Brian Carter
BFA Industrial Design
The University of Kansas (2003)
Bachelor of Fine Arts - KU
Aura Thesis
Multiple foam carvings were done rapidly for ideation and user testing. Two dimensional iteration sketches refined features for further testing. Button function and design developed during the process according to user feedback about perceived affordance and ease of use. During final testing, actual target users correctly identified the function of the Read, Forward, Back, Stop, and Volume Up/Down buttons while using feel alone or sight alone - and all buttons have a self-voicing feature, a preference familiar users can turn off. The software interface was prototyped concurrently with the physical form for a complete conceptual model. Beginner users can press play (the only button with a bump) and the reader reads wherever it left off. Advanced users may navigate the task-centric menu. Items ordered in distance from task.