VAND: Glide with Confidence
How might we improve the safety of traveling over frozen water?
Team
Industrial Design
Adriane Spence
Christian Loria
UX Design
Jillian Soria
Lillian Leung
Minh Duc Tran
Sarah Majumder
Timeline: 10 weeks
My Contributions: Research, Ideation, Wireframes, Motion Design
Tools: Adobe XD, After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator
The Problem
When traveling over frozen ice, people are at risk of falling in even after taking the proper precautions. Due to fluctuating environmental conditions, there is no real way to guarantee ice safety at all times.
The Question
How might we make it easier to discern the safety of freshwater ice so that people minimize their risk of falling into the water?
The Solution
Create a remote control drone that hovers over the icy ground, measures the ice thickness, and sends that information back to the user via their smartphone.
Roles
Our team was composed of Industrial Designers, who worked on rendering the drone body and controller, and User Experience Designers, who were focused on the remote control dashboard and drone integration.
This included:
- Research (market research, ice safety guidelines)
- Brainwriting (concept map, user journey map, affinity diagrams, task flow)
- Prototype (low-fidelity)
- Motion graphics design
Research
In our research process, we devised research questions to help shape our application. Examples included:
- How will we ensure the drone continues to function in extreme weather?
- Why aren’t there more products on the market for measuring ice thickness?
- Why are current ice thickness measuring processes bulky and hard to use?
Project Insights
Security
The drone needs to be functional, portable, and reliable to build the user's confidence while walking over ice.
Dexterity
In the expected environment for the product, the user is likely wearing gloves so we need a particularly tactile design.
Readability
The app should be easy to use and readable for users, especially when using the drone in harsh winter conditions.
Technology
Two major kinds of technology were identified: an ultrasonic thickness gauge and bladeless fan functionality
Community
The most effective method of marketing would be word-of-mouth through a reliable reputation
Phone Integration
Considering the final cost of the device, integrating smartphones for the display is preferable
Prototyping
Below are drone sketches created by the Industrial Designers:
Some of the key features and functionality that emerged in our sketch exploration included videos in thumbnails, pop-up boxes to notify users, location maps, and a mini-map displayed to the users while in drone-view.
Orientation
Finally, we took the prototyped flow and developed motion graphics to demonstrate the app controller and drone integration.
Here the VAND app guides the user to begin using the drone:
Looking Back
Having the chance to work directly with Industrial Designers was a great opportunity to learn about a different design field’s workflow. We were able to support each other when one group held more knowledge or experience in an area, creating a good balance and allowing us to achieve the goals of the project.
