iPhone Case

 

PROBLEM:


This phone case is a great example of a design that doesn't consider it's environment of use.  As seen in the picture, the case goes on the phone by sliding the two pieces of the case over the top and bottom of the phone.  The case weakly snaps in the middle to secure the case.  One of the most common places to carry a phone is in something like a pants pocket.  It is used slid in and out vertically like the case is oriented in the picture.  The problem with this case is that if the pocket is snug at all, the the bottom of the case will catch on the pocket and come off as the phone is taken out of the pocket.  Now that the bottom is exposed, there is nothing to hold the phone in the case, so it falls out of the top piece and hits the ground with no case to protect it (the exact problem the case is supposed to prevent).  The other possibility is that the top of the case comes off while pulling the phone out of the pocket and the phone stays down in the pocket.  This doesn't pose as big of problem as the last scenario, but it is still very annoying and decreases user satisfaction.  The design flaws inherent in this device decrease satisfaction and greatly reduce the effectiveness of the device.  As users become annoyed with the inconvenience of the device, they will either buy a new case or just not use a case, rendering this case useless.  Satisfaction is paramount in this kind of product.


SOLUTION:


One way to keep this basic design and improve upon it would be to turn the black rubber trim seen in the picture into a plastic frame.  This frame would be all one piece and would lock the case together once the two primary casing pieces were slid together.  Grooves could be cut into the plastic casing to allow the plastic frame to fit snuggly to the case.  The frame would clip ver the corners of the case, securing the fram and adding extra protection to the most vulnerable points of the phone, the corners.  This design improvement would increase user satisfaction and effectiveness of this product.