“Design made us look differently at our firefighters’ daily routine”
In no time, Thomas settled into the rhythm of our profession, and become familiar with our work methods. My co-workers and I made good use of the on-line documents he had created, and all of us were sincerely impressed with how quickly he took to our techniques, the workings of our environments and our work ethic. He was surprisingly skilled for a novice. It usually takes us about a year to train a fireman. Thomas registered many things in only a few months Therefore he made concrete and feasible propositions based on his own research.
Fire Line - Thomas Buisson - 2010
BEN WALKER:
What were your impressions on Thomas’s final proposal, the Fire Line project?
JEAN-BAPTISTE FLOCH:
Thomas opted for one of his first two ideas, and focused on what we call the “life line,” allowing him to come up with innovative and functional ideas in response to user input and feedback. Retrospectively we must admit there was an unaddressed need because Thomas met with one of our industrial partners who grew particularly fond of his project. And this collaboration exceeded our expectations: their encounter spurred the industrial to hire Thomas first as in intern and then as an in-house designer. We really hope this project gives life to a product that can be beneficial to our staff on a daily basis.
BEN WALKER:
Thomas obtained a double degree in Business Management and Design in partnership with the Institute of Business Administration at the University of Nantes. Did you notice he had specific knowledge in Business and Management by the way he conducted his project?
JEAN-BAPTISTE FLOCH:
I guess he put his Management savvy into practice during the work sessions I was telling you about. His social skills enabled him to build strong ties with our team. He would come back to see what we were up to, update us and gather information on a regular basis. His personal qualities lent to him forging solid relationships.
BEN WALKER:
Thomas’s concept is close to becoming a marketable device. Maybe this will not happen right away, but the working prototype he recently made looks hopeful.
JEAN-BAPTISTE FLOCH:
Yes, yes, indeed. Between our first meeting when his project was still quite vague and the end result, I think the progress was startling for an outsider without any prior notions of the field. His approach was coherent from start to finish, including the: discovery phase, proposals and focus on one particular item all the way up to producing a prototype that will, hopefully, turn into a useful tool for firemen.
BEN WALKER:
Did you feel that Thomas, perhaps a bit shy initially and unsure of where he was going, gradually became more confident as he was working with you and your team, or would you say he was fully driven from the start?
JEAN-BAPTISTE FLOCH:
I am positive he was always truly motivated from the start, but…
BEN WALKER:
I’m asking this because, although we found his project promising, my fellow professors and I suggested he do a little bit of fieldwork, such as an internship or firefighter training. At first, I guess it was just him being shy as students can be. He was reluctant to do so. But once he got going, he had a lot of fun and enjoyed working with you and your team, and we could sense it in the way his project moved forward. He took to it more and more.
JEAN-BAPTISTE FLOCH:
Right, I won’t deny that he was not exactly convincing at first. Since he did not have a concrete project, I could have turned down his offer. But I wanted to give it a try. It was a new challenge for me. So Thomas and I gave it a shot, and he rose to the challenge. Looking back, I am really glad I agreed to be his supervisor. What he achieved for us was coherent right through to the end, and therefore, it warranted our support.
BEN WALKER:
Then, he prototyped Fire Line. Maybe one day there will be a Fire Line prototype here at SDIS 44?
JEAN-BAPTISTE FLOCH:
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