Data collection and product development : combining Matlab and Arduino to develop natural user interfaces (NUI)

Designers need to become more comfortable collecting, discussing and using quantitative data to inform and substantiate design decisions in the scoping phase of design projects. Developing products in mature competitive markets or proposing design-led solutions in complex systems such as smart cities may require designers to collect, assess, control or understand complex data. Predominantly, throughout undergraduate design curriculums, students don’t acquire quantitative data capture and analysis skill sets, this is left to the sciences. Designer training focuses on qualitative research methods or if quantitative methods are used, the focus is on “measuring attitudes, behaviours, and perceptions” (Muratovski 2015), surveys are a primary example. Technical product performance data assessment is less of a focus, this is left to our engineering colleagues, however this must change. More designers are learning basic coding for prototyping with Arduino microprocessing, this understanding of coding opens up possibilities of accessing data analysis software such as Matlab and Simulink. This software is particularly useful when analysing large quantitative data sets or processing data to inform UI, IOT and complex system design projects