SPD ! Emergency

10 min readJun 12, 2021

Lets serve the world through Design.

its SIMPLE PRODUCT DESIGN.
Here, In this Course of SPD, Our faculty is Dr. Amaltas Khan and Mr. Kishen Kumar Patel.

Its Time to Apply the Skills and Knowledge we accquired in many courses from Foundation up to this Course.

WEEK :1 -Define MACRO Approach-What we are Prefering\Inclining towards

First Thing Our faculty Did was to find our initial intrest and taste.
we collected around 10 Products each, That we like and we had to explain the reason behind the choice for selecting the products.

Everyone came up, very different and facinating products, most of them i never and never knew.
I simply pickedup products at home, that i thought are very essential and felt they are needed for everyday use, to sustain and perform everyday tasks, some products i picked up from web were of keeping the current context in mind that is this COVID Pandemic.

After Looking at the products which i liked and selected, my mentors gave me

“ Design For CARE” as my Domain to Work Towards, I was happy but the challenge is i dont know how to approach it and i feel that is the whole point of this SPD Course.

Another faculty from Institute used say that
“ A Designer Should be like a Cat, What ever problem or Where ever it is thrown, it Still tries to fall on its feet and stand up again ”

Like wise we have to solve problems, it is said by Mr. Kuntal De.

Next,

We All My Batch Mates were made into different groups which have similar domains, to keep the spirit up, discuss, gain different insights and point of views.

We were Guided to Select Some Books, Videos from Web and Articles to Refer, Understand and find a way to Approach the Domains given to us.

Groups Dicussions were very intresting, we got allot know different insights and things to know, we helped each other in giving ideas to find some ways to approach and find solutions.

In the last Class of this week, We were explained on how to approach the domain and find solutions by our mentors, they explained it through their Projects and Presentations.

Now, We all, me and my batchmates were told to document all the information that we collect in this course in various forms and also to store it in a form of blog for reference for us and for people.

So, Here is the Blog, This is the first Story.

We have to design a Simple Product in the time frame and bring it into life.
My Domain is Design for Care

What is Care?

1st Meaning in Google Search

:the provision of what is necessary for the health, welfare, maintenance, and protection of someone or something.

Week:2 -Define MICRO Approach

Inorder to Find a Direction to Work and Link Our Domains, Our Faculties Suggested us, A Method Called AEIOU, from Universal Methods of Design,

To Complete this Method We Followed one more Method i.e “ A Day in Life of A User”, Observing and being in context with user.

With This Method, I found many different direntions to work on but i have to select one to work on and go further, so looking at the direction which serves large population, i choose people “working\studying at homes in ‘work from home’ scenario during covid panedmic”

Research :
I feel writing my notes and observation on paper very comfortable, so i attached them for reference here.

References I took:
One Correct Way to Sit to Correct Poor Posture, Neck & Back Pain — Dr Alan Mandell, DC

How to Sit Properly to Decrease Back and Neck Pain. Posture Perfect

Good Ergonomics can Ease Back Pain at the Office

Why sitting is bad for you — Murat Dalkilinç

Interpretation After Primary and Secondary Reseach:

In Most Cases of Users in COVID Pandemic Situation ( Work From Home)
Working Being in one place is demanded and needed inorder to survive.
Most Users are Sitting / Lying Down on one place.
Most Users are Working or Indulging in Screens.
Most Users are Getting Affected with Back and Neck Problems.
Most Users are facing a life style problem.
Sitting for more than 20min, is considered as a new smoking but there is a demand to sit or be in one place and work for long hours to survive.

Designing a Product that Will Help People work more and maintain a Good Posture will serve large user group but every user is having their own different context, situation and products with them, whats common among most users is they are getting affected with back and neck problem, so insted of working on product, that will help while working, i am taking the direction to help people to recover after working for long hours or to the users who are affected with back and neck problem in their recovery.

Design Breif After Research — 1:

“How Can we Design a Product That Helps in Recovery for users,who are affected by neck and back problems.”

Product Attributes, Research on Recovery and Concept Development will Go Simulatenously i think, Because i have entered into the 4th week alredy and have to follow the plan, that is to complete Mission SPD in 7Weeks.

I have to Simulatenously Research on Main Factors, Do Product Bechmarking and Sketch Ideations.

Research -2:

Interview With Imkong Nuksung Aier — 4th Year Bachelor of Physiotheraphy.

Important Points

Q. Major Problems Work From Home Employees Face, Related to Back and Neck?

Q.What is Scolosis?

- abnormal curvature of the spine in Lateral Plane.

Q.What is Lordosis and Kyphosis?

- Kyphosis is Huntch Back or forward rounding of the back and Lordosis is inward arch on the lower back, just above the buttocks.

Q.Major Cervical Problem or Neck Problem ?

- Inflamation in C1 to C5 of Spine or Neck Muscles Soreness.

Q.Any Other Slightly Major Problems?

Arthritis is AutoImmune Disorder of Joints.
Osteoporosis is Degeneration of Bones.

Q.Books to Refer to Improve Understanding?

- The Principles of Exercise Therapy” by M Deena Gardiner

- Exercise Therapy Principles and Practice” by Roshan Meena.

Q. is there a way to Quickly Heal inbetween breaks of 5min During Work?

No, it Took time to deform, so, it will take time to recover.

Q. Are People / Paitents Intrested / Motivated in Doing Exercise to Rehab After Treatment?

Users Are Very Less Motivated, That why I Products like Cervical Pillow, back posture corrector and Chair Back Rest.

Data From Book “ Introduction to Human Factors and Ergonomics by R.S. Bridger”

• Posture: Is the average orientation of the body at a point in time

• Postural stress: The mechanical load on the body by virtue of its posture

• Task stress: The forces acting on the body while performing the task

There are two different kinds of task-induced stress.

1. Extrinsic task stress: The mechanical load on the body by exposure to external forces

2. Intrinsic task stress: The mechanical load on the body by exposure to internally generated forces

Postural Stability

In order for the body to be stable, the combined centers of gravity (COG) of the various body parts must fall within a base of support.The alignment of the body parts must be maintained to ensure continuing stability, and it is in the maintenance of posture that much stress arises.

The function of the trunk muscles is critical in giving the spine its compressive strength.

The spine and pelvis support the weight of the body parts above them and transmit the load to the legs via the hip joints.

Postures can be stable but stressful if support of body mass depends on soft tissues rather than bone.

Static muscle contractions lead rapidly to fatigue.

Causes of Lower Back Pain

Back pain sufferers who are motivated to return to work will find ways of coping with their pain and are more likely to get better.
Pain is unlikely to arise from the intervertebral disks themselves since only the outer parts contain nerve endings in the adult.
Likely sources of pain are the posterior ligaments and the back muscles.
Nerve root compression can also be a source of pain.
Pain from the sacroiliac joint can sometimes be mistaken for low back pain
evidence is accumulating to show that the sacroiliac joint is the source of pain below L5–S1(Schwarzer et al., 1995).
There is some evidence that chronic low back pain sufferers exhibit inefficient co-contraction of the transversus abdominus muscle — a muscle which is thought to play a role in stiffening the trunk during postural movements (Hodges and Richardson, 1996).
Soft tissues in the spine are then exposed to greater load and, over time, this sets up a cascade of maladaptation as one problem causes another.
Jayson (1997) suggested that vascular damage due to disk degeneration causes nerve root damage leading to a chronic pain syndrome.
Any factors that reduce the strength of body parts will increase the risk of injury.
In sitting, the discs bear more of the load (Adams and Dolan, 1995), whereas when lying the absolute load on all structures is lowered.
Jobs which that require people to stand still for prolonged periods without some external from form of aiding or support must be redesigned to allow more movement, or the work to be done in a combination of standing and sitting postures.
Low back pain can also be caused by muscular fatigue if a standing person has to work with the trunk inclined forward (e.g., when washing or ironing).
Spinal problems in standing work are often due to static loading of the back extensor muscles and/or excessive extension, lateral flexion, or twisting of the trunk.
there is no “correct” sitting or standing posture appropriate for all employees.
postural variety and movement should be designed into jobs.

“ Done is Better Than Perfect Because Perfect never gets done”

“Research Will Never Get Over, we have to end it , it’s a Sea, need to take the required according to the need”

“ There Are too many ways to solve a problem”

Taking the Direction of

Designing a Product for Neck, During Sleep i.e Pillow, To Recover from Neck pain caused during long hours of sitting in static position.

Currently, Competitive Benchmarking and Working on Factors of Products in Terms of

- Comfort
-Recovery
-Technology
-Anthropometry
-Material.

Concept :
Pillow that can be filled with Water for recovery with temperature change and massage niddles under marked area for massage/ accupressure while sleeping.