design

touch screens: capacitative or resistive?

A few years ago I did some design work on a piece of lab equipment that required a touch screen. Early on we had a vendor come in to help us spec the appropriate screen for the application. He touched on a lot of stuff, but one of the main ones was the difference between [...]

Tagged as: product design, touch screen, usability

what would you do with a 3D-printer?

There has been a lot of buzz around 3D printing lately, and while I feel that it has the potential to create a revolution in production I find myself unable to articulate why. So… if you could buy a 3D printer for a few hundred dollars, would you? What would you use it for?

Tagged as: 3d printing, rapid prototyping

chinese-made cheap 3d printer

I’ve been on a cheap 3D-printer kick lately, and it continues. From BoingBoing The UP! personal 3D printer from China retails for $1500, with goop running at $50/kg. Fromthis early adopter’s review: It runs at 0.3mm resolution, and the finished models show striations from successive layers of goop, but light sanding produces a smooth finish. [...]

Tagged as: 3d printing, rapid prototyping

3d printing hack

It’s not going to replace Makerbot or your local rapid prototyping house anytime soon, but still a pretty impressive hack.

Tagged as: 3d printing, hacks, makerbot, rapid prototyping

makerbot build video

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the industry, Makerbot is the (in my opinion) at the leading edge of the RepRap movement. Or, with less jargon: Makerbot is a build-it-yourself robot. It makes things out of plastic. It’s worth checking out their website for the details, in the meantime check out my buddy Nick’s [...]

Tagged as: 3d printing, makerbot, rapid prototyping

liquid metal (as awesome as it sounds)

Just came across LiquidMetal today. Wow. At first I thought it was just a twist on Metal Injection Molding (MIM). Digging in a little further I realized that the really cool part isn’t the process, it’s the material. Liquid Metal isn’t actually a material, but a class of alloys, check out their website for more [...]

Tagged as: alloys, apple, liquid metal, metal injection molding, springs

UL + sustainability = the future?

Earlier this week I made my way up VC Hill to attend MassMEDIC’s Envirofoum. The two presenters, Robert B. Pojasek of Capaccio Engineering and Kevin Johnson of Siemens did a fantastic job, but one of the topics perked my ears up a little more than the rest: the recent rise of UL Environment. what is UL [...]

Tagged as: certification, UL, underwriters laboratories, validation

video: curvature continuity 101

Courtesy of Adam O’Hern, the CAD Junkie. Be sure to check out the rest of his amazing tutorials here

Tagged as: CAD, curavture continuity, surface modeling, surfacing

a quick thought on attention

I was going through my old bookmarks today and came across this short manifesto from Design Observer. I’ve written before on the true attention cost of things, but rereading the manifesto got me thinking a little further: Currently, we decide to bring things (be they artifacts or bits of information) by a simple ratio… utility/cost. [...]

Tagged as: attention

Thumbnail image for are smartphones good?

are smartphones good?

I should disclose something: Ever since I dropped $300+ on a Motorola V600, I have been a smartphone addict. V600, RAZR, Blackberry Pearl, currently the Tmobile G1, and I can’t help but eye The Droid Incredible. Then, a few days ago I came across the Nokia C1-00. As I pored through it’s specs (6 week [...]

Tagged as: android, attention, benefits, iphone, nokia c1-00

Thumbnail image for statistical tolerance analysis basics: Root Sum Square (RSS)

statistical tolerance analysis basics: Root Sum Square (RSS)

In my last post on worst-case tolerance analysis I concluded with the fact that the worst-case method, although extremely safe, is also extremely expensive. Allow me to elaborate, then offer a resolution in the form of statistical tolerance analysis. cost A worst-case tolerance analysis is great to make sure that your parts will always fit, but [...]

Tagged as: example, manufacturing, root sum square, RSS, rss tolerance stackup, rss tolerancing, spc, stack up tolerance analysis, statistical tolerance analysis, tolerance analysis, tolerance analysis fundamentals

Thumbnail image for sealing medical cushions: <br/> RF vs ultrasonic welding

sealing medical cushions:
RF vs ultrasonic welding

Once your kickass memory foam design has been molded or fabricated, it’s probably going to need to be covered. That means upholstery. When you think of upholstery, you probably think of stitching and sewing. If you’ve got some practical experience, stapling might even come to mind. But when you start talking about designing medical cushions, [...]

Tagged as: fabrics, medical, RF welding, ultrasonic welding

Thumbnail image for Dear SolidWorks and Pro|Engineer:fix these problems

Dear SolidWorks and Pro|Engineer:fix these problems

Everyone has their preferred CAD package, and most look down their nose at all the others. The Solidworks guys rag on the Pro|Engineer guys, a few yucks are had, and you go back to work. But isn’t what we really want for one of these CAD programs to really get their act together? To decimate [...]

Tagged as: CAD, Pro Engineer, SolidWorks

Thumbnail image for are attractive designs really more usable?

are attractive designs really more usable?

There has long been a precedent that users find attractive designs to be more usable. About a decade ago, a study found that users perceive attractive ATM’s as more usable. Recently, Rob Tannen noted a similar study on the effect aesthetics has on the perceived usability of cell phones. Now I’ve long since been sold on [...]

Tagged as: aesthetics, usability

Thumbnail image for brainstorming in 109 words

brainstorming in 109 words

Brainstorming can be seen as fluffy, even superfluous. Seeing engineers and designers make recommendations like “fill it up with helium to make it lighter” or “what about aerogel” can be a little frustrating (especially if you don’t believe in brainstorming AND are the one paying these engineers). But what’s happens after a (good) brainstorm is [...]

Tagged as: brainstorming

Thumbnail image for The dirty little secret about environmental impact

The dirty little secret about environmental impact

When it comes to sustainable product design, if it has a circuit board, it’s environmental impact is big. So big that changing the housing from a standard plastic to an eco-friendly option is often insignificant. How insignificant? Epically insignificant. Just check the stats (Thanks Okala). I used ABS as a benchmark because it’s something we all know [...]

Tagged as: environmental impact, PCB

Thoreau on perfect product design

My brother-in-law got me a copy of Thoreau’s Walden for Christmas (Thanks Phil!). I’m only halfway through, but the pages are dripping with inspiration for good product design. Check that. Perfect product design. For example, Thoreau proposes that: “a man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to leave alone.” [...]

Tagged as: perfect product design, product design, thoreau, Walden

Thumbnail image for design with invisible hinges

design with invisible hinges

A colleague of mine used these recessed hinges on a design a few years back and got some real good results. It’s the best solution I’ve seen to the problem achieving clean rotation without big gaudy hinges mucking up the aesthetic. Check out more from Bartels.

Tagged as: hinges, hinges design

Thumbnail image for Typefaces give us signals

Typefaces give us signals

photo credit: Luke Dorny I was reorganizing my Evernote notebooks and came across this (very well-done) 5 minute movie that exposes the feelings we get when we see certain typefaces. Certainly old hat for bona-fide typophiles, but eye-opening for the uninitiated. Plus it’s catchy:). Enjoy. Courtesy Eric Spiekermann by way of Presentation Zen

Tagged as: typography

Thumbnail image for are you using too many labels?

are you using too many labels?

It’s likely the case that the design of your product isn’t so terribly unintuitive that it needs to be covered with labels, warnings, instructions and disclaimers. It’s also probably the case that you’re product design isn’t perfect, and does require some labeling. (although striving for zero labels is exactly what you should be doing). No, [...]

Tagged as: aesthetics, usability

Thumbnail image for 6 non-sucky materials sites

6 non-sucky materials sites

As product designers we deal with materials every day, but it’s a messy world out there and a surprising (or maybe not so surprising) number of materials websites suck. These ones don’t. I promise. MatWeb MatWeb is the big daddy when it comes to engineering materials. Their enormous selection of generic (i.e. polycarbonate) and proprietary [...]

Tagged as: materials, references

product design wart

don’t design a wart

Sometimes you have to slap an addition onto a device. Maybe it’s because of an oversight in the initial design, or because a stakeholder wants to add a new feature to keep up with their competitor. The reason why doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’ve got to design something that looks and feels like [...]

Tagged as: aesthetics

Thumbnail image for urethane casting guide: 5 things you need to know

urethane casting guide: 5 things you need to know

I like urethane castings. They always look so clean and pretty. Use them for the wrong project however, and you’ll be stuck explaining to your client why you dropped a few grand on prototypes and have nothing to show for it but a receipt. When I evaluate castings for a project I’m working on, I [...]

Tagged as: prototyping, urethane casting, urethane casting guide

durometer table graphic

80 Shore A? 30 Shore D? It seems every time a question of durometer pops up, I’m digging through the library looking for samples or googling “durometer table” to find the info I need. This graphic from Mcmaster-Carr suits most of my needs. Do yourself a favor and tack it up at your desk.

Tagged as: durometer table, elastomers

design guide: memory foam manufacturing

Designing with polyurethane memory foam (a.k.a viscoelastic foam, a.k.a tempurpedic foam) is different. It’s not as conventional or dimensionally stable as plastics or metals, but when it comes to comfort, it can’t be beat. So how do you do it? How much does it cost?

Tagged as: CNC, Injection Molding, RIM

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