EXPERIENCE DESIGNERARIANA KOBLITZ

august 2013

understanding the experience in context to find new opportunities

(photo taken in New York City

When I design...

I strive to bridge the understanding of consumer insights and the behaviors we want to encourage in our users.

Ultimately, I hope to encourage behaviors I believe bring out the best (and new) in us. I value a team that supports each other and believe with great diversity comes a great, if at

times challenging, process.

}{

past projects reflect a needs-oriented design process, with an emphasis on insights related to product experience

... I create for a construction worker 2-way 2.0 }{ a novice cook CookMate

an amputee 4Arms

meaningfully.

a family ChorDoer

Our focus for our final project was the long-term crutch user.  

Although the disability lies in the lower extremities, crutches prevent the instinctive and fluid use of your arms, which meant a need to rely on others for help. We set out to give crutch users their independence back. Capstone Project for Product Design studies program [with Stephanie Tomasetta]

4Armsdesigning foramputees

After walking around in crutches for days, alongside extensive user interviews, we pinpointed the moments that undermined a sense of independence.  

It’s the simple things that build up over time; stairs and uneven terrain we expected to be hardships, but the fact that we could not hug or reach out for someone’s hand spontaneously without fearing complications were painful moments we hadn’t anticipated.

Our solution needed to incorporate an understanding of the whole system of an amputees experience. This means it starts from the first conversation say a veteran has with his physician at the Veterans Association, to when he receives his crutches and begins the process of learning how to walk with them, all the way through the time his cuffs, and his grip, wear out.

Stumps R Us is a community for amputees, with monthly athletic outings and brunches.

Sunrise senior living provides care for both long-term, as well as temporary residents.

The Department of Veterans Affairs was a great source of inspiration, as well as concrete examples of what post-amputation rehabilitation looks like.

Wayne Koniuk has been making leg prosthetics for decades, prototyping with new materials and technology

Bespoke Innovation has set out to “bring more humanity to people who have congenital or traumatic limb loss “.

• we spoke to the target audience

• we conducted ethnographic research• we surveyed current offerings

Our competitive analysis included a wide range of current product presentations, including accessories, luxury goods, and replacements. • we spoke to the target

audience

• we conducted ethnographic research

• we surveyed current offerings

From our ethnographic research, we recognized a fourth issue: quality of social interactions

Current crutches address major issues: quality of style, usability, and comfort.

With that in mind, we took a look at the relationship between value proposition and the type of purchases of current products on the market:

add to existing

buy new

providephysical comfort

provideemotional support

service offered

type of purchase

open market niche

Product Manufacturer Price

Prevent Crutch Falling

Hands Free Cap. Comfort

Bag Carrying Style

Walking Aid

Where sold

FourArms FourArms $57.00IZI Magnetic Sheath Fetterman $29 onlineSunrise Tube Crutch Holder for wheelchairs quickie wheelchairs $65 onlineCane Holder Nova $9.99 storePaddings/Grip elastogel $20 online Forearm Crutch Bag WalkEasy $24.95 onlineGrip cover for pediatric crutches WalkEasy $14.95 onlineForearm Crutch Pads Crutcheze $29 onlineOrtho-Medic Crutch NOVA $89.90 onlineCane Bag NOVA $14.95 onlineiWalk Free Hands Free Crutch JustWalkers $394 onlineForearm Crutch Smart Crunch $119.95 onlineIn motion forearm crutch Millennial $89.95 onlineWalk Easy Platform Forearm Crutches Walk Easy $139 onlineVersa Crutch Pack Adaptable Designs $23.95 onlineCrutch Tote EZ Access $19.95 onlineEuroStyle Aluminum Forearm Crutch EuroStyle $39.95 onlineGel Ovations Forearm Crutch Pad GelRaps Gel Ovations $29.95 onlineRamm TLC OnlyOne Ultra Light Crutch Ramm TLC 148.95 onlineStrong Arm Forearm Crutch - Strong Arm $49.95 onlineComfort Cuff The DeMay Med $235 onlineComfort Grip Adjustable Crutches Comfort Grip $41.69 onlineMagic Soft Anatomic Crutch Grey Ergonomic Handles Magic Soft $70 online

4Arms is a set of forearm crutch cuffs that users can purchase to replace the standard crutch cuffs that are issued through basic health insurance. The shape of the crutch allows the user to temporarily attach one crutch to the other. This function enables the user to easily extract one arm.

We found our groove iterating around the cuffs, finding ways for them to connect temporarily.

And then figured out how we could create a feasible model for mass manufacturing

greet friends, temporarily stow away,

pick up,hang, and be on your way.

With 4Arms:

Crutches make it easier to walk.

4Arms makes it easier to live.

watch a short video of 4Arms in use here

Once you’ve left the nest, you’re living on your own. We worked on a system of cooking necessities to make learning how to cook a more intuitive, and a more sustainable, experience. This challenge is future-forward, and so the presented solution is scoped past currently implemented technology

BOSCH Challenge [project led by Prof. Banny Banerjee] [with Kevin Ho and Avantika Agarwal]

CookMatedesigning fornovices

• missing know-how

• missing proximity to family’s kitchen

• difficulty remembering what worked last time

top barriers we saw:

“what I know of cooking...? some amount of some ingredients... are combined... but it’s all a mess if I try it.”

We aim to strip away the stress around using kitchen ware in order that a novice can focus on the act of cooking.

I just wish my kid would get to the point where cooking & baking is fun, when you stop worrying about the basic structure, and spend time and energy adding new things to the dishes. That’s the magic of cooking.

Experiments now become part and parcel of the routine-- because the script hasn’t been written. Your process? Saved for another time, should you want access to your experiment later.

how can we leverage the existing products that are already in use for similar activities?

opportunity areas: where pain points and needs meet

how can we link disparate seeming needs?

We were excited to explore the possibilities of the“Internet of Things”-- empowering everyday objects to communicate information. Currently you can receive data directly, and interact with it. In addition, we were curious what would happen if you let devices talk to each other.

This in turns opens up a whole new world of behaviors to benefit from.

Our project concluded with opportunity scenarios around a mixing bowl, which acts as a central control for baking.

• RFID reader, or wireless input, to track ingredients

Don’t trust the weight sensors to calculate your ingredient amounts? A system of clip-on receivers on your measuring utensils communicates with “cook base” -- the bowl.

•Temperature reader•LED light indicator•E-inked surface handles

•Temperature reader•Weight sensor•Gyroscope to track movement•E-inked surface•LED indicators

•Suite equipped with RFID readers• Weight sensors (calculates needed amount with information about ingredient)

+

While this scenario is currently too big a system to implement, the smart CookMate mixing bowl would suffice to act as a recipe guide.

Two different sets of bowls can be linked, to create a cooking experience at any distance

Even out the other ingredient proportions in the event of a mistake, or save it to be your personal version.

The bowl, along with other utensils, walks you through each step, including the speed of mixing needed.

Paired with a CookMate cutting board, preparing hearty meals is next on your lesson plan.

We created a scenario in which learning how to cook becomes a more fluid experience. Inputs are guided by a system of clip-on accessories to your ingredient storage containers and cooking utensils.

Our priorities were that:

• the novice cook maintains a sense of agency in the process

• there be multiple ways family and friends can join in the process

• the experience be fluid enough to handle the great variance in types of recipes and baking habits

You, or one of your family members, sends over a recipe to the bowl.

The bowl will let you know when you have poured the right amount.

SONIM has won accolades for their rugged phones, but find it hard to convince the industries they target that these ought to be indispensable.

My team chose to focus on construction workers, and aimed to present a new direction for the company.

SONIM Challenge: ME 216a Needfinding [with Cecilia Corral, Dylan Ferris, and Griff Whalen]

2-way 2.0designing forconstruction workers

out in the field:SONIM is looking to introduce newer, “smarter”devices to their product offerings. We spoke with managers, with construction workers, and with contractors, to find out what “smarts”are needed on a site, and where information gaps happen.

Physically, seemingly nothing can break this phone. But it has to get into the right people’s hands first. Safety is a huge concern at a construction site, but there are existing safety measures in place, and asking someone to contend with the fact that these may fail has not been a successful way to increase a large-scale adoption.

• Information trickles down (as in most organizations), but communication channels change

• Management sits in one physical spot, and tries to keep track and contact additional workers and supplies when necessary

• Each team and each build stage brings with it

--looks-like prototype made for client presentation

Ideally, the device would live on the outside of a construction vest, so as to be easily accessible, and one would readily note the light indicator.

The harness itself transmits any vibration alerts directly through to the jacket material.

Construction workers will often wear gloves, and so it was a priority to make everything easily accessible, and tactile.the digital hard hat.

Instead of a full-service smart phone, SONIM brings a sleek device that incorporates on-site needs. It does not strive to compete with your personal phone, but instead takes on its own responsibilities, including SONIM’s vanguard safety features

direct line to your team

actionable information flow in real-time

time-sensitive tracking of changes

Colleagues see a visual cue for incoming messages, and an identifer lets them know which team is calling

The foreman can identify necessary schedule updates, and immediately notify team members, some of whom may be out in the field

As change orders come in from the contractors, plans can be scanned and immediately replace earlier versions on all devices.

direct

actionable

time-sensitive

Families are a complex network of individuals that change all the time. Chores can exemplify and exacerbate sensitive dynamics. How do you set up a routine that keeps family members accountable? Is there a way to engage the entire family seamlessly?

Project: communication via digital interfaces. Course taught by Enrique Allen (wtr 2010)

ChorDoerdesigning forfamilies

Get groceries

Set tableClear tableWash dishesSet dishes away

Dust

Play with me

Clean up after me

Feed me

Walk me

Dust

Dust

I met with family members both on campus and around the city of San Francisco, engaging in conversations around routine, and when things do not go according to plan. These conversations oftentimes ended up branching off, to include topics such as family honor, and sometimes even some family history,

“I find myself living a very routine life, and so unless taking out the trash fits seamlessly into my habits... it is almost impossible that I remember to do it without someone needing to remind me.”

“Oh I definitely get mad at my parents sometimes when they tell me I have to go “do this” or “do that”...”

“I just know I won’t do as good a job as some of my other family members... My mom is usually the one that makes dinner, so I feel like she knows how she wants the kitchen to be best.”

“I catch myself going ahead and finishing chores that were half-way there.”

“By the time we’re all back at home together, I want to enjoy what little family time we have. Fussing over something that wasn’t done earlier seems... trivial

in comparison.”

By walking through a users’ experiences doing (or not doing) chores at home, I teased apart the types of barriers to completing chores.

Next was identifying some unifying item. At the time of the project, in 2010, it seemed far-fetched to some that everyone in the house would be connected. This is by now a moot point.

Major take-aways were:

•Timing is important

•A chore must be obvious / clear

•Accountability is hard to establishafter the fact

When phones are in use:

How phones are used:

Virtually all the time, but peak hours are: •as soon as you get up•in-between classes / meetings / commitments•early afternoon hours, as friends and colleagues (and acquaintances) get off work

Generally speaking, top activities include: (my interviews focused on the spur-of-the-moment activities)•quick, one to two-minute communication (as opposed to conversation) with friends / colleagues•if photo-user, photo-sharing•if an avid Twitterer, then almost anything can trigger a tweet

ChorDoer creates a world of chores for the whole family, who accrue points by completing chores. The gamification of real-life actions jumps on the wave of similar implementations across other industries. This was an exercise in connecting the dots between disparate lifestyles, with the house itself as the tangible center, and the chores a new type of currency, illustrated with updates by anyone in the family and good for a sibling swap for a favor.

ChorDoer adds an element of ease-of-communication we see lacking in other task-related apps.

options are readily available per pending action

icons that pulse allows for a reaction to change, something the eye picks up much quicker than the mind

positive feedback at the right moment reinforces behaviors

customization of chore details is key, including video and photo footage options

integrates with 3rd party apps such as msg carriers or social media outlets

Thank you for taking a look at my past experiences! Please feel free to contact me with any additional questions at

akoblitz@alumni.stanford.edu

Ariana’s credentials, at a glanceAppendix

ARIANA TAE KOBLITZ | a r i a n a k o b l i t z . s q u a re s p a c e . c o m | tel 3 1 0 3 8 4 7 8 6 4 | email a k o b l i t z @ a l u m n i . s t a n f o rd . e d u

Stanford University - STANFORD, CAB.S. in Product Design - December 2012RELEVANT COURSES: • Cultural Maps | Ethnographic insight as it relates to design; course at design institute (d.school)• Design Methods | Core in product design program; design process• Design & Manufacturing | CNC, lathe, mill, casting, woodworking

EDUCATION

Kolding School of Design - KOLDING, DENMARKMasters-Level course certificate - November 2012RELEVANT COURSES:• Nudge: Designing Positive Behavior | design sprint with local corporate clients

Internat’l School of Beijing - BEIJING, CHINA Internat’l Baccalaureate Certificate - 2009

Urawa Lutheran School - SAITAMA, JAPANIndependently organized year abroad - 2005 – 2006

John-F-Kennedy School - BERLIN, GERMANYDeutsche Mittlere Reife - 2005

HONORS & AWARDS

FELLOW, Stanford Haas Center Public Service Leadership Program (November 2009-September 2010)

EARNEST CHILTON AWARD (June 2012) given to the outstanding Product Design student of the graduating class

MEMBER, Cap & Gown Women’s Honors Society (November 2010-present)

COMPETENCIES

Language English (native) German (native)Chinese (proficient) Japanese (JLPT Level 2 certified) French (4 yrs high school proficiency)

SoftwareCAD: Solid Works CATIA

Adobe Suite: Photoshop Illustrator InDesign

DESIGN EXPERIENCE

INTERN (MechEng) LUNAR DESIGN SAN FRANCISCOJune 2012-September 2012 Generated concepts in mechanism, human factors, and user experience/usability design. Conveyed complex ideas of our prototyped products (medical, toy, household) to our clients in presentations.  

INTERN (PD) LITE ON MOBILE BEIJING, CHINAJune 2011-August 2011Designed injection mold tooling of cell phones during the latter stages of manufacturing. Aided the communication with their client’s American counterparts, clarifying needed changes.

PROJECT LEAD STANFORD & BERLIN September 2009-August 2010Designed & implemented qualitative research project on designer & user relationship, analyzing decisions and workflows. Received ME Summer Undergraduate Research Institute grant to pursue project, which included developing independent coursework to prepare for ethnographic research & case study in Berlin on designer-to-user relationship, analyzing decisions and workflows of Ursula Wunsch, a designer specializing in wooden toys for disabled children in Berlin

RESEARCHER DESIGN CONCEPTS MADISON, WISCONSINApril 2012 - (expected July 2012) Conducted field research for both physical products and medications. Analyzed qualitative data for needfinding, including facilitating analysis settings with our clients. Presented a strategic path borne out of the needs analysis.

CORPORATE PROJECTS

ARIANA TAE KOBLITZ | a r i a n a k o b l i t z . s q u a re s p a c e . c o m | tel 3 1 0 3 8 4 7 8 6 4 | email a k o b l i t z @ a l u m n i . s t a n f o rd . e d u

MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE

SECTION LEADERME216a: Needfinding September - November 2012Teaching staff to a course taught by Dev Patnaik of the design consultancy Jump Associates, Inc. Led weekly discussions on readings, graded weekly assignments

VICE PRESIDENT | STANFORD PRODUCT DESIGN STUDENT ASSOCIATION (PDSA) May 2011- August 2012Oversaw all development of PDSA programs (created a mentorship program, recurring community development events and initiated a closer communication between department faculty and students)Led directorship training (collaboration methods, event organization, management skills training)

RESIDENT ASSISTANTROBINSON DORM (September 2010 - June 2012)Main contact concerning residents as a staff of Stanford’s Residential Education program. Developed dorm programming to introduce residents to my academic pursuits as well as interests

ARIANA TAE KOBLITZ | a r i a n a k o b l i t z . s q u a re s p a c e . c o m | tel 3 1 0 3 8 4 7 8 6 4 | email a k o b l i t z @ a l u m n i . s t a n f o rd . e d u

LEADERSHIP NOTES

Stanford University - STANFORD, CA:• Negotiation | Stan Christensen | Tactics and methods based on Harvard Business Review• Associated Stanford Student Body Leadership Program

STRENGTHS QUEST:

CommunicationActivatorIndividualizationArrangerAdaptability

Meyer Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)last taken: July 2012ENTP -Extravert

-Intuition-Thinking-Judging

REFERENCES

Stefanie Norvaisas (stefanie.norvaisas@design-concepts.com)Director of Strategy & Research, Design Concepts, Inc

Jonathan Downing (jonathan@lunar.com)Lead Mechanical Engineer, LUNAR Design

David Kelley (kelley@stanford.edu)Professor, Stanford University & co-founder of IDEO

ENJOYS SPENDING TIME

creating Mixed-media art pieces (check out arianakoblitz.squarespace.com/arts)trekking (Tibet, Cambodia, Torres del Paine (Patagonia) ... )

swimming, and at one time playing rugbyjamming on the flute

ARIANA TAE KOBLITZ | a r i a n a k o b l i t z . s q u a re s p a c e . c o m | tel 3 1 0 3 8 4 7 8 6 4 | email a r i a n s k y @ g m a i l . c o m