Evan Straw

Industrial Design, 2015

Co-Design includes field “experts” in the design process. Experts are full of valuable information and experience, but extracting these expertise can be problematic. Some people do not respond well to direct questioning, and oftentimes, designers aren’t well versed enough in field specifics to know what to ask.  Design researchers use Toolkits, or Make Tools, collections of primarily physical objects, designed to help experts convey information.

This research project explores how different types of individuals (in this case designers) interact with different toolkits. People are extremely varied when it comes to background and training. Would it not make sense that the ways they express themselves are equally varied? By studying Make Sessions and Toolkit interaction, I hope to uncover information that will be valuable for the creation and application of future Make Tools.

Evan Straw is an undergraduate industrial design student at The Ohio State University. He enjoys research, ideation and prototyping, but wants to focus his immediate career path on user experience design or design research, due to his love of working with people. In his spare time, Evan is a swim coach for the Westerville Highland Otters rec league and Westerville South High School.