PingTap

PingTap was my 2025 January-May BFA Parsons School of Design Product Design capstone project in which I revisited a previous project to refine my research leading up to my graduation. PingTap was a project exploring subtlety through discreet communication for tweens and teens. PingTap turned into an accessory collection of Near Field Communication (NFC) incorporated charms allowing teens to discreetly tap their charms to their phones (iPhone, Android, and Google Pixel) to send pre-written messages to their loved ones either to get out of tricky situations or simply check in with their circle of trust throughout the day without drawing any attention to themselves. My PingTap collections include various charm accessories including keychains, necklace pendants, rings, charm bracelets, and bag pins/brooches. I wanted the freedom to utilize my own design voice within this capstone project but also take into account the current design trends among generation alpha, understanding how to appeal to different users with different senses of styles and aesthetics. I developed four PingTap collections, each exploring a different aesthetic. In addition to my collections, I also created a design book highlighting my process. Some images below are taken from the process book.

My research consisted of various conversations and interviews with parents and their tweens about their concerns and communication routines, strengthening their relationship of trust while grappling with new senses of independence. I observed the safety accessories and medical devices of my friends/family/peers, and user tested my models throughout the process. These charms are currently designed for 3d printing for ease of prototyping and design exploration, however revisiting their designs to make them injection-molding friendly would likely be the next step towards manufacturing as NFCs are designed to withstand the process of injection molding. While PingTap charms are currently made from PLA plastic filament, they can surely be made with an NFC friendly bio-plastic in the future for both sustainability purposes, durability, and convenience. This project explored NFCs and their exciting potential! In the future, I would be happy to further this research into bluetooth technology for completely tap-less communication. PingTap, subtlety in a single tap.

©2025, Sienna Tohar. All rights reserved.