Electrias SunEdu-project started in November 2012 and lasted until the spring 2014. Electria is an electronics research and development unit in Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences. Industrial design student Emma-Sofie Kukkonen started working in project as a user researcher in December 2012 and knew from the very beginning that she would do the bachelor thesis about the design process in the project. Sunedu was a research project that aims to develop a learning solution concept completely run by solar power targeted to developing countries and especially to locations and communities that are out of the reach of the electricity-grid. The environment was also piloted in the real usage environment.
The aim of the project was to design a learning service suitable for the target environment. In SunEdu new products were not created, but the usage environment and the users are researched in terms of developing stakeholders products more suitable for the African markets.
The learning environment consists of basically three parts which are a simple, low-cost e-reader with an e-ink display, solar charger and the service build around these products. The e-reader works as a platform for distributing the school books, newspaper, self-educative and other reading materials to distant rural villages.
In her thesis Emma-Sofie concentrated on discussing about the user-centered design process in SunEdu but besides the user research also workpackages about solar cell comparisons and life cycle assessment are conducted as part of the project. Our interdisciplinery research team consists of two user researcher, both designers, environmental engineer, electric engineer and embedded software engineers.
