RESEARCH PHASE
Throughout the entire process, several seniors were contacted to interview and answer questions concerning their thoughts and opinions about the problems and solutions to each step.

Orientation of consumer target and definition -An orientation was made with professors at RISD and the creators of the Agelab at MIT to present what they were looking for and what was already available.

Select a field to research: Social Communications

Create image boards for inspiration based on the research.

Through research, identify or find problems: These are the a few of the problems that I presented,

1. Technology has made people rely less on our memory, therefore creating less brain stimulation and activity. An example would be in PDA?s or cell phones. Before people had cell phones, most numbers would be remembered by heart, or written down. Even schedules. Today with these gizmos people depend less on their brain to remember these things and rather rely on little computer chips. Without their little gizmos people don?t know their friends numbers or in some cases don?t remember what plans they have for the next day.
2. Technology has eased people?s life by so much in that now boredom has become an issue. This has also created less activity or exercise, thus creating weakness and laziness. So much technology has been made to replace the chores of human beings in that they do not have much to do. What some people don?t realize is that not having the opportunity to do things the good old-fashioned way is most likely good for one that ages.
3. When a major home appliance malfunctions or has some type of problem, the house owner usually does not know how to repair/fix it. A repairman is usually contacted just to check it out. The repairs usually cost quite a bit of money, even for the simplest problems. Sometimes homeowners are not aware of a malfunction of some sort that may be dangerous or costing them more money. The thought of a malfunction of any sort is stressful.
4. Technology has brought isolation into family households. As people age the importance of being socially active is very important. Today?s technology has created computers and PDA?s for an individual. These devices might have increased social activity with people that we actually don?t see, but it has decreased the amount of time that one speaks to an individual that is present
5. Baby boomers are not educated early enough about exercise and nutrition until it is too late. As the baby boomers age, they really don?t care about their health until something actually occurs. In truth people should be educated well about what they need to do early, like in their 30?s or 40?s, in order to prevent anything from happening.
6. Restaurants do not provide enough information about nutritional facts about their meals. As one ages, an understanding of nutrition is very important. Restaurants need to provide more informational menus that perhaps have nutritional values, optional cooking methods, optional sides, and especially more visuals in what the meal looks like. The basic ideas is to easily be able customize any type of meal easily at a restaurant.
7. Technology has created a better life in that it is possible to receive information from just about everywhere. As one ages though it is hard to manage so much information. It is especially bad to have so much information being transmitted when one is in a position that information could be dangerous, such as a car. The car is becoming ones home, but while driving it is important to not receive information when needed. The problem is that the car is becoming ones home yet information should not be allowed interrupt one while driving. Perhaps some type of CPU that localizes or manages the amount of information being sent to a vehicle based on the driver and vehicle status.

Of the 20+ solutions created, select one or more to pursue. Selection was based on class favorites, opportunity ideas, and MIT, NASA selections.

At this time several seniors were contacted to help choose which problems they had interest in and also what other ideas they could come up with based on that idea.

Create solution to the problem chosen.

Evaluate feedback of critics and of the surveyed people.

Produce variations of the solution form wise.

Collect several objects and images for inspiration, mainly of a variation of cell phones and pens of sorts.

Expand idea into several possible forms.

While expanding forms, research to better understand the end user:
How to use
Ease of use and operation
Male/Female
Left/ Right handed
The environment
Where will it be
Trust of technology
Comfort
History of product
Complaints of previous product
Old/Young
Desired material

Study forms and shapes that could influence design of product. Create image boards.

Contact major manufacturer or corporation that has a background in handheld products to better understand the ergonomics and aesthetics on the pen
  AT.CROSS - pen manufacturing company

Also studied cell phones and the various uses of them. What was comfortable, what was not? What looked good, what looked bad? What was useful, what was not? What was easy and what was complex?

Send out survey for idea generation and for likes and hates of previous products, the pen and the cell phone.

SKETCH PHASE OF CONCEPT I
Eat, Sketch, Draw, Sketch, Sleep, Sketch, Sketch, Sketch Generate mountains of sketches for evaluation and concept development.

COMPUTER SKETCHING
From the mountain of hand sketches, generate the forms into the computer to easily expand the forms into several variations and more details. These computer models would help aid in the generation of three-dimensional models.

PHASE I SKETCH MODELS and PHASE II SKETCHING
From the cad drawings and sketches, many models were created to better understand the qualities the product had or needed in a three-dimensional world. Ergonomics, use, and aesthetics were all considered while creating the models. All models were slowly hand-made in order to be able to make changes while creating.

FINAL FORM
A final form was chosen and several more detailed sketches and models were produced. Evaluations from several people and in surveys were made to decide a material, color, theme, and looks. Through evaluation people wanted something that was cool looking, and that looked sturdy. Dark and bright colors were preferred. I chose to pursue a somewhat whimsical, hippie, happy color theme that made people feel cheerful and comfortable. The final material would be a matte metal, perhaps magnesium, with an injected molded rubber grip on the sides.

INTERFACE
The interface would be both portrait and landscape viewable. Upon contact with the pen, optical sensors tip, the interface would be viewed in landscape. As one presses buttons upon the body, the interface would then become viewed at a traditional portrait mode. The interface could be viewed as portrait as the tip is being used dependant on what function it is being used for.