I'm a designer and a maker. I'm excited about the role of intelligent machines in shaping our tools for creativity and productivity. Computer programming, faceting gemstones, astrology, hacking plants, pizza, and aeroplanes excite me a lot. I am always up for learning something new. I wish for a world where people are not afraid of technology and live in a symbiotic relationship with technology. I am 13629 days old. This website contains some of my old work.
You may drop me an email at hello at nikhiltailang dot com
In the kingdom of Ora, demons from Foodaha have launched an attack. These sticky demons hide themselves in the food that people of Ora eat. They are carriers of harmful agents. You are the soldier of Ora. You have to identify and kill the Foodahans before they destroy Ora.
The project was part of an academic course on Design Process. We were encouraged to formulate our own process after an elementary introduction. The first part of the course was group work, done in groups of 5 students, followed by individual work.
The idea was to design a solution to a personal care problem. Food Hammer is a concept for a game and a public awareness campaign to spread awareness about adverse effects of food particles stuck in the mouth.
The process
We started by defining the target group for our design solution. We chose to design for a 20 to 30 year old Indian urban citizen. The process started with Activity Mapping. We listed out all activities that a person from our target group would perform on a daily basis. The activities were grouped based on the time they were performed.
We then listed out the needs based on those activities. These needs were segregated based on demographics, gender, weather and medical conditions. After this, an area of common interest ws chosen. We decided to work on oral care and cleanliness of the mouth.
User study
Next, all the group members were then supposed to define an area of focus within the broader domain. I chose food particles stuck in the mouth as my area of interest for the individual work.
The next step was to conduct a survey of users from the target group to discover problems in the chosen area of interest. After the first round of user surveys, I understood that users found it difficult or embarrassing to talk about food particles stuck in the mouth. In response, for the next round of surveys, I drew visuals on cards to show to the respondents. It helped them talk more openly, and also in understanding the exact problem area I was refering to.
Commercially available products for oral care
Next, infographics were made to analyze and represent the responses from users. Based on the responses, requirements were refined and were listed. The requirements that were identified were:
We need to have an environment in the mouth where germs do not grow because of food particles.
We need to avoid having food stuck in the mouth
People need to be aware of safe ways (processes and products) of remaining food particles stuck in the mouth.
We need to have a safe and non-embarrassing way to remove food stuck in the mouth.
We need the mouth to be clean.
Possible solutions
Based on the gathered data and the requirements, two possible solutions were thought of.
Create, replace or augment existing products
Ideas included mouth scanners, toothpick carriers, chemical solutions to dissolve food particles.
They were discarded for being too complex compared to existing products like a toothpick, and natural actions like using the tongue to remove stuck particles.
Create awareness
Awareness was required about ill effects of having food particles stuck in the mouth, and against using sharp objects to remove stuck particles.
Various modes of spreading awareness were researched. Based on the wide variety in the target group's demographics, a range of methods were designed for maximum impact.
Mobile and Facebook Games
To target the urban and tech-savvy youth, a concept for a digital game was created.
A story was created about an imaginary world called Ora, where demons of Foodaha have launched an attack. The game is planned to be set in a landscape that resembles the insides of a human mouth.
These demons are characters designed to remind players of common food items like meat fiber, tomato skins, fruit fiber, etc. that commonly get stuck in the mouth.
Players are given weapons and power-ups that resemble possible ways to remove the stuck food particles. They are also penalized for using harmful but easy ways like safety pins.
Game characters
T Shirts
It was observed during the surveys that migrant constructions workers are seriously suffering from the problems of poor oral care. T shirts with messages in vernacular languages are meant to be targeted towards them.
Instant Photo Booths
It was observed that migrant construction workers like to send pictures of themselves to their family members at their native places.
The idea was to use this as an opportunity to educate through instant photos with life-size character dummies and a message in vernacular language.
These photo booths were designed also considering kids who visit malls.
The idea was to create a mental trigger to remind people whenever they consumed food items in real life, that would potentially get stuck.
