Pin
Product Design | Pin
"Pin" is a design of pushpins in the shape of a woodpecker. In addition to reducing the difficulty for users to remove pushpins on the bulletin board, it also improves the overall process experience and increases the use of fun.
Design Features
New Way To Remove Pin | "Pin" is a design of pushpins in the shape of a woodpecker. In addition to reducing the difficulty for users to remove pushpins on the bulletin board, it also improves the overall process experience and increases the use of fun.
Hint For User | The back of the “Pin” looks like a switch, which is a hint that may make users do the “push” action without thinking.
More Tidy | The back view is changed into the square from cycle ones. It may look clearer on the bulletin board.
Various Using Way | The form of "Pin" is also suitable for the original use of the pushpin. It also looks more neat on the bulletin board.
Colorful Choices | Provide users with a variety of color choices, just like birds of different colors.
Design Background
“Pin” is one of a project when I was on an internship in Hers Design in Japan. The interns and some students from Kyoto University of Art joined a workshop held by our company president - professor Murata. The members of this workshop are required to design a simple product trough the Behaviour Design Method. Behaviour Design Method is a kind of design method which focuses on finding “bugs” in users’ behaviors then improve or redesign a product. This project is designed through this method, therefore, I started with observing the using process and tried to find what problem may trouble users.
Design Process
Discover - How do people use pins? | When implementing the behavioral observation design method, first it is needed to observe the relationship between people and products. Therefore, observing the behaviors, occasions, movements, and difficulties of people in the daily use of pushpins is the first task.
Discover - What kind of pushpins do people use? | Through field visits, it is found that three main types of pushpins are most widely used. However, there are special pushpins that are designed according to different applications.
Define - What problems do they have? | Through previous observation, it was found that people have three main difficulties in the behavior and process of using pushpins. First is that the “pull” action is not very easy for users to do. Sometimes it is also hard for the user to remove the pin from the bulletin board because of its shape. Besides, the pushpins on the bulletin board are messy.
Develop - Maybe a new way of using? | During the ideation stage, in addition to developing the appearance with sketches, prototypes were also made to simulate the actions and using angles.
