanford University ME310 class.

Documentation:

Project brief: PDF | 0.2 MB
Project report: PDF | 4 MB

PROJECT SUMMARY

At the beginning of September 2004 a group of students began this year’s project called Design for Wellbeing, based on the theme of Future Playgrounds. The main interest was captured in the words active, creative and development, while the team’s mission statement was “to construct something that will encourage children to be active and creative in a developing environment”. The name of the Team became AddACTIVE.

As society evolves through technological advances so do children. The integration of technology has led to a less active population and a changed social interaction. Children in Sweden spend 10 000 hours of their youth watching TV, equivalent to their time spent in grade school. Culture, lifestyle and eating habits have rendered obesity a serious problem in the USA, which has also begun in Scandinavia. We live in a part of the world where people are shortening their life expectancy by their eating. Through adequate physical activity, you can create a longer and healthier life.

The path began with the mission to investigate how the meeting place of the future might be designed to promote physical activity and social interaction in a safe and creative environment. Since this approach is extremely broad, the needs analysis and benchmarking phases of this project were extensive. These phases included several brainstorming sessions, interviews with children, teachers and architects, as well as numerous playground visits in Sweden, Argentina and the USA. In January, AddACTIVE went to the USA to get inspiration and had the opportunity to conduct several brainstorming sessions with both students at Stanford University and people with the knowledge and skills in creative product development. The gathering of information allowed the choosing of a narrower, more focused path, leading AddACTIVE to create a module playground.

Active play develops the physical attributes and social and cognitive development of children. Children need change to be active; hence, the construction of a module ground system. The system makes it possible to change the playground in terms of size and the combinations of features. Consisting of a ground plate, surface tile, poles and mountings, together these make a unit. The size of the playground depends on how many units you choose to combine.

A well-designed playground provides wide-ranging opportunities for exercising balance, strength and body control. It also develops the child’s learning capabilities and provides a preparatory forum for school life. The playground is constructed for outdoor use since daylight and fresh air are ingredients in a long and healthy life.

TAGS: andreas larssonchildren christian johansson LTU Luleå University of Technology ME310 modular playground sirius Stanford University tobias larsson

Future Elderly Environment | 2005-2006

admin — Sat, 07 May 2011 17:59:02 +0000

PROJECT BRIEF

When: 2005-2006 (finalized)

What: In this international project, students from LTU and Stanford University have worked together to develop a product that enhances the wellbeing for elderly. The future elderly environment project aimed to develop a product based on the needs that elderly have today and will have tomorrow. The idea of the final product came through one of the conceptual prototypes that were made during the project. The students from the future elderly environment project made an individual product that activates and promotes the social interaction between elderly and relatives. The product that was presented will be implemented in a new elderly home in Luleå.

Who: Student team at Luleå University of Technology together with Stanford University.

Documentation:

Project brief: PDF | 0.3 MB
Project report: PDF | 3 MB

NOTE: The Nösphere is patented together with Stanford University, that also manages licenses for commercialisation of the technology

PROJECT SUMMARY

Background

The elderly care is changing. Expected retirements of a large number of people born in the 1940s, combined with the limited resources in the elderly care, means that fewer employees will care for more elderly. The employees have a variety of technology to make their work easier e.g. lifts and alarms, but to increase the wellbeing of the elderly technological solutions are limited.

The team is convinced that the quality of life for elderly can be improved in many ways.

Assignment

The mission was to “Enhance the wellbeing for people in their latter part of life”. That statement was all the team had to start out with. In order to achieve this, the meaning of ‘wellbeing for elderly people’ first had to be investigated. To narrow down the task the global design team chose to focus on people living at elderly homes. The project began with a needfinding process to discover the needs of the users, and later translate those needs into concepts. From the needs found, activities was singled out and focused on. The team proceeded with the development of a solution that met the requirements and thereby could enhance the wellbeing for people living at elderly homes. An emphasis was on using conceptual prototyping to create various artefacts during the project. The goal is that the final prototype will be implemented for users in a new retirement home. The project was unique in its kind because of the heavy focus on the needs of the users and their participation in the product development process.

Collaboration

The whole project was conducted through global collaboration between four students from Luleå University of Technology, and four students from Stanford University, USA, working together as a team. This showed to be a challenging task due to the two universities having different theories of approaching product development and cultural and geographical separation. The experience of working cross-national was still worthwhile due to that diversity in views gives the best ideas of two worlds. Both halves of the group contributed with their skills, professional and personal, to the process and brought different points of view into the design process.

The Result

In this open-ended project the team members have developed a product based on the needs that their need finding pointed towards. Interaction between elderly and even their relatives were infrequent. The elderly have a lot to tell and if their stories and knowledge disappear it is a big loss for us all. A product that is individual and promotes the social interaction between elderly and relatives will increase the wellbeing of the elderly.

The product that was presented will be implemented in a new elderly home in Luleå.

TAGS: andreas larssonfuture elderly environment healthy ageing LTU Luleå University of Technology madelene larsson ME310 nosphere sirius Stanford University tobias larsson