What?: 10 weeks exam project in collaboration with DNA-Guide Europa AB.
My Own Brief: ”Develop the service field of DNA-testing to include genetic test results together with individual diet and training advices based upon the total individual knowledge”.
Why?: Because every human is unique and needs individual advices based upon their personal attributes in order to improve their lifestyle and avoid diseases.
Where?: Konstfack Degree Exhibition 2012, Industrial Design, may 16th – 27th. 

Five slides: ”There’s an App For That”, 3 phones, 1 pivot/panorama view, Packaging and System Design Map.

Check out the video here: Dynamic DNA – A Service Development of DNA-Tests

Download high resolution 300 dpi images here:
Image 1 ”There’s an app for that”
Image 2 ”Pivot view”
Image 3 ”3 Phones”
Image 4 ”Packaging” 

Background: For thousands of years, doctors have made diagnoses by studying the signs and symptoms of illness their patients displayed. By then the illness had already gained a foothold, and in the worst case could be far advanced. Up until a few years ago, it was also the only way to proceed. Genetic testing is now opening a door for new approaches where a risk assessment of the diseases that could afflict the patient is made in advance. The technology is still in its cradle but exponential development is predicted over the coming 5-10 years. Preventing illness instead of treating it is an attractive thought. I’m convinced that patients will change their habits to a more healthy lifestyle if they are informed about their conditions. For this reason, I have chosen to work on the further development of genetic testing services.

Concept: A service development for the company DNA-Guide Europa AB, where they move from only offer personal DNA-Test results – to offer a whole change in lifestyle with diet and training changes based upon a number of individual tests together with advices from professional doctors, dietitians, personal trainers and psychologists. This way, they can offer the most advanced and accurate way for their customers to improve their lifestyle and avoid diseases with the latest technology on the market. This change also allows the company to have a yearly subscription service for their customers – and therefore a new form of income.

Execution: A system design map was created where the dashed parts where my suggestions of redesigning the service (see picture no. 5). Along with the service changes, I also redesigned the DNA-Test packaging (see picture no. 4) to solve current problems and to lower the production and transportation costs, having a positive result on the environment and the overall human experience of the service. After that, I decided to take the DNA-Testing service a step further, and designed a smartphone application. This application accesses all the encrypted individual information about DNA-test results, diet and training recommendations, and showing it to the user in an understandable way. The idea is that the user can access this application to get diet advices when in the store, or training advices before a workout etc. This way, the user can always access the individual information and use it for lifestyle improvements, something that hopefully will minimize the risk of diseases and extend the users life.

This project also resulted in a report that will be available on DIVA (Digitala Vetenskapliga Arkivet) after may 18th.

SVENSKA

Dynamiskt DNA
En tjänsteutveckling av DNA-Test.

Vad?: 10 veckors examensprojekt i samarbete med DNA-Guide Europa AB.
Brief: ”Utveckla tjänsten kring DNA-test så att det inkluderar genetiskt testresultat tillsammans med individuella kost- och träningsråd, baserad på den totala individuella kunskapen”.
Varför?: För att varje människa är unik och behöver individuella råd baserat på deras personliga attribut för att ha möjlighet att förbättra deras livsstil och undvika sjukdomar.
Var?: Ställs ut på Konstfacks Vårutställning 2012, Industridesign, 16-27 maj.

Fem slides (bilderna ovan): ”There’s an App For That”, 3 mobiler, 1 pivot/panorama, Förpackning och Systemkarta.

Se applikationsvideon här: Dynamiskt DNA – En tjänsteutveckling av DNA-Test

Ladda ner rapporten här (.PDF, ca 5 MB, Svenska): Rapport: Dynamiskt DNA – En Tjänsteutveckling av DNA-Test av Erik Westerdahl v.1.0

Ladda ner högupplösta bilder (300 dpi) här:
Bild 1 ”There’s an app for that”
Bild 2 ”Pivot vy”
Bild 3 ”3 Telefoner”
Bild 4 ”Förpackning”

Bakgrund: Under tusentals år har diagnoser ställts av läkare genom att undersöka de sjukdomstecken och symptom som patienter har uppvisat. Sjukdomen har då redan börjat få fotfäste och kan i värsta fall också vara långt gången. Fram till för några år sedan var detta också det enda sättet att gå tillväga. I samband med gentester öppnas nu en dörr för nya tillvägagångssätt, där man i förväg gör en riskbedömning av vilka sjukdomar som kan drabba patienten. Tekniken är i sin vagga men spås en exponentiell utveckling under de kommande 5-10 åren. Att förebygga sjukdomar istället för att behandla dem är en tilltalande tanke. Jag är övertygad om att patienter kommer att förändra sina vanor till en mer hälsosam livsstil om de blir informerade om sina förutsättningar. Av den anledningen har jag valt att arbeta med vidareutvecklingen av tjänster för gentest.

Koncept: En tjänsteutveckling för företaget DNA-Guide Europa AB, där de rör sig från att endast erbjuda personliga DNA-test, till att erbjuda hela livsstilslösningar med kost och träningsråd baserat på ett flertal olika test tillsammans med råd från doktorer, dietister, personliga tränare och psykologer. Genom detta så kan de erbjuda den mest avancerade och korrekta sättet för deras kunder att förbättra sin livsstil och undvika sjukdomar med den senaste teknologin. Denna förändring gör det möjligt för företaget att erbjuda ett årligt abonnemang för deras kunder – och därmed en ny form av inkomst.

Genomförande: En systemkarta skapades över DNA-Guides tjänst (se sista bilden), där de streckade områdena var mina förslag på förändringar och tillägg. Tillsammans med tjänsteförändringarna så designade jag om förpackningen för DNA-test (se bild nr 4) för att lösa dagens problem och sänka produktions- och transportkostnaderna. Detta medför en positiv påverkan på miljön samt på den allmänna upplevelsen av tjänsten. Efter det så ville jag utveckla tjänsten för DNA-test ytterligare, och designade därför en smartphone applikation. Denna applikation har åtkomst till den krypterade informationen om DNA-testresultat, kost och träningsråd, och visar det på ett enkelt sätt för kunden. Idén är att kunden kan få kostråd i affären, träningsråd före träning osv. På det här sättet kan kunden komma åt sin personliga information på ett enkelt sätt dagligen, för att ha möjlighet att göra livsstilsförändringar, något som förhoppningsvis minimerar risken för sjukdomar och dessutom förlänger kundens liv.

Mötet peppade mig i mitt projekt, och jag ser redan fram emot nästa steg i min designprocess!

Jag kommer att publicera uppdateringarna här på hemsidan, men ni kan även följa mig på twitter (@erikwesterdahl) samt på YouTube (erikwesterdahl).

Nedan följer min projektbeskrivning för mitt examensprojekt i Industridesign vid Konstfack 2012.

Projektbeskrivning – Examensprojekt i Industridesign vid Konstfack
Under tusentals år har diagnoser ställts av läkare genom att undersöka de sjukdomstecken och symptom som patienter har uppvisat. Sjukdomen har då börjat få fotfäste, och kan i de värsta fall redan vara långt kommen. Fram tills för några år sedan så var det också det enda sättet att gå tillväga. I samband med gentester öppnas nu en dörr för nya tillvägagångssätt, där man i förväg gör en riskbedömning av vilka sjukdomar som kan drabba patienten. Tekniken är i sin vagga, men spås en exponentiell utveckling under de kommande 5-10 åren. Att förebygga sjukdomar istället för att behandla dem är en tilltalande tanke. Jag är övertygad om att patienter kommer ta till medel för att förändra sina vanor till en mer hälsosam livsstil, om de blir informerade om sina förutsättningar. Av den anledningen har jag valt att arbeta med vidareutvecklingen av tjänsten för gentest.

Stay tuned.

I used this portfolio to apply for the Master’s Programme in Interaction Design at Umeå University – and I sent it in the other day! (Wish me luck!). The projects are very compressed, and that is due to the Portfolio Requirements of the Interaction Design Programme.

However, I might add more projects and slides with process further on!

Check out my new portfolio here! 

6 weeks project in collaboration with Electrolux.
Brief: ”Future cleaning and clearing in the kitchen”
My twist: ”We don’t need another cleaning product, we need kitchens that’s easy to keep clean”.

Three slides: Process & Research Phase, How it Works and Hero Picture.

How it works: The laser pico projector projects an interface on any given surface in the kitchen. The 3 different sensors and the 2 microphones registers commands and sends them to the kitchen mainframe. The kitchen mainframe then controls the appliances.

An easier way to keep clean: A futuristic way of controlling kitchen appliances through a motion and voice sensitive projected user interface. This way, there is no need for buttons that gets greasy.

6 weeks collaboration with Electrolux.
Brief: ”Design a toaster for the basic-pricing market”.

First slide: Process and Research Phase.
Hero slide: Using and environment.

A toaster with focus on user interaction, easy to use functions with pressing the button deeper for darker bread (and cancel). Electrolux form-language and an interesting tilt to make it iconic. It’s able to be manufactured with with current toaster components at a basic-segment pricing.

14 weeks of game development in Toy Design at Art Center College of Design, Pasadena – USA.
Final project is 73 pages long with how to play, database of cards, packaging, card design, manufacturing, business proposal, rules etc.

First Slide: Process and Research Phase.
Hero Slide: Example of trading card and toy in packaging.

The most advanced trading card game! New design of the cards with icons on the left side for the most important information. A big part of the card is assigned to another vital part, the art. The packaging is laser cut and laser rasterized. The toy is casted in plastic in a silicon mold, made from a shape in sculpturing clay.

This project is also used as an ”Excellent example” in the class ”Toy Design” at Art Center College of Design, Pasadena – USA.

2 days formgiving project. Spork made in Rhinoceros.

My main contribution: Ideation, company profile, pattern design and refinement.

My Contribution: Design, ideas for iOS apps, functions and interaction.

Product rendering and photo manipulation. 1 of approximative 250 homework files. VisCom 5 at Art Center College of Design with teacher Griselda Sastrawinata from Dreamworks. Letter of recommendation is available on request.

Education
Konstfack, Industrial Design.
Art Center College of Design, Product Design, Exchange Student.
FIDU, House of Form.
Örebro University, Digital Media Design – Media and Communication Science (90 credits).

References / Letters of Motivation
Dreamworks, by Griselda Sastrawinata.
Urbanista, by Daniel Roos.
Konstfack, by Professor Teo Enlund.
The Ingmar Bergman Estates on Fårö, by Linn Ullmann.

Other
Viltra Designstudio AB – Co-Founder and Co-Owner.
Urbanista – Intern for 6 weeks.
IT-Representative – Former Student Union IT-Representative and Students IT-Representative at Konstfack.

Now, it’s time for the release of my second design for an iPhone iOS App!
This time my buddy Alvin Yu needed help to redesign his popular app ”Project 365 Pro”!
Project 365 Pro is an app used to ”Take a picture every day of the year, become a better photographer and never forget a day in your life.”
I think it’s a great app, especially for people who want’s to see something progressing, like pregnant women, or just want to remember what they’ve done during the year!

In the design of this app, Alvin had a couple of requests.
1. The main focus should be the photos. Nothing else.
2. The design should feel like it resembles the Project 365 Pro website.

In the making of this design, the photos where made bigger (from version 1.0), the tiles got a bit of space around them (almost like paintings) and with discrete colors. We also manage to add swipe-recognition and tapping gestures. We also gathered a lot of the functions and different actions under two main buttons, and making it possible to tap for different actions. By doing this, the steps of interaction was cut down by almost 50%. We made an update of ”Project 365 Pro” which resulted in a easier to use, professional and unobtrusive looking app!

Enjoy!

Link to download page @ Apple

Urbanista is a small company, and I choosed them as my internship because I wanted to be involved in ”live projects” and to be able to see how a small design company grows. Urbanista is currently growing in a really high phase and are expanding into the international market. Every day was intense and it was inspiring to see how Johan Wahlbäck and Daniel Roos worked day and night, and managed to keep everything under control.

My main responsibility during this internship was to design the interior of a future cabin trolley, together with a lot of  other related products. An open mind in the Urbanista team also allowed my interior design solutions to affect the exterior design. Unfortunatly, I can not show any of the design work I did there due to classification. However, when the cabin trolley will be released (and it will), I’ll post some pictures.

As a gratitude for my work at Urbanista, I got these gifts.
It’s the brand new (released in late august) Urbanista Copenhagen and Urbanista London headphones. I choosed the white ones since I love the look of them. These headphones is also available in the colors; black, metal, red, green and pink.
I really like the design of them, because I think it’s interesting that a company chooses to leave the ordinary round shape of a headphone (and why shouldn’t they? Ears aren’t round).

Here’s some unpacking photos of the Urbanista Copenhagen and Urbanista London headphones.

Enjoy

Enjoy!

We came up with the idea of making an E Number App. E numbers are number codes for food additives that have been assessed for use within the European Union. They are commonly found on food labels throughout the European Union.

Now the App is available for free download on the App Store.
Hope you like my design.

Link to download page @ Apple

At Art Center, I took four courses; VisCom 4, VisCom 5, Rapid Prototyping and Toy Design.

This is some of the work done in Rapid Prototyping.
For this course I used SolidWorks as a 3D modeling tool, and a all of these where produced with different types of machines, such as laser, CNC, FDM, Starch etc.
Instructor: Javier Palomares.
Final Grade: A

Pictures:
Packaging for Toy Design, made with laser cutter. (Plastic ghost made by me as well).
Renderings of a toaster, later made in CNC.
Photos of a acrylic lamp, with hieroglyphs. Made with laser cutter.
Renderings of a flashlight, later produced in FDM.
Last, renderings of an untensil holder with napkin holder and bottle opener, later produced in starch.