There are many kind of design approaches : « space designers » create new places to live in, « sound designers » create new experiences to hear, « food designers » create new taste to eat, « graphic designers » create new signs and symbols to see, and « digital designers » create new interfaces to navigate into the digital world.
iGEM Pasteur team integrates industrial designers. Industrial design is a creative discipline that aims to create innovative solutions in order to solve contemporary issues in various fields : health, well-being, energy, mobility, habitat, food, etc. When designing new products or services, designers use a user centric approach that integrates several notions such as usages, ergonomics, industrial processes, technologies, social, cultural, environmental and economical aspects. Taking in account all these parameters allows designers to conceive solutions that address the targeted issues in a relevant way and that benefit to the user.
Nowadays, industrial design is evolving. To address issues in a more and more complexe and accurate way, industrial designers are getting closer to science by working with scientists and by settling in the labs. Our team is a good example of these new ways to co-create tomorrow’s innovations.
Despite promising opportunities offered by these new cooperations, designers and scientists does not have the same cultures, languages, tools, etc. that avoid these collaborations to be fruitful. To overcome these issues, we shared and thought design tools and methodologies to our team mates in order to build a common ground for understanding and co-creation. Once done, we followed the subsequent process :
Research Phase
The first step of our innovation process consisted in an immersion phase. For a better understanding of our subject, we had to:
- come up with a state of the art, recording and analyzing existing or inspiring initiatives, actors, and institutions;
- meet diverse experts, from associations (ADEPA) to industries (I.CERAM), going through national institutes (CERAH), or hospitals (Georges Pompidou hospital);
- identify specific literature and technical documents regarding existing prosthesis;
This step led us to understand amputees daily lives (behaviors, psychology, life environments, healthcare system, economic resources, etc.) and to specify the main issues (such as bacterial infections) and challenges to address in order to propose them relevant and effective innovations. These contents (data, testimonies, etc.) have been collected thanks to humans and social tools (semi-directive interview grids), design tools (mood boards), and documentation tools (photography, video, sound recording).
Ideation Phase
After identifying knowledge, references, issues and constraints, we started a problem solving process by sketching first ideas, thanks to design tools, such as:
- brainstorming and post-it sessions, to write down the first ideas;
- cartographic and mind-mapping tools, to structure ideas;
- sketching, user journey and roadmaps, to give form to the first concepts.
Thanks to the previous step and to our network of experts, we filtered generated ideas in order to keep only the more adapted and relevant solutions regarding amputee’s behaviors, habits, psychology, life environments, economic resources, etc.
Conceiving a device and an app
To make the step from the first ideas to tangible solutions, we designed a complete system (hardware and software solutions) including:
- an implantation stem featuring our engineered biofilm;
- a device making the bridge between the stump and a bionic prosthesis, to collect and process the signal from nerves;
- a charging station, to recharge the device and synchronize data with a distant server;
- an app / website, to monitor informations, such as device’s battery level, health status, etc.
Prototyping a device and an app
Once our solution digitally designed, we had to prototype both the device and the app in real. Thanks to rapid prototyping tools, such as 3D printers (FormLabs Form2, FormWash, FormCure, and Ultimaker 3), laser cutting (Trotec Speedy360), and hands-on work (sand, assembly, paint, finishes, etc.), we prototyped the device. Thanks to digital prototyping tools, such as desktop publishing softwares (Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Google Gallery), we prototyped the app and the website. This step helped the team to check and validate products dimensions, ergonomics, look and feel.
Communication
Designing a strong visual identity is a key element in NeuronArch’s communication. Thanks to desktop publishing softwares (Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe In Design, Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effect), we conceived a global graphic chart easy to understand for users and general public. This visual indentity includes iGEM Pasteur Paris 2018 logotype, NeuronArch logotype, pictograms, banners, graphic composition and color gradients both for print or digital medium. All these elements have been applied to printed formats such as flyers, communication posters and scientific poster, as well as digital formats such as NeuronArch app and website, wiki, etc. Professional photographic tools (Nikon D3200, Profoto flash kit, Manfrotto background) have been also used to create NeuronArch’s user scenario photographies.
