Role Mole
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Our goal for this exercise was to help Role Mole quickly get ready for his date. He wears glasses and
can't live without them. However, he frequently loses them and needs help in always knowing where they
are when he's not wearing them. The product used to solve this problem must be stylish and chic so that
he looks good for his date. It must also be developed quickly and cannot be an article of clothing.
More details on the exercise can be found here.
The Design Process
The idea for integrating his glasses into a necktie came almost immediately to me. In my twelve
years of Catholic education prior to Carnegie Mellon, we frequently goofed around with our ties. As silly
as that was, it looks like the distraction inspired Role Mole's solution.
Back in the days of elementary and high school, we would slip our glasses upward into the slit on
the underside of our ties. This idea proved to be ineffective since the friction keeping the glasses
inside the tie was often not strong enough to counteract gravity. Thus, some kind of pocket or pouch
would be needed to insert the glasses downward.
A downward pocket seemed impractical since it would require sewing the bottom closed and opening
up a hole in towards the top of the back of the tie. But creating this alteration could damage a nice
necktie. A pouch seemed more viable, especially if it were removable since Role Mole can't tie a necktie
with his pair of glasses hanging off of it. Also, if he were to let a friend borrow the tie, or if he
knows that he won't be taking his glasses off, he could simply leave the pouch at home. (Although, the
pouch is skinnier than the necktie so others don't see anything but a regular necktie.)
For a prototype to present in class, a dress sock attached to the back of the tie by a paper clip did
the trick.
The Outcome
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