N A A P
OVERVIEW
This is a project that enables the "Great Indian Tailor" to do his job of taking measurements. NAAP is a mobile phone attachment that brings a new twist to the art of modern tailoring.
CONTEXT
Tailoring
Tailoring is the art of designing, cutting, fitting, and finishing clothes.
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Despite this marginalization, trade has been a source of employment and community life, integral to local economies. The emergence of high fashion tied to cinema and the arts has brought attention to a few prominent tailors. But along with the rise of “fast fashion” and popular demand for mass-produced clothes, it has also pushed many tailors into the background, forcing some to work in unhealthy workshops at the expense of designers and merchants.
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While a small number of urban tailors have earned recognition and rich clients, the heart of the trade remains with the neighborhood, street, and small-town tailors, who regularly create new techniques and designs. Though often overlooked, they keep the trade vital in the age of readymade clothes, thanks to Indian marriages, female clients, and the affordability of tailored clothes in small towns and villages.
PERSONA
The Great Indian Tailor
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Demographics
Name - Ramesh the ‘tailor’
Age - 45
Location - Raipur
Education - Matriculation
Family - Wife and 4 children
Needs
Finding customers
Making a loyal customer
base
Gathering information correctly
Goals
To provide for his family
To pay his workers
To uplift his financial
status
Frustrations
Multiple Revisions
Next to impossible corrections
Limited workers
High Workload
Tasks
Sew pieces of fabric
Iron Textiles
Make made to
measure garments
Operates
sewing machine
Manage briefs
for clothing
manufacturing
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Measure the
human body
Draw sketches
Evaluate
Garment quality
Context of work
Male
Catering to the needs of an Indian male clients
Festive
Time crunch
Female
Catering to variety of female clients
Daily
Catering to variety of female clients
Alterations
Quick fixes
Custom
Custom made clothes
PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
Body measurements
Billing
Process
Requirement - Feature Mapping
Customer Name
Address
No. of garments
Identification cloth piece for user and customer
Total bill
Advance payment
Due Date
Sex
Body measurements
Context
Style
Design
Add-ons
Recording of the basic billing information
Different modes of user
Quick body measurement
Additional contextual questions
Additional Demands
DESIGN BRIEF
To Design a mobile phone attachment for the tailor which he could use to measure the customer.
IDEATION
I started out by looking at the tools used by a tailor to achieve his task for taking body measurements.
Tools
Pen/Pencil
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Notepad
Chalk
Measuring Tape
The idea was not to move the tailor away from his tools, his craft, his way of doing things which he has been doing for centuries but to enhance the way of doing those things through an intervention using the mobile phone.
"I want my user to take pride in the product in his hand. Hence, It shouldn't feel very alien-like, it should call to the user."
Researching existing measuring techniques to find out if other modes of measurement could be used to take body measurements.
Existing Measuring techniques
 Roller |  Retractable tape Measure |  Laser Measure |
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PROTOTYPING
Concept -1
Attaching a spherical roller ball to the back cover of a mobile phone will record measurements as it travels on the surface of the user.
However, this was a concept that came in a context where I wanted the user to have control over his measurements in circumstances of covid.
Concept-2
Inspired by the idea of Roller ball in mouse,retractable id badges and stylus
 StylusPersonal Touch |  Retractable StringLightweight |  Roller ball in mouseMulti-directional traversing |
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A retractable string mechanism
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2 Modes - Linear and Loop
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With magnetic/sensor-based calibrations on the string
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The rolling measurement mode helps you to measure different objects or curves taking the roll measure in your hand, then rolling it over the surface.
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For the use on Cloth piece
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Provided in chalk colors for more intuitive use
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A Universal Stylus to take quick notes
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quick designs and
Prototype -1
Roll measure for taking cloth measurements.
String measure for body measurements and a stylus for quick note makei
Prototype -2
Tape measure for body measurements
Stylus for quick note making.
Roll measure to take cloth measurements.
Easy-grip for handling.
ANALYSIS
Alignment with principles of display design
Minimizing Information access cost
frequently accessed sources are located at the nearest possible position
Similarity Causes Confusion : Use discriminable elements
Different button shapes for different functions
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Top Down Processing
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Familiar tools so that user knows what to expect(Stylus,tape, roller ball in colors of chalk)
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Principle of Pictorial Realism
Image capture button denoted with a camera icon
Material Considerations
1. Case - Plastic (Thermoplastic Polycarbonate / Polyurethane)
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Shockproof
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Elastic
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Wear-resistant
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Lightweight
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Affordable
2. String/Tape Measure - Plastic and PVC
3. Roll Measure - A metal ball with rubber coating
4. Capacitive Stylus - Pen with metal end
5. Grip - Rubber and polycarbonate
A standalone device
an attachment to mobile
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Weighing Pros and Cons
Roll measure
String measure
No Stylus
Small
Portable
Lightweight
Can be used without the phone
Needs its own power source
Roll Measure
String Measure
Stylus
Makes the phone heavy
Not universal for all phones
A separate case to attach everytime
Tech Heavy integration
Could be powered with the phone itself
What's next?
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To Develop UI
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Create a User Interface Supporting the mobile phone attachment
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To do User Testing
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To do usability testing on users and record the cognitive load of the user
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To work further on User Feedback
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To work on the feedback received from the user testing and refine the product further