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2009 Annual Design Review
Concepts
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Design Distinction
INTELLIGENT SUITCASE
After looking at a slew of “Band-Aid” fixes, the jurors were relieved to see this, “one of the few submissions showing systematic rethinking,” according to Lindsay.
Studying the Arlanda Airport in Stockholm, student Patrik Pettersson set out to improve the user experience of domestic travel for his product design class at Sweden’s Umeå Institute of Design. After much exploration, partially documented by a 40-page brochure, Petterson decided that a traveler could not travel smoothly if his luggage did not.
The final concept became a communal “self-service check-in center with an intelligent suitcase.” The designer proposed that each traveler maintain a permanent identity for his suitcase—equipped with a built-in RFID chip—by registering the user number online, then using it to check in with each flight, or to track down the bag if it disappears.
While examining the actual form of the proposed suitcase—would it stay upright?—Adams wondered if the designer “had bitten off more than he could chew.” Nevertheless, both jurors felt that treating luggage as express packages was a fine idea, especially when delivered with this much earnest optimism.
Design Patrik Pettersson (Umeå Institute of Design, Umeå, Sweden)
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