Charlotte Cunningham
Industrial Design
Final year project
A Smart Assistant for the Kitchen to Increase the Independent Living… [Read more]
ClearCut - Prototyping
Through numerous iterations and alterations, ClearCut has become a product to light up the task of preparing food and help to create a memorable safe process for users who have been recently diagnosed with symptoms of a visual impairment so that they have assistance through their rehabilitation as their vision deteriorates.
ClearCut
ClearCut - Visual Impairment Empathy Testing
To better understand the user and create a more accurate design to assist a visually impaired user empathy testing was used. Goggles were adapted to represent the most common visual impairments such as macular degeneration, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy. It was important to distort the vision of the investigator to create a better understanding to allow for the product to have the form and function that would best assist in the rehabilitation focusing of feel and having a high contrast with components.
ClearCut
ClearCut is an assistive technology helping recently diagnosed visually impaired people prepare food in the kitchen, to help them live as closely to the independent lives that they are accustomed to. The product aims to make the experience of preparing food easier and more enjoyable.
ClearCut - Initial Ideation Sketches
A mix of initial hand-drawn ideation sketches, thumbnail sketches, and a medium-fidelity digital concept sketch.
Live Project - Walkabout
Walkabout was designed to answer the Cambridge Consultants brief of 'Wellbeing' in Live projects.
The Walkabout Stick is a smart walking stick aimed to improve the users' wellbeing by providing them more independence, whilst also giving the users the confidence and security to be in their home and leave their home to go on a walk, knowing that if they were to take a fall their lifeline emergency call service with GPS tracking is easy to access.
Live Project - Walkabout
With the extra extruding handle at a push of a button, the user can be offered more stability when getting up with the assistance of Walkabout.
Detox - Group Project
Detox is the result of a group project with the aim to disrupt and innovate the ways people consume social media.
The Detox app has been designed to be partnered with a Detox gadget. The programme is to make users more aware of their social media consumption and online purchases; this is achieved through incentives and creating awareness of their environmental impact that results from their different consumption habits.
Charlotte Cunningham
My design work is motivated through the magic of being able to create the imagination into the reality of a physical product.
I strive to find opportunities that improve people’s user experiences and can make a change. Inspired by the work I completed at Neal's Yard Remedies in my placement, sustainability within a design is the change I want to be a part of and incorporate in the future work I produce.
Loughborough University has challenged my ways of thinking and provided me with a range of skills improving my process of development. From the deconstruction of existing products to prototyping in various materials and learning how to design for manufacture I am leaving Loughborough with the skill set to take me into the industry.
My final project has set me the challenge to empathetically design for visually impaired users. The kitchen assistant is for those who have recently been diagnosed with a visual impairment to assist them in their rehabilitation of food preparation skills, allowing them to create a new habit and giving them the confidence to safely continue to enjoy this element of independent living. I have thoroughly enjoyed this project as it has given me the chance to broaden my knowledge through in-depth research of a very prominent issue that is a possibility for many people. Whilst also providing the chance for user interactions and testing, it has confronted me with creating alternative testing methods.
Final year project
A Smart Assistant for the Kitchen to Increase the Independent Living of a Person with a Visual Impairment.
Work Experience
In the one-year placement at Neal's Yard Remedies as a Packaging Technician, I developed my understanding of how the packaging industry works within a cosmetic company. Within the role I participated in the full process in the development including sourcing, developing and testing primary and secondary packaging. The placement allowed me many opportunities such as helping to develop the packaging for the 2020 Christmas range and becoming one of the packaging technologists for a project on the Spring Beauty Box and going to the Packaging Innovation Exhibition.
I also had the opportunity to take on a research project which was 'An Investigation into Current Components Being Used and Alternate Materials Available to Increase The After-Life Recycling Rate of Components'. The investigation enabled me to do deep research into one of my passions which is sustainability. Whilst spear hunting the idea to go to a recycling sorting centre to grasp a better understanding of the recycling systems in the UK, I also had to liaise with suppliers and research the different materials and products available.