Final year project
Ear Pressure Equaliser (Clear) [Read more]
Clear – Earphones to Assist with Ear Equalisation when Flying
Clear has been specifically designed to help equalise air pressure in the ears when flying. Many people, especially children and babies struggle to equalise the air pressure in their ears, during either ascent and/or descent, when flying on a plane. This product gently releases water vapour, with the aim to prevent the pressure building up in the ears when flying, and therefore avoiding the often-unsuccessful painful experience of trying to equalise ear pressure. It is based on the method that air stewardesses use, of holding a cup over your ears, with a warm, damp, tissue paper in the bottom of it.
Clear – Earphones to Assist with Ear Equalisation when Flying
The product has been developed to look similar to everyday headphones, reducing the risk of the users feeling more anxious about using the ear equalisers. The tight seal allows for less steam to be needed, thereby reducing the size and weight of the overall product. The earpieces are interchangeable, making them more suitable and hygienic if the product were to be used by airlines. The atomiser can also be easily exchanged if the need arises, for it to be replaced over time.
For safety, the product's temperature is limited to 45 degrees Celsius and will automatically switch off if it overheats or runs out of water. In addition to this, each user has different comfort and tolerance levels, therefore water vapour will only be released, if and when, they choose to press the steam button.
Weave – Connecting the Community
Weave – Is a product-service system that enables citizens to feel supported at home through the creation of strong community connections. Loneliness is a profoundly personal and relative issue, and as such, it is hard to measure since there isn’t a scale. All our brains work differently, and consequently, interpret, react and adapt to social situations in contrasting ways. Our aim with this program is to collect data on a local area, assess how we can build supportive relationships with all stakeholders, and then respond based on the evidence gathered.
This project was entered into the RSA Student Design Awards competition 2021 and has been shortlisted. The final results are pending. This was a group project I undertook with Princess Woy and Peter Waters.
Weave – User Interface
I was in charge of the UX element of the service, developing the app and the user interface. Our app supports clubs and projects by connecting them with local people, processing sign-ups/memberships, and allowing them to book affordable venue spaces. Local users are able to filter events by accessibility and are assured that the groups meet safety guidelines. Additionally, there is a reward scheme, whereby users can collect loyalty points for attending events, which will hopefully encourage them to participate even more.
Live Projects - IBD Stress Analyser
This was in response to a design brief set by Cambridge Consultants. Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a relatively unexplored autoimmune condition and there are very few products available to help people cope with everyday issues that are associated with this disease.
Live Projects - IBD Stress Analyser
This product aims to relieve the stress and unpredictability of IBD, by measuring and noticing changes in behaviour, stress and sweat. The user is able to wear the product every day, giving them confidence and thereby enabling them to go out and see their friends and relying on the technology to indicate when their condition may flare up. Thus, giving advance warning to the user that they should try to relax and to potentially make an exit strategy for the bathroom.
The small, sleek design, allows the user to feel more natural since it does not look or feel as though they are wearing a medical device, thus avoiding the stress of being asked potential questions about it.
Live Projects - IBD Stress Analyser
The device registers when the wearer is stressed, based on them fiddling with it, as well as measuring their sweat to monitor their hormone levels. The device warns the user to relax as they are getting too stressed, therefore, they should go and do something else to prevent the stress from affecting their IBD.
The device connects to an app, which allows the user to look back and see what times of day they were stressed, or when their hormone levels changed. The app allows them to select what they were doing at the time of day when their stress peaked. This eventually builds up a history of how the user was affected and which environmental factors potentially caused the flare-up, and can help determine if there are any patterns emerging. Any patterns found will help the user and doctors in their diagnosis of how to manage the disease, as well as providing information to help research this relatively unknown condition.
Quiana Higgins
As a designer, my passion and key attributes are solving puzzles and understanding how things work. This means that my work becomes particularly focused on being able to generate useable, aesthetic and sustainable solutions to problems.
My design motivation is to find useable outcomes for everyday issues. This is through a constantly iterative process of research, user experience and prototyping. Design forms the basis of everything in our society and we have a duty of trust for those whom we are designing for. That any product solution should be both effective and sustainable, creating a basic building block of any design.
I have a passion for the use of design in real estate and construction, from mega-projects to lifestyle improvements, to the smallest design detail, and would love to be given the opportunity to adapt my design knowledge, to research, learn and potentially work in this sector.
Final year project
Ear Pressure Equaliser (Clear)
Awards
RSA (Royal Society of Arts) Student Design Awards (2021) Shortlist. My team and I, have made it into the top 5 shortlists (final results still pending) for entering the brief of HOME SWEET HOME, where we designed a product-service system that enables citizens to feel supported at home through the creation of strong community connections.
Lawrence King Award (2017). An award for those demonstrating an interest and ability in Architecture, Design, art or Technology. This was awarded by the Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects, London.
Work Experience
For my placement year, I was privileged to be offered a position as a Product Designer at LIFEMARQUE Ltd. I thoroughly enjoyed developing their extensive product range, communicating with Far East suppliers in order to make the best out of the design, and understanding how to make products more suitable for manufacture. Some of the lines I worked on during my time at LIFEMARQUE Ltd included fire starters, military-grade mosquito nets, child carriers, toddler backpacks and the Disney line, to name a few. My work also branched into other areas like marketing, where my knowledge of German and the German market became an added bonus.