Peg Shelf
Skills: Human-Centered Design, Product Design, Prototyping
For Human-Centered Product Design course at Northwestern University
The Peg Shelf is a modular and customizable shelf system. This shelf system is a reimagining of the standard bed frame that is present in many dorms, and it allows users to organize an array of shelves in any configuration possible with the precisely placed peg holes.
Needfinding
As my teammates and I discussed potential opportunity spaces to approach in our project, we fell into a lengthy conversation where we realized how much trouble we all had in making our dorms unique and comfortable when moving in freshman year. We reflected on how disappointing and unwelcoming that felt in such a critical moment of moving into a room we had never seen and trying to make it feel like home.
User Testing Round 1:
Modular Dorm Furniture Concepts
We prioritized user testing, conducting surveys and two rounds of user testing in order to find a solution to the problem that was inclusive and customizable. I was very excited to be hands-on during this project, so I built two of the three mockups (shown in the picture on the right) that we used for round one of user testing. Through our brainstorming session we came up with These mockups represented different modular dorm furniture concepts we had come up with during our brainstorming session, and from the interviews we gained feedback on the most-liked design for us to proceed with.
User Testing Round 2:
Shelf Attachment Concepts
I also wanted to experience a different role in the process, so for round two of user testing I conducted interviews with users where we presented a higher fidelity prototype (shown in the picture on the right). The purpose of this interview was to gain feedback on convenient and safe shelf attachment methods for our design.
Solution
For our solution, I led my team in the process of building our final prototype. This shelving system that we built was made of aluminum beams and pegs for attachment, and the shelves were made of fiberboard sheets.