Hive - A Digital Product System for Shared-Use Makerspaces and Workshops

Abstract

"Products" as we understand them within the design discipline, can be categorized into two general groupings; products predominantly used by a sole individual, and products shared amongst many users. Exploring this idea alongside the developing "Access vs. Ownership" approach to design, evokes questioning into what Industrial Design can do to make shared-use work better for all stakeholders involved.

Makerspaces; a blanket term for workshops, fab-labs or any shared workspace meant for hands-on creation, are a unique example of an access-based shared-use ecosystem. With a 2,300% increase in the number of makerspaces existing globally since 2006, and nearly every major higher-education institution offering some type of shared-use workshop facility; makerspaces provide a far-reaching opportunity to design systems that empower the stakeholders operating within shared-use contexts.

The stakeholders within this context can be divided into two general groups, student-users and administrators. The student-user category captures all students within university makerspace facilities, as well as any non-instructor, general user found within a makerspace not associated with an educational institution. The administrator category includes shop-managers, facility instructors, lab-techs and staff. The success of this project necessitates the development of a solution that improves the experience, efficiency and value prospect for both user groups identified above.

Hive is a product system rooted in a digital app interface designed for any smartphone with NFC capability, while also serving as the operating system for hive HQ, a proprietary smart device designed for use by facility administrators. The hive system seeks to streamline knowledge seeking, reinforce safety practices, and efficiently manage equipment usage for student-users, while improving facility organization, managing logistics, and empowering administrators to deliver effective and efficient educational value to the students they oversee.