Fridgets

Summary
This was a team project that made it into the first round of the 2005 SIGCHI Student Design Competition that was held in Portland, OR in April 2005. The challenge was to design an 'artifical companion' for the elderly. Our solution was Fridgets, interactive digital magnets that could provide entertainment, information, memory assistance and communication functions to senior citizens. Refrigerators are a place where many people keep photos, reminders, calendars and other objects of value. Fridgets is an information appliance that extends this common use of the refrigerator in a powerful yet simple way.

Participating in the competition gave us the opportunity to present our design to many professionals in HCI, as well as to executives at Accenture Labs in Chicago. This was a great educational experience.

Design Methods
Ethnographic Research
Literature Review
Low Fidelity Protoyping
Qualitative Usability Testing

Tools
Macromedia Flash and Fireworks
Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator
MS Powerpoint

Links
Abstract
Full Paper
Poster