WHEN it comes to experience, Donn Koh says he only has an Industrial Design degree and spent a six-month exchange semester in Tsinghua University Academy of Art and Design, Beijing. However, at 25, this Industrial Design graduate from the National University of Singapore already has several feathers in his cap.
Mr Koh is no newcomer when it comes to receiving awards for his designs. His wins include first prize for the Bordeaux Bliss Structural Packaging Design Competition in 2006, bronze award for being in the top seven of 1,700 for the Lite-On award organised by Taiwan and the winner of the Red Dot Concept award organised by Germany and Singapore this year.
In addition, Mr Koh recently won the prestigious 16th International BraunPrize 2007, for his design of "LeapFrog", an innovative walking aid for children with impaired mobility. His reward: a cash prize of $25,000 and a fully-paid six-month internship at the Braun design department in Germany.
Mr Koh says the term "leapfrog" refers to a game in which children vault over each other's backs. "The game embodies three emotional values, namely, self-confidence, social interaction, and fun," Mr Koh says. "The Leap-Frog walker brings the same three values to the children who use it, and thus it was named as such."
Mr Koh was the first Singaporean and the first designer trained in Asia to win the Braun- Prize. He was among four finalists narrowed down from over 900 international entries for the 16th BraunPrize competition this year and emerged as the overall winner.
LeapFrog helps children with impaired mobility to rise and stand from a sedentary position, allowing them to practise walking and attain balance. It also allows for short sedentary breaks.
Mr Koh says the transformation between the various modes such as sitting, standing and walking automatically follows the intention and movement of the child. He adds that automatic sit-braking prevents kick-gliding when sitting and, therefore, prevents the child from acquiring erroneous movement patterns.
Hence, the children are partially assisted as they themselves try to switch between sitting, standing and walking instead of being forced or locked into positions. Mr Koh says this not only allows for more autonomous and frequent practice but also imparts a greater sense of achievement, independence and self-confidence. The product's support mechanism can be set according to weight and, therefore, can be adjusted according to the child's development.
Mr Koh says that the practicality of his design makes it different from other types of walking aid. With the inclusion of the convenient sit-to-stand function, a child can stand to walk or sit to rest on his own, removing the need for intensive involvement and supervision from caregivers who are often "too busy" to give the child frequent and regular practice.
Another characteristic that differentiates LeapFrog is that it takes into account the child's emotional needs. Mr Koh says that the partial assistance system is very encouraging as it lets the child do part of the work to attempt standing and walking, building a sense of ability and self-confidence. The open front design also allows the child to have more social interaction and involvement, he adds.
Making sense out of chaos
Mr Koh points out that these qualities are different from other existing devices which bind the users to standing or walking positions, making them feel more disabled than ever. These devices, Mr Koh says, are often cage-like and frightening to look at.
For Mr Koh, there are no magic or secret methods. "Like all my other works, it is about massive and chaotic research, persistent analysis until some sense is made out of the chaos," Mr Koh says. "And then experimenting with all the wrong solutions until I'm left with only the right ones."
Mr Koh found the process of researching on the medical conditions, such as cerebral palsy and spina bifida, complex. However, he managed to overcome the initial challenges through a lot of assistance from the department of physiotherapy at the Singapore Cerebral Palsy Centre. Mr Koh took about six months to come up with the initial design, and another three months to refine it.
For now, Mr Koh is adding as much as possible to his working experience. He is currently on contract employment at GROdesign, a design studio in Holland, whose recent works include the Nokia XpressMusic mobile phones and the new Nokia 6500.
After his short stint in Holland, he would be joining BMW DesignWorksUSA Singapore Studio. "Industrial designers play an important role to translate dreams and ideas into tangible reality that everyone can see, feel and touch," Mr Koh says.
