Snake Mouse)

One of the greatest misconceptions in computer mouse design: comfort is more dependent on the placement of the buttons, not the form. So what if the buttons could be moved around?

For a hard goods project in a product design course, I investigated the potential of an adaptable mouse after observing a need for one in the 3D design space. 3D designers are often forced to choose mice that were mainly intended for two dimensional navigation, or resort to a secondary mouse that removes their hand from the keyboard.

So why not make a mouse that could change its button placement, and provide the user with enough buttons and inputs to fully navigate a 3D space?

As a class we began with a blue ocean market analysis to formulate design criteria based on facts rather than assumptions.

As a class we began with a blue ocean market analysis to formulate design criteria based on facts rather than assumptions.

The creation of a mind map, design criteria, and a market analysis provided a clear understanding of what was important to people as well as what was missing.

Armed with this information, I began my ideation not with sketches but a bucket of air dry clay. It didn't feel justified and smart to begin my sketches without a clear understanding of finger positioning. I wanted to play with the idea of what it meant to hold something and rest your hand on. Furthermore, how can manipulating something in real space be mapped to a digital space in an intuitive way. If you've ever read The Art of Innovation by Tom Kelley, you might remember their work on computer mice for Apple. That drove me to think of ways in which three dimensions felt editable from a single hand.

Only after this experimentation did I feel it was time to draw. Below are my initial rough sketches. Their purpose is to put shape and volume to ideas and thoughts in my head. I always do these in 2H pencil.

I then took these rough sketches and turned them into something more detailed that told the story of how this would function and exist in a space with perspective. What I came up with were three different ideas:

1. "Chubby Mouse", named after its attachable belly for gyroscopic capabilities. 

2. "Snake Mouse", named after its coiling, single body form that was meant to flex.

3. "Mouse Trap", named after its square form that collapses

The next step was to prototype in cardboard the idea that fulfilled the design criteria the best. The "Snake Mouse" kept me thinking and, in my opinion, pushed boundaries in what a mouse could be. Who's heard of a semi-soft mouse?

I later led a research study on the topic of "good" design and found out of these three examples, the "Snake Mouse" was perceived by most participants as the better design for a variety of reasons. 

As my first attempt at prototyping in cardboard, there was a lot to be learned, but this is where I began learning the most about mouse design. Prototypes give volume to ideas and it is in this prototype where I figured out the importance of button placement and started to see a mouse no longer as a solid object but as a collection of buttons. The shape of the mouse is merely there to support the hand. It is the placement of the buttons that gives it its usability.

The prototype also allowed me to observe how others were perceiving the design. I was fascinated by the different ways people were holding it. A sizable portion of test users wanted to grip the side with their pinky. While not inherently wrong, it defeated the purpose of making the side platform so wide. This was a clear indicator that the form was not intuitive enough, that people literally needed to be screamed in their ear where to place their fingers.

With this in mind, I moved on to a polyurethane foam prototype which was intended to show more of the form and in higher detail. The volume was already pre-determined in the cardboard prototype. 

For the design language, I drew inspiration from some of my favorite structures.