Student SecurityDesign Research Report

By Callum GordonLevel 6 Product design

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Contents page

Initial scoping....................................Page 3

Research Area and direction............Page 4

Secondary Research.........................Page 5

Primary Research.............................Page 6-9

Research Summary...........................Page 10

Design Brief.................................... ..Page 11

Design Direction...............................Page 12

Appendix...........................................Page 13-14

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What makes people feel safe?

who are the main victims?

Security research plan

sensory influence, light sound colourdogs barking

Main cause of crime?

Control

Police influence

Attitude to crime

Sound alerts (main crime deterrent?)

Police safety measures

Alerts

Analyse current security systems

Current security products

Typical criminal

Self defence lawWhat rights do citizens have?

Current prevention measures

Most common crimes in Manchester

Vehicle Security

Travel security

Personal security

Home security

Through several hand written brainstorms, the direction of this research was discovered and the questions or point of interest were brought to light. The image at the bottom of the page is an example of this. Though this style of basic research various points were understood from the begging

•Primary research would require a lot of interaction with other people (surveys and Interviews)

•There was no spesic area of research into security at the start. The research began looking at security as a whole.

Through these inital conclusions several questions were formed.

•What are people most afraid of?

•What are the main kinds of security against crime?

•What can and are people doing to fight crime at the moment?

Initial scoping3

Home security

Car SecurityTravel security

Street/ nightlife security

Product Analysis Travel Ethnography

Travel Ethnography

Home analysis Interview Analysis(Secondary)

Interview analysis

Product Analysis Role play Product Analysis

This research into security was broken down into 4 distivctive catagories

Street/ nightlife security.

How do people stay safe on the street, keep their possesions safe and how do they stay safe when the go out at night (to a bar, club or otherwise)

Home security

How can you keep your home safe while you or you family is home or the house is empty? What is the most important thing people want to protect int heir home.

Travel SecurityWhat measues do people take to be secure whent they travel, where do they keep their important documents and how do they keep luggage safe.

Car security

What are the main aspects of car crime and how can the be prevented. How does car crime affect people.

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70%

Home security

Vehicle Security

Personal security

• Personal possessions

• Safety at home

• Burglar prevention

• Viable Deterrents

Travel security

• Personal possessions

• Vulnerability

•How do you stay safe on the street

•How do you stay safe on a night out

• Personal possessions

• Anti-car theft

•Opportunity thefts

• Personal possessions

•Important documents

•Easy of Travel

•Security confidence

•Secure ways to keep track of belongings

60%

60%

So when do burglaries take place? 60% occur when someone is at home, 70% happen on weekdays and 60% occur in the evening or at night.

What is stolen? Money 41%, Electrical goods 30%. Computer equipment 36%, Jewellery 26%, Mobile phones 20%. These figures relate to offences in 2010, “hot” items in 2013 are smart phones, tablet computers and car keys.

With in each station at least one crime has been recorded as increases over the previous year.; Violence, theft of passenger property, railway burglary and theft, criminal damage, cable theft and cycle theft

• Laptop goes in the same place every time in the backpack and never gets brought out any place that would draw attention to it

• As soon as you check into any dorm room, you put all valuables into a safe

Over 370,000 cars are stolen each year in the UK, which has the highest (per capita) number of stolen cars in Europe. Car crime is a huge and profitable business, costing billions of pounds a year and representing around a third of all reported crime. It’s estimated that some 70 per cent of stolen cars are broken up and sold for spares, while the rest are given a false identity and sold (many are exported to the Middle and Far East).

Majority of Street crimes involve young people between the ages of 18 - 24 (Students) And its is mostly Males not Females

Students are synonymous with Britans Drinking culture (al-cohol) this could possibly be a cause of high stats. Students are also easy targets as they are known to have any items of value. (phones, ipods and money etc)

Secondary Research 5

6Primary Research

After conducting several surveys, it has been noted that most students are not aware of their own insecurity. This could be seen in one survey in particular which used a score system to rate how safe people were based on what answer they picked for the questions. The average score out of 30 was 15 point, This shows that their is still much room for improvement in student security and promoting self awareness.

Surveys

•Student survey05/12/2014•Parent survey06/12/2014•General Survey 16/11/2014

Travel security

An analysis of products that can be bought off the shelf in Manchester11/11/2014

Home securityAnalysis

A Comparative analysis of home security between 3 different houses13/11/2014

Interview with Previous mugging victims

• Bradley Lee• Elliote Boulton

Through these interviews it was discovered that most muggings happen fast and when not many people are around. It was also determined that it is better to simply hand over any valuables when initially asked/ threatened as they are not worth you life. “This is where I finally gave him the phone”

Robbery is something that most people never expect to encounter and can have many effects both physical and mental.

Security levels in the average household can vary depending on the occupants. Some of the houses analysed had neither a house alarm or a gate to prevent burglars entering the garden. Furthermore this is a prime example of the average housing inhabited by the majority of Britans. As such analyising these houses gave some indication of the average level of security.

Which was supprisingly found to be between very little or now at all.

After analysing these products it was de-termined that the majority of security or self defence products that can be bought off the shelf are “pocket products”. That are mainly usesfl in one type of situation only. These is also an infered gender steotype with some products, as most men would not buy a rape alarm for themselves.

As such a product that can be used in more than one situation would be a vast improvement.

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Role play analysis18/11/2014

Travel EthnographyBus Travel30/11/2014

By conducting several basic role play senarios peoples reactions and reaction times were able to be viwed, recorded and analyised with relative ease. This analysis shows that people’s natural fight for flight reaction actually hinders the use of self-defense products.

As such this make them less reliable and not as effective as a passive use product.

Interview with Previous Burlary victims

• Peter Gordon22/11/2014

• Peter Bergoine24/11/2014

With the Burglary interviews it became clear that any kind of alarm or disruptive noise will deter a criminal and possible drive them away. “He saw her, panicked and left by climbing over the garden fence into an alley behind the house.” Thus this could show that any kind of noise/ deteret could be effective as long as it is in place and active. For Peter Gordon it was only thanks to his neighbour that he wasn’t burgled, as he didn’t have an alarm in place.

Interview with Previous Car crime victims

• John Simms26/11/2014

• Thomas Blake28/11/2014

Car crime can take on a variety of different aspects such as car theft or theft from a car. Both of these could be avaided through simple measurs such as not leaving things in a car or parking in a well lit area thats overlooked by people.

“I didn’t remember leaving it open so I went over and saw that some of my tools were missing”

The research into bus travel revealed nothing that people didn’t really know already. If you are sat next to someone of a certain stereotype (hoodies etc.) then you are more aware of them because of the stereotype. However that most people tend to keep their bags an personal belongings close to them, even going to the point of standing instead of sitting to be close to the was very interesting.

Primary Research

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Interview with Julie Woodhouse Anti-crime specialist

03/12/2014

Nightclub ethnography

05/ 12/2014

Travel Ethnography

08/12/2014

Students nightlife can be a very dangerous and vulnerable times for students for many reasons.

• They leave coats, bags and smetimes phones unattended• Student accomodation is empty while they are out.• Students are easy to take advantage of when they have been drinking.

Many students travel great distances to attend University, taking many personal possesions with them. Keeping these possesions secure can be quite a challenge.

A travel ethnography was conducted to show the different problems that arise when traveling long distance.

For example: •Keeping luggage together. • Moving through small areas •Keeping decuments safe • Keeping valubles safe

Through this interview it came to light that students are a very vunerable and common target group. They own many expensive electrical products, have money in the house and other objects of value. They are also typically nieve group and and unaware of security risks. Many students also travel long distances carrying many personal belongings which is another time when they are vulnerable.

“Money is always a constant target” as it can’t really be traced but with the advance of technology phones, TV’s and laptops are a target also.”

Primary Research

9Primary Research

Student User Analysis

12/12/2014

An detailed analysis into what student behaviours, and the various aspects that make them a main target for crime.

• Active social/ nightlife• Live in large clusters• Naive outlook on life• Own many electrical goods

Students are a very vulnerable group, they normally live in areas that are very high in density of student accommodation. Thus where there is one student there is likely to be more.

Parent User Analysis

12/12/2014

Parents are a key market for a security product aimed at students

•Duty of care to their children• Want to do something for their children

Parents are very aware that their children are moving far away from them, they also don’t know where they are moving to or what the crime rate is like.

As such parents are more likely to buy a product for their children. They are probably more likely to buy a product for a student than a student is to buy for himself.

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Through the research displayed in this document the following have been discovered.

• Students are a main target for crime due to a naive outlook and lack of awareness into general security matters.

• Active products used for self-defence are not reliable as they depend on reaction time and having the product ready.

• Deterrents are more effective if they seen as the are a viable threat to criminals

As such it is very difficult to design a product for the purpose of self-defence. Especially when it is a “passive” product. As such the design work following this research will be focused around keeping possessions safe when travelling through passive means of hiding or securing them, and the same will be undertaken to secure possessions in the home.

Research Summary

11Advance Research Strategies, Security design briefAdvance Research Strategies, Security design brief

Design Challenge

How might we design a security device with the intention to deter a criminal, or prevent criminal actions against students? And how can this device also be used in the home, on the street and while traveling?The purpose of this product is not to design a product that can be used to fight against crime directly, this needs to be a passive product used to deter criminals and help keep possessions safe when they are carried as luggage or left at home.

Target products to keep safe• Laptops• Phones• Money/ wallet/ purse• Passport and other important documents• Jewellery• Expensive electrical goods, TV gaming console (optional)

Background Information

While crime overall is currently on the decline, certain areas and demographics are constantly targeted. Students are a prime target for a variety of crimes. (Burglary or theft.) as such they are an ideal target audience for a security device. In terms of the market 580,000 students applied for higher education in 2014. (58% of which were female) This shows a potentially large market area. Though parents buying for students would also be a good target audience as they have a duty of care for their children and as such would possibly be willing to buy a product to keep them safe. The main competition for such a product would be security products sold on Amazon, most of which are security lights or rape alarms.

Product Requirements

This product must:

• Be lightweight enabling easy transportation• Be easily visible to provide a clear deterrent for criminals.(Think colours, shape and style)• Be secure and difficult to remove quietly or without the user knowing. (This applies while on the street and at home)• Product must be easy to use and should not hinder the use of other products.• Make it easy to keep other items secure• Must be designed for mass production (batch production?)• Should be designed with retail environment in mind. (shop shelf)• Needs to be long life and environmentally resistant (waterproof etc)

Week 1 Week 6Week 5Week 4Week 3Week 2 Week 8Week 7 Week 12Week 11Week 10Week 9

Further development Drawings Final Product Development and Final modelInital Concept Drawings Inital Development DrawingsInital Models Developed Models Practical Models

12Design Direction

The improvement of security during student travel and when they leave their possesions at home in the main direction the following project shall be geared towards. This shall be completed by devising a product, method or system that will passivly act to keep the student possesions safe when active (if activation is required)

13Appendix

They reveal there were a total of nearly 4,500 robberies across Greater Manchester in the year – equivalent to 12 per day.

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/crime-down-your-street-robbery-1218186 (16/12/2014)

• 7.3 million incidents of crime against household and resident adults (ages 16 and over) this has decreased by 14% in comparison to the previous year.

• Police recorded a 20% increase in sexual offences in comparison to the previous year

• In 2006 it was recorded that over violent crimes (mostly knife crimes) decreaced by 41% since 1995.

• Knives are use in about 8% of violent incidents

• The average age of homicide has dropped due to a change in the demogrphic. It is now more common amoung younger people.

• 7% increace in shoplifting in comparison to previous year,

14Appendix

• Light, light is a great way to put off potential riminals from entering your home. (http://www.popcenter.org/responses/street_lighting, 2014)

•Sound, the thought that there might be people inside a house or nearby makes criminals less likely to commint crimes as their is a greater chance they may get caught. Guard dogs are also usefull in this way as they can intimidate burgulers when barking/ growling.

•Signs, the use of signs such as “beware the dog” while slightly comical actually have a serious use. These signs warn criminals in an attempt to make the house less appealing as a potential target.

Main Deterrents

A basic shop bought travel lock. Designed to make it harder to open the bag. However theere are ways around this lock such as using a pen to force the zipper. Can improvements be made to prevent this?

Luggae analysis

While most people are unsure of what to do with bags on trains it was found this womans arroach very interesting. She uses her bag as a foot rest. Certainly while her legs are atop the bag nobody can steal from it. So maybe their is a way to incorperate some feather that make the bag a seat in itself or makes it compatable with the Train seats? This, however could cause problems depending on where its used. As it may onstruct other passangers.

Traveling with Luggae analysis