Our 24 Hour Challenge with Cardiff School of Art & Design
On Thursday 21st November, we made the short journey over to Cardiff Met’s School of Art and Design, Llandaff, to host a 24-hour design challenge with the 3rd year Product Design students. We've carried out the challenge a number of times over the years, and it always provides a great opportunity for us to reinforce our relationship with the staff and students at CSAD. The aim for the cohort was to work in teams on a design brief we provided, before presenting a final concept to us for a chance to be crowned winners and receive a cash prize.
In attendance from PDR were Director Jarred Evans, Product Design Manager Stu Clarke, Senior Design Consultant Josh James and User Centred Design Consultant, Catriona Mackenzie. The staff were on hand throughout the project to provide a professional insight into the work, by providing advice and challenging the students’ rationale.
The Challenge
The day kickstarted with a presentation from Jarred to explain the brief and rules for the challenge. This year’s brief was to ‘design a wearable device-based service offer that capitalises on available or near-market sensor and processing technology to answer a genuine, latent human need.’ This could be for specialised applications or more general consumer and healthcare use. The challenge would culminate with a strict ten-minute presentation from each team, in the form of a pitch as if for potential investors.
Work began with the students splitting into their pre-arranged teams and setting up camp around the CSAD Atrium or Studio. The different approaches were interesting to observe as each team moved through the design stages with plenty of iterations along the way. Over the course of the day we saw discussions, sketches and, later on, the emergence of some prototypes. PDR staff moved among the teams to check on progress and provide their input. Pizza arrived in the evening to boost morale and provide energy for what turned into a late night for some.
The Winning Team
At 10:00 on Friday the first of the teams presented their pitch. Our team was highly impressed by both the quality of the concepts created and the level of presentation across the board. The final judgement was genuinely very close indeed but eventually it was agreed that first place would go to Team 1, led by Kieran Sheldon. Their idea, FlyFit, is a wearable fatigue monitoring device for pilots which aims to streamline the data feedback process and provide a user-friendly device paired with app integration. The device has the ability to emit binaural beats and alert the pilot when necessary, in order to aid with fatigue management and increase overall safety during flights. There were also other projects that our team expressed an interest in working with and believe have the potential to be brought to market.
Reflections
Clara Watkins, Senior Lecturer of Product Design at Cardiff School of Art and Design, said the following on the experience for the students: “The 24-hour challenge pushed third-year product design students to think creatively, collaborate under pressure, and refine their problem-solving skills. By the end, they not only developed practical prototypes but also gained confidence in their ability to tackle real-world challenges.”
From PDR, Catriona Mackenzie added her thoughts: “It was great to see everyone really engaged with the brief and context, working collaboratively and combining their individual skillsets to work towards a group goal. The different interpretations of the brief and breadth of project scopes were really interesting to see, with some groups tackling systems based ‘wicked problems’ and others choosing to take on a niche market gap.
Myself and the rest of the PDR team were very impressed with the confidence and rigour behind the teams pitches and the thoughtful answers the students were able to provide to our questions, showing particular consideration of their product users and the viability of their business propositions."
A big thank you to Clara and the CSAD for having us, and to all the student who took part in this year’s 24 Hour Challenge. We look forward to the next one!