MIDORI AMOR — Green Love
Guided by Mr. Kishen Patel and Dr. Amaltas Khan
Introduction
An eight week long course was about to start and I was thrilled. Not knowing what would be the end product and to just go with the flow.
Yup that’s what the course was all about.
“ Trusting the process”
This blog is pretty long, its divided into 4 Phases, each again divided as 2 weeks each. A total of eight weeks.
- Discovery
- Investigatory
- Exploratory
- Evaluatory
Phase — Discovery
WEEK 1
Well that’s where it all starts. Sipping coffee, scrolling through my feed on Pinterest, not realizing what i’m about to find.
1: Finding good designs
The first task was to discover. I was supposed to find designs I liked. Pick out anything around me and try to understand why it had caught my eye.
2 : Figuring out possible domains
Choosing designs was for me to understand the kind of domains that I’m interested in. Faculty inputs made me realize the different realms of design domains that i could delve into.
- Heirlooms
- Gardening
- Longevity
3: Macro to Micro
So I sat and scribbled out ideas that could possibly be had from these domains without giving it another thought on whether its feasible or not:
- Finding ways for students or bachelors to live off self grown vegetables.
- Growing greens in compact spaces,
- Increasing ways for kids at schools to be more aware of gardening,
- Tiny vegetables garden growing near dining table so as to pluck and eat.
Further on, I decided to just go as vast as possible.
- Thinking about large scale hydroponic uses and meditative centres
4: Primary Research
Collecting information on my interests were the task now and thats how I went forward.
Gardening as therapeutic — Studies have shown that gardening in fact can play a huge role in improving mental health. Including reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Eco-therapy — It is often better and more efficient if we could get to the root of our troubles and then try to treat it, rather than solving just one.
Hydroponics — A hydroponic system can be an ideal solution for apartment dwellers and urbanites who do not have an outdoor gardening plot.
- Its inexpensive,
- doesn’t take a lot of time
- Not a lot of effort to start up,
- something that helps your greens and micro-greens grow.
Longevity
My attempts on trying to incorporate longevity started of from me searching about heirlooms.
One of the heirloom that I tried to search more about is the bonsai tree:
What is Longevity?
From there I realized I had to go a step back and actually delve deeper into longevity as a subject and as a result I came up with this;
Emotional attachments to the design or product creates a link between the user and the design which would want to make them save the product for a longer period of time.
Thus qualifying for longevity.
WEEK 2
Mapping products
By now I knew what was my interest, and what my domain revolves around. My task now was to differentiate my products from simple to complex and small to huge.
Simple — Complex
Small — Huge
A few product study on the side :
Material: Terracotta
One of the products from my mood board that I looked into was the tetra planter by Eran Zarhi.
Phase 3
AEIOU
#1
#2
#3
After the exercise on categorizing the users, activities and environments I learnt to ask more questions. This had narrowed down my domain further and helped me come up with the following:
1- Why do kids need their own space?
2- How does gardening help children?
3- What are the benefits of giving kids responsibilities at a young age?
Use of Space to Create a sense of ownership and responsibility.
WEEK 3
1.Observe
# — Similar environment (A terrace polyhouse) :
Observing the poly-house made me realize some of the basic requirements for a plant garden set up.
# — Observing videos and taking frames to understand gardening as an activity more closely:
Matrix:
Observations would be:
- Over-watering and Under watering is one of the most common yet important problem.
- Bottom watering, products such as the terra planter etc. prevent this from happening.
- Most kids’ tools now looks so flimsy and short. Some children prefer using longer tools as this keeps them away from the dirt.
# — An experiment done to closely observe the user
User — Kids
I asked them to do the following
Activity:
- Plant a pea seed.
- Plant a sapling.
Materials:
They were given the options to pick out
- Coloured Containers
- tools like sticks, shovel, scissors, pens, long wooden piece, etc..
- pea seeds,
- tissues,
- water.
#Experiment A:
- Kedarnath was the first one to choose, he took a white clean container which was spacious enough for plant growth.
- Krishnendhu chose the green coloured container.
- Vaishnav was the last to get his container, he seemed quite content with his cut out bottle.
#Experiment B:
After the first activity I asked the kids to plant a sapling anywhere they liked.
They were again provided with the same tools and two tiny plants,
- a Mexican mint (panikoorka)
- spinach stem.
Observations that I noted:
Kedarnath, 5 years old-
- He chose the longest stick as his tool, he seemed to like things clean and didn’t like getting his hands dirty.
- He found a tiny worm and moved it away from his plant.
- He was the first to choose his container and again liked a clean white container.
- He preferred doing things indoor.
Vaishnav, 5 years old-
- He did not mind what container he got but knew how to adapt with whatever tool/ container he received.
- He was quick to learn and keen on listening to instructions.
- He preferred doing his task indoor.
Krishnendhu, 10 years old-
- She was the adventurous one.
- She liked digging, using a shovel and she wanted to use more tools
- She seemed more responsible and was ready to help the younger ones with their tasks.
- She chose the coloured container as it seemed cuter and had a tiny compartment in it.
Conclusion for the experiment:
The kids seemed to enjoy the overall activities, they preferred doing the things themselves rather than being helped. Having their own separate containers made them be extra careful as it gave them a sense of ownership over something important.
WEEK 4
# — Secondary Research
Some factors that affect my brief and AEIOU
Human Factors
- Capacity — for kids to be able to handle the set by them-self. Making sure there is little to zero guidance from parents
- Usability — Can they use it for eating the micro-greens, vegetables or leaves once the plants are grown.
- Allocation — how kid friendly is the area. Can they reach the place. Are they usually allowed by their parents to use the particular spot. Should it be something they hold dear and personal.
- Behavioural Aspects — how kids have different moods and finding interest in gardening is gonna be a difficult task.
- Accessibility — How easy is it for them to access these products in a normal household.
Since the user would be kids the garden set, plants used to garden and the tools have to be non-toxic and kid-friendly.
Some other factors that should be considered:
Tangible Objects Aspects
- Tumble proof
- Duration/Life — Adding in the factor of longevity. Making a product that can grow with the kid. Something as time passes the child can create an interest or a garden of themselves.
- Space Allocated — How much area would the product need? Shouldn't the kid be able to carry them around?
- Variety — Colour changes of the products
- Storage — All the sets would be contained or sealed. Would require enough sunlight to pass through.
Environment
- Area would be around, inside the house.
- Area could also be something the kid can carry around but place it somewhere.
- Use of minimal space.
- Handy enough for children to be able to use them.
# — Survey Analysis :
Some of the major things i noticed from the survey is that:
1- People either don’t know where to start with gardening
2- There is a huge lack of interest due to effort and maintenance required
3- Majority likes looking at plants, 90% of them have planted something on their own.
4- Kids tend to choose out things they like based on its colour. Some adults still do it
5- Most kids have used gardening tools and they love it
# — Studying products for kids.
- Instant results which would prove as educational
- Some grow kits face issues like no immediate results
- Results are a must-this would make them do things more
Factors
After doing a lot of secondary research I decided to put my ideas and questions that popped up on my Miro board and make it easier for me to narrow down the parameters that would help create the product.
-Age restrictions — How old would the kid be to be able to use it , Around 5–6 or 7–8
- Material — What would it be made of
- Dimensions and Size — How big or small it would be
- Accessibility — Will they be able to find it or get it in a normal household
- Aesthetic — Will it look fun, Would a child like it
- Handy for kids — Is it safe, Is it easy to use, Can they carry them around . -Form — How would it look like.
Phase — Exploratory
WEEK 5
Concepts and Ideas
So I put together all the requirements for the product to start conceptualizing.
- Building a system that grows with the child to make them interested in gardening at a young age.
- A product for kids from ages 5–6
- Something that can be carried around temporarily and which wouldn’t damage the plant when handled by a child.
- A self watering system to decrease maintenance.
Ollas for self watering
OLLAS
- are unglazed terracotta pots which are porous in nature
- which can be buried under the soil with just the neck outside.
- The plant roots will use up the water in the olla
- These are really useful when watering the plants aren’t always possible.
- Decreases the amount of maintenance required for planting.
#The Capsule Case Idea
- 3 capsules together which would grow micro-greens or herbs in them
- The sealed structure would act like a terrarium
- Should it have pebbles and soil ?
- Would terrariums work on hydroponics?
- Would an olla work inside a terrarium?
Form — Capsule
#Concept of a connecting blocks. Inspired from Lego blocks
- A Modular Capsule tray
- Something that can be attached to each other
- Adding an olla
#Concept of adding origami to the product
Longevity by adding sectors every time the kid decides to take up another plant.
The sectors could be elongated and subtracted.
Before a plant has to grown on the ground, it is first grown in cups of trays.
So giving kids the responsibility to grow them during the first stages of plant growth.
WEEK 6
Some Sketches and Ideas
Trying to find a way to incorporate the three main features of my product
- Visibility
- Space and Allocation
- Longevity
#Concept of a Cart
Kids love to play. So something that moves like a cart. That has micro-greens in them.
- The size would be small enough so that can be carried around by the kid.
- And transfer of these saps would be easier with the wheels.
Sketching was all about finding as many concepts as possible, big or small.
Phase — Evaluatory
WEEK 7
- Fixing your concept.
- Trying to put your product together.
- Testing it out
- Experimenting form, mechanism and mockup
- Making mockups, fixing the form and adding details.
# Experiment to test out maximum visibility, growth rate and ease of planting:
In Soil and Transparent Closed Container
- Size of the jar was too restrictive for the shoot to grow
- Visibility was less than mediocre
- I had also over-watered since it was closed the water requirement was something I couldn't keep track of.
In Soil with transparent and open container.
- This was really fun and easy to do.
- The size seemed accurate, medium helped the seeds thrive
- Watching these seeds grow was really an experience
- The visibility of root wasn't 100% clear but still evident.
In Gelatin and glass case:
This particular experiment didn’t work out as expected. Gelatin is edible but requires intense sterilization while dealing with the equipment.
Kids wouldn't be able to have fun with such a rigorous lab experiment.
In Water and Transparent Container:
- This was by far the most astonishing experiment.
- I did not expect the plants to grow so fast in water.
- I had to just pin the seeds with wooden toothpicks
- Insert them in water and growth was clear and exciting to see.
After multiple experiments, and with faculty support I came to the conclusion that water would be the clear and most apt medium.
No other gel worked .
Suspending seeds in water was the mechanism that I chose.
Time Lapse Video:
The Timelapse was done to show how my mockup looked.
The seed was placed in such a way that half of it would be submerged in water while the rest is above the water.
Further details of the product included the stand and placement of the product.
WEEK 8
Stitching it all up together.
Product — Seed starter.
Mood boards:
Inspirations that would eventually lead to my final form.
After referring through forms and reading about toys that appealed to kids, I decided on my measurements to further make the 3D real life form model.
Photoshop Render:
User — Kids from Grade 1 — Ages 5 and above
Medium — Water
Container — Transparent plastic
Mechanism — Suspension of seed in water
Product purpose — Seed Starter which helps see plant root systems
3 D Form Models
Rhino and Keyshot Render
After finalizing my 3D form, I modelled it on a 3D software.
Product Specifications:
- Parts
- Materials
- Mechanism
- Details
- Context
Parts:
Materials :
Simple Lid Mechanism:
Details:
How to Use the Product:
Pinning the Seed:
AND REPEAT!
Once the plant has reached a certain stage they can plant in separate pots.
Take the plants and grow it outside.
Use the product for new seeds and repeat.
Product on Wheels
The cart would have sectors where each of the product can be placed.
They can be removed and placed back in the cart.
Conclusion
I designed this product for the purpose of educating kids about the root system. A product that can not only be used at home but can also act as a teaching aid in schools.
It would act as a seed starter that can be reused and once the plants have grown they can be replanted in the soil in pots. This process can be repeated with different seeds.
Thereby encouraging kids to take interest in gardening at a very young age.