Final year project
Navigation and Safety Helmet for Off-Piste Snowboarders [Read more]
Steez
Off-piste snowboarding is a popular activity despite the risk being significantly higher than snowboarding on-piste. Ungroomed and unmapped areas mean snowboarders are often unaware of hazards and make navigational errors, leading in many cases to life threatening accidents. Steez reduces the risk of snowboarding off-piste by providing visual and haptic navigational feedback along with an automatic emergency personal location beacon.
Steez exploded view
Usability was thoroughly considered, particularly with regard to the location of buttons and components, alongside designing the electronic section to be detachable allowing for easier charging and a replacement service to increase the life of the product.
Steez functional model
A functional prototype allowed for testing of the navigational feedback, alongside the automatic fall detection personal location beacon.
Steez app
A supporting mobile application allows users to plan their own off-piste routes or select pre-set routes along with customising their experience through settings related to the navigation and safety systems.
Electro-Mechanical coffee machine
Fully functioning electro-mechanical automated AeroPress coffee machine, designed using an embedded system through a microcontroller and C code alongside mechanical analysis and manufacture.
Seclude
Utilising smart city data to design a smartphone app to enhance the experience of finding locations that are free from environmental stressors for people with demanding occupations.
Katie Latter
I am a passionate and creative designer, always striving to achieve the best design outcomes.
I approach problems from a user centred perspective with the aim to improve experiences whether through a product, service or graphical design solution.
Throughout my degree I have had the opportunity to develop and refine my skills as a designer. The cyclical design process has played an important part throughout the projects I have completed and has ensured my final outcomes reflect the user needs. This is particularly showcased in my final year project, undertaking a detailed continuous user research, designing, development and refinement process allowed my design solution to provide the optimum user experience of improving safety whilst snowboarding off-piste, through multi-sensory feedback and an automatic safety beacon.
My passion for design is coupled with my passion for inspiring and educating others, whilst I continue to build my skills as a designer I will be inspiring the next generation as a teacher of Design and Technology. The skills I have learnt throughout my degree, such as research methods, sketching techniques, electro-mechanical skills, CAD, prototyping and manufacturing have equipped me well to teach the designers of tomorrow.
My passion for teaching was further fuelled during my placement year at Loughborough Grammar School, where I was able to develop my teaching skills and thrive in the education environment. I now look forward to progressing my career further.
Final year project
Navigation and Safety Helmet for Off-Piste Snowboarders
Awards
'20 Diploma in Professional Studies
Placements
November 2018 - July 2019
Design & Technology Teaching Placement, Loughborough Grammar School
August 2018 - October 2018
Designer & Product Manager, Creative Idea Ltd