PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION

The first step in designing and building this product was finalizing the problem statement. Wanting to help students around campus, the problem statement that was settled on was how can we design a single cup carrier in an aesthetic and compact way that frees our hands as we transport a drink from place to place. 

IDEATION

Next, came the ideation process. While many ideations were ruled out either due to inconvenience or creating additional problems, the design that was settled on appropriately solved the problem with the base of the cup carrier providing stability to the bottom and mid-to-top parts of the carrier. The indentation on the carrier allows the user to put in and take out the beverage with ease and the handles are made long enough so that a beverage with a straw can also be used with the carrier and nothing would interfere with it and prevent any contamination. An extra quality of the cup carrier that is unique is the reusability of it. The base of the carrier folds into itself and the handles fold down on either side, make the cup carrier collapsible and easy to store.

PROTOTYPING - 1ST ITERATION

Wanting to make a prototype that would be fully functional, the next step was to move onto the prototyping process. The first iteration of the carrier, made with card stock, tested visual fidelity and measurements to ensure that the cup would fit. In the case of testing, a 16 oz disposable cup was used. Through this first iteration, it became evident that the base part of the design worked, but the handles needed to be changed since the tabs caused the handles to stiffen as it wrapped around the base.

2ND ITERATION

The second iteration of the design primarily focused on making the handles work better. While this is true, base stencils were made from the first iteration so it would be easy to duplicate the measurements for future iterations. New card stock handles were attached with card stock joints. Additionally, after discovering that a tab that connects the base together makes the base more durable while maintaining the collapsability aspect, we added it to our design. While we liked the smooth rotation of the base with the handles, the handles were found to be in the way and very flimsy when going for the drink.

3RD ITERATION

With the next iteration, the goal was to fix the previous issues with the handles and to test the hinge fuction. In addition to this, this was done by testing with cardboard. Inspiration was taken from a Panera cup carrier that added supporting folds to the arm areas of the handles. In turn, this made the handles more comfortable around the arm, however, what was failed to account for was the fact that the carrier would rotate, causing the drink to topple out and spill. Due to this, it was clear that connecting the base of the carrier to the handles with smaller tabs would be more beneficial.

THE FINAL PROTOTYPE