Refining the Design Language

Date

01 NOV 2025 07 NOV 2025

Week

Week 7

Unit

Final Major Project

Brief

Design an intervention that reshapes user-to-user interaction in public spaces.

In short

Simplified the series into three “Locker” devices built around wearable embarrassment.
Built a shared acrylic frame with modular add-ons.
Skipping low-fi caused fit/tension issues, so it needs reinforcement materials.

Simplifying the Series

The core of this series lies in inducing social embarrassment through the act of wearing the device. While maintaining the overall form of the previous prototype, I explored additional references. In Korea, when a child accidentally wets the bed, there used to be a practice of making them wear a “Ki (Korean winnowing basket)” hat and walk around the neighbourhood. Many medieval punishment devices also share the characteristic of being worn from above the head. These examples reflect a cultural mechanism in which wrongdoing is visually exposed through what one wears.

Referenced cultural materials such as medieval execution tools, the ruff collar, and the Korean “ki (키)”. Image Credit: Author; Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Based on this insight, I designed a rounded rectangular frame with an opening for the head. During user testing, some participants mentioned that it resembled a toilet seat. Although this was not an intended reference, I felt that the association actually reinforced the sense of embarrassment that the device aims to evoke.

As the project expanded into different contexts, the series was simplified as follows:

AudienceLocker: The original theatre version intended to prevent talking and mobile phone use.
StudyLocker: A device that amplifies small movements into loud noises, targeting distracting behaviour in libraries.
PassengerLocker: A device worn on public transport to prevent passengers from occupying others’ space by pulling their arms inward.

Three sketches of the final models to be produced for this project. Image Credit: Author

Considered multiple form variations while sharing the same frame. Image Credit: Author

Sketches refining the library model and Tube model. Image Credit: Author

Sketching, Measuring, and Cutting

Calculated dimensions for a new high-fidelity model based on the earlier prototypes. Photo Credit: Author

Technical drawing with all dimensions annotated. Photo Credit: Author

Digitally drew the exact form based on measurements; also explored wood bending early on. Photo Credit: Author

High-fidelity blueprint. Image Credit: Author

Early blueprint for the library model. Image Credit: Author

The simplified frame was further developed by remeasuring the previous wire prototype and drafting a more detailed set of dimensions. The goal was to maintain a shared base frame while allowing variations through modular add-ons.

Using the laser cutter at the 3D Workshop, I cut the acrylic sheet and shaped it with heat to achieve the desired curves.

Rechecked wearable sizing using paper. Photo Credit: Author

Laser-cut acrylic boards into the desired shapes. Video Credit: Author

The cut frame for the theatre device. Photo Credit: Author

Used a heat gun and paper tube to bend the acrylic frame. Photo Credit: Author

Video Credit: Author

Bending the acrylic. Photo Credit: Author

The bent acrylic frame. Photo Credit: Author

Laser-cutting to produce frames for the series expansion version. Photo Credit: Author

Video Credit: Author

Bent the frame into other shapes using a heat gun and paper tube. Photo Credit: Author

Three acrylic frames bent to the same curvature. Photo Credit: Author

Material Limitations and Directions for Improvement

Chose red velvet, commonly associated with theatres. Photo Credit: Author

Chose blue velvet, often seen in the Tube and buses. Photo Credit: Author

Predicted the ruff collar shape. Photo Credit: Author

Started with calculations and sewing tests for the theatre version. Photo Credit: Author

Photo Credit: Author

Some feedback suggested that the frame did not need to be complex, and that a fabric-only ruffle collar might even serve the design intent more directly. However, since the core of the project relies on the act of wearing a device as a form of acknowledging wrongdoing, I decided to keep the ring-shaped frame.

There were also useful suggestions for improving the structure. For the library version, sound stimulation near the ears could be achieved by attaching small objects through holes or pins. Materials such as bubble wrap, sandpaper, or metal could be incorporated to provide sound or tactile feedback.

Reflecting on the process, I realised that skipping the low-fidelity prototyping stage introduced notable risks. In the push to expand the series and quickly produce high-fidelity models, the library version failed to align with the intended position, and the tube version did not extend far enough to reach the user’s arms once wrapped in fabric. While the frame itself was relatively easy to produce with support from the 3D Workshop, the biggest challenge lay in achieving sufficient tension in the fabric components. This revealed the need for reinforcement materials such as organza.

Unlike paper, fabric couldn’t hold tension and the form collapsed. Video Credit: Author

In a feedback tutorial with Greg and Wan. Photo Credit: Author

“Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.”

Each setback broadened my understanding. Exploring this new territory has been deeply instructive, and although there is still much to do in the week leading up to the final presentation, my direction feels clearer than ever.

Reference

Bakhtin, M.M. 1984, Rabelais and His World, Indiana University Press, Bloomington.
Goffman, E. 1967, Interaction Ritual: Essays on Face-to-Face Behavior, Anchor Books, New York.
Kim, S.E.H. 2024, Being Korean, Master of Fine Arts thesis, Rochester Institute of Technology. Available at: https://repository.rit.edu/theses/11937/
Winner, L. 1980, ‘Do artifacts have politics?’, Daedalus, vol. 109, no. 1, pp. 121–136. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/20024652