Empathy
The user profile for this project is anyone who uses a water fountain. It is anyone who goes out in public and doesn’t have their own source of water and they need water that is easy to access and is free. The user can range to be anyone at that point. The final product aims towards that user profile and also can aim to a more speccific user profile: kids. This new water fountain aims also to kids especially because of the way they can intteract and will be in awe of the visual aspect. It could fit in very well in a childern’s museum or something along those lines.
Define
This is a new look on a different water fountain than the typical water fountain. It involves hiding the mechanics of it in the wall instead of in a compartment that buldges out of the wall. The tube with the water is completely outside of the wall and swings around itself to make somewhat of a squigly form. It sits in braces that allow it to be moved so the user can move it and interact with it however they please. The end of the tube where the user drinks out of it can be moved off of the wall so anyone of any height can drink from it while standing upright. The tube holding the water is clear so you can visually see the water moving and gives another effect to the water fountain instead of seeing nothing but the stream like you see on a normal water fountain.
POV Statement: The average person needs a way to drink water in public areas in a comfortable and aesthetically pleasing manner while still funtioning as a water fountain.
This is a joiner photograph of the third floor water fountain in architecture hall.
An opacity photo showing the movement of one using the water fountain showing the excessive bending over motion it requires to be used.
Ideate
The first day of ideation I used a whiteboard to get ideas down and came up with two reasonable sites and ideas for those sites. Escalators and railings were the two sites and I went off of those ideas at first, then changed to a water fountain down the road after I hit a dead end with these two ideas.
A sketch of the third floor water fountain in architecture hall and the dimensions to make a model of it out of chip board. The corresponding colors for each side help to differentiate them for easy analyzing.
Diagram of the idea of a pedal to replace the buttons on a water fountain and a zoomed in glimpse on the pedal itself.
Diagram showing the final idea and showing how the mechanics of the system could be on the outside to add more depth tho the wall.
Diagram of the pipe concept with three people of dofferent heights. The first one is 5' 6'' and the last one is 6' 6'' to show how all these users can use the water fountain without being in an uncomfortable position.
The above two diagrams show the movement of a person using a standard water fountain to the movement one would use with the new proposed idea.
Diagrams showing the negative space of the pre-existing water fountain and the new proposed concept fountain.
The hose tip that holds the reusable tip and has a switch that allows water to pass or not pass.
Prototype
Prototype of a water fountain with a pedal that would be pressed with your foot to create the water stream. The typical buttons on the front and sides would be replaced by this pedal for ease of access.
A tray sits on top of the existing water fountain and slides out when you pull it out. The stream would start to come out the more the tray is pulled out. Three of these trays can be stacked on top of it for people of different heights.
Handles on the sides replace the buttons and are raised so there is less of a need to bend over to drink. The handles would have the buttons on them.
Like in the previous one, the handles are still there but now can turn. They resemble motorcycle handles in the fact that the more you turn them the higher the water pressure is so the stream goes higher.
Prototype of the tube that holds the water and how it sits on the wall and twists and bends around to a tip where the water comes out.
The following pictures are of the final prototype at half scale. It has clear tubing and a plastic tip at the end. The tube can be moved around to attract an audience of children as a water fountain and toy. It also has the container on the side that holds the plastic tips you use to drink from.
The final prototype was a success overall but could've had the actual tip on it that worked and that had a switch. It resembles it in a conceptual way very well though.
Test
These three photos show myself testing one of my later prototypes. It is a clear tube connected to a spicket that can be turned on or off to either let water pass or not through the end. the opposite end of the clear tube connects to the existing water fountain for a water source. The way it attatched to the water fountain was not great and it wasn't entierly successful in staying on the fountain securely.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this concept of a new water fountain applies to the specific user group and applies to the empathy of a regular water fountain. Overall it was a success and I bilieve my idea was a great concept and solved the issue at hand. It is now more aesthetically pleasing and can now be used in a universal manner regarding differring heights of users.
