gavin

Design Project A 2DFC 701

Design to Quit  - The Redesign of an Electronic Cigarette 

The brief I chose was the “design to quit“. I chose this brief because it was more than just a design brief to me, it was something that affected my life; a personal issue that I feel strongly about. 

Being a smoker and feeling the enormous pressure put upon us smokers to quit without there being much emphasis on how. Sure, there are products and leaflets out there that are aimed at helping people stop smoking, but these are not at all effective. 

Research and Mapping

The first priority was to choose which nicotine based product I would be promoting. I wanted to find out what was the best, most effective product out there. I  began testing as many products as I could afford to buy. I wanted to see how these products made me feel; not only whether or not they stopped me wanting a cigarette but how they made me feel actually using them.

Would I use an odd looking plastic inhaler that looks like some sort of female applicator in public? Does sticking an ugly looking plaster patch on my body make me feel I have an unsightly war or mole that I am trying to conceal?

I decided to document my findings on film and post them on my blog.

After a lot of research, I came across an electronic cigarette . This really got my attention. It seemed to have all the equalities that a cigarette has but none of the bad side-effects; no tar or carbon dioxide; no cancer causing chemicals. The idea of keeping the feeling of inhaling smoke but in the form of vapour intrigued me. I ordered one immediately.

Whilst waiting for the product to arrive, I did further research by contacting the company who produces it via e-mail and I also contacted the NHS who were campaigning to promote local services.  One of these contacts was a counsellor for people trying to quit smoking. When asked about the effectiveness of the electronic cigarette, he told me that vapour provided the best way to absorb nicotine into the body as it is best done through the throat and lungs. He said the NHS would provide them if they could afford to.

After using the electronic cigarette product for a week it became clear that this was the best product on the market to help people quit smoking. This was the product I would promote. I did a rough work schedule so that, after my initial two week investigation, I would be able to produce and evaluate design concepts for three weeks before spending the next three weeks working on detailing and presentation. 

Development of design Concepts

Having chosen the product, the next stage was to identify what changes needed to be made in order to improve it. The video diary proved very valuable as it helped identify the first problem which was when the product was first taken out of the box, it too at least five minutes to work out how to change the cartridge. It would be a lot easier if there was a diagram in the instructions. The second problem was the name of the product. “Myvic” did not get the idea of the product across. I decided eventually on the iQuit, which is far more descriptive and gives the impression of a cool, high tech gadget.

The next thing that needed to be changed was the packaging as the original packaging was dull and mundane.

Testing and Discussion

After making various mock up packaging, including a fake cigarette box, I tested them out by means of various focus groups representative of different age groups and backgrounds. I also tested them for durability by various drop and crush tests.

The final design for the packaging was a clear cylindrical container, as this presented the product most effectively, allowing the product to be seen in retail displays without the need to unpack it. This was also the most ecologically sustainable as the base of the packaging is also the charger and the top houses the USB charging cable, leaving waste to a minimum. 

Conclusions and Reflections

I tried to meet all aspects of the brief and produced work of a suitably high standard, including the board layouts which included some challenging technical elevations to which I added an exploded view to illustrate the assembly of the various parts.  On reflection I should have allowed more time for producing final presentation work and avoided working 48 hour stints. 

I feel the product, repackaged as the iQuit, would have more impact in the current broad based, high tech gadget market.  If I were to do this project again I would produce an ad campaign to go with the iQuit which would feature a “iQuitter” using the electronic cigarette inside a no smoking zone. 

Gavin Bailey 2008