We had the distinct pleasure to interview award winning designer Shreyans Bhandari about their original and creative Phone Use Tracking Lamp design work. Shreyans Bhandari is an award-winning industrial designer, that makes our world a better place with their original phone use tracking lamp works.
Shreyans Bhandari ("SB") answered Design Interview ("DI") questions about their award-winning work enLighten Phone Use Tracking Lamp. Interview questions prepared by Frank Scott.
SB : Present this idea to companies leading in technology, design, or home furnishing. Especially since we move into the area of health, wellness and mindfulness, this concept would add a lot of value to people's digital life.
SB : As an interaction designer, I was interested in questioning if my interface designs were good for people's lifestyle, health and relationships. I designed this particular concept to make people more aware of their digital life, and not completely detach themselves. But to make the best decisions of their use of time and energy.
SB : My interests in health, wellness, and inner peace, combined with my design instincts and engineering background to prototype and make it all work, and most importantly to tell a compelling story about the problem and how I intend to approach it.
SB : Industrial design faculty of the Rhode Island School of Design RISD. Fellow graduate students
SB : Smart-phone users
SB : Awareness, playfulness, agency and control of product use
SB : enLighten means a lot of things. Thats why I chose it. It includes "light" which attributes to a source like a lamp. Enlighten, in the spiritual context, means to reach a higher level of consciousness and wisdom. In this case, using light to tell us something that has a lot of meaning associated with the passage of time, our interactions with phones and its impact on our lifestyle, health and relationships.
SB : CAD software, extrusion 3D printing, SLS 3d printing, arduino, electronics
SB : Its dynamic quality due to its relationship with our phone interactions is the most unique aspect. The fold in the center turns a seemingly simple cylinder into an abstraction of an hourglass. But the scale is absurdly unique and whimsical.
SB : Individual work and learning
SB : Technology plays a huge role in this design. The relationship between the phone and another object is made possible only by technological tools including electronics and logic. When thinking about the form, it is wholly produced by a single SLS laser printer which is a cutting edge new technology in the manufacturing world. So this entire concept, function and form is supported by technology.
SB : A big part of my creative process stems from user research methodologies that include user conversations, prototyping and testing. By asking people to map their phone use throughout the day I learned that phone-use during bedtime was the most common and indulgent. Moreover, content rich apps that are immersive and persuasive as used during this time. All these insights were instrumental in designing this product and its context of usage.
SB : Realization of the 3d print design in the actual scale (1 feet tall single SLS print) with complex lofting in the center. I was afraid the plastic would be weak at those folds. So I had to do a lot of prototyping and testing to land on the right about of fold. The technical development of phone and lamp communication was tricky, and required a lot of logic based decisions much like a software engineer. But as a designer always trying to view it from a user centered perspective.
SB : People loved its visually provoking form, the concept, and how it worked. The 3D print worked out wonderfully. All these aspects of the project compelled me to submit my design.
SB : I think I grew immensely as a designer, considering user interaction, integration in their lives, form evolution, technological incorporation. All these aspects have greatly added to by design practice.
