Park Methane Digestor by Bill Morgan at Coroflot.com

Park Methane Digestor

Opportunity - With several dairy farms selling electricity back to PGE; this idea had been on my mind for some time. There are more dogs then children in public schools registered in Multnomah county. All that poop goes to land fills.
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Potential Environments - I chose a park in each quadrant of Portland; each of which sees considerable usage.
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Weather Related Drivers - For an outdoor device, weather will undoubtedly be near/on top of the list of design drivers. These were some ideas/inspirations based on our common weather attributes here in Portland.
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Lifestyles - 4 target groups based on my observations.
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Interviews - Normandale Park. Saturday afternoon. 45 questionnaires. 90 minutes. Great Quantitative & Qualitative info
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Card Sorting - I went to my wife's middle school and interviewed 4 people with this method. Fantastic means of getting qualitative research; a ton of sincere, true stories about people and their animal companions.
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Personas
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Initial Idea
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Storyboard - A walk-through of how the device/system would work.
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Storyboard/Mock Trial - I made a mock up to take to my local park to see someone interact with it and get an idea of visibility from distance and a horizon line.
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Ideation
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Color Studies
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Manufacturing Options - I wanted to give my audience an idea of what was possible with three different manufacturing methods.
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Materials - Given that this device is meant to promote a sustainable system, I researched bio-derived plastics. While the cost is not realistic, it was another opportunity to research polymers derived from non-petro resources.
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Finish
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Future Alternatives 1 - I would have loved to have found commercially available products made from either of these materials; but not yet.
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Future Alternatives 2 - Algae is the answer. If I had any money, I would be investing in rural Arizona real estate right now. It could very well save our rapidly degrading planet.
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