Industrial Design and Technology graduate wins the 2020 IxDA Student Design Charette

Jack Strachan on stage with a microphone

The IxDA Student Design Charette (SDC) champions the next generation of interaction design, by brining together students and early professionals to tackle big challenges. A three-day design challenge took place during the Interaction 20 conference from 4-7 February 2020 in Milan, Italy. The brief, sponsored by Amazon Design, focused on using voice to create empowering moments for those facing unique challenges.

Jack Strachan on stage with two others

Jack Strachan, who graduated from the Loughborough Design School in 2019 with a first-class honours degree in Industrial Design and Technology (BA), and now works at Wilson Fletcher, a business innovation consultancy as a graduate designer, was one of nine selected finalists to join the SDC in Milan. Along with his team, their solution was the winning pitch of the 2020 IxDA Student Design Charette.‌

“I was made aware of the opportunity to apply for the IxDA Student Design Charette by my tutor Val Mitchel. I was then given the support and guidance needed to create a video and answer the questions required to submit my application from both various Loughborough Design School tutors and my colleagues at Wilson Fletcher.

Over three days I worked in a team of three, with students I had only just met, to create a solution in response to the brief set by the Amazon Design team.

Our solution was an Alexa enabled facilitation service that assists caregivers with the support and guidance they need to prevent impending meltdowns in neurodiverse children so that they can work together to overcome them. Our concept utilised a network of Alexa enabled devices, so that trigger causes and symptoms could detected. This enables caregivers and children to work together, through a series of co-created soothing techniques, to prevent an emotionally exhaustive meltdown.”

Read more about about Jack, his time at IxDA, and his winning project here.

Image credit: IxDA Global