Auditing, Testing, and a Trip to Chicago

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As we quickly approach the end of the semester, our teams have started to refine our prototypes. This week in class, we split up into our teams and met with other teams for a design audit. Meeting one to one with another team, one team described their product by explaining the problem it was solving, how it worked, and how to use it. Then, the other team would ask questions about why they made certain decisions while designing the product. Based on those responses, the team would then offer suggestions as to how to improve the design for the next phase. Our team audited a hydration sensor FitBit attachment, an aquaponics system, and a doorstop. With each rotation, we were also able to receive feedback on our design.

While there is not too much we can change about our design, we did receive some valuable feedback. One student pointed out that printing the housing in white would make the security system more discrete as it would not stand out as much. Another student mentioned that she thought that students may forget to plug in the device before leaving. Based on that feedback, we will print in white when we finalize our design, and we are looking into incorporating either an on/off switch or activating the alarm remotely.

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Going forward, we had to now test the prototype. This Web Designer Depot page, though geared towards digital interfaces, still gives valuable insights into things to consider while testing prototypes. We came up with a list of questions to guide feedback and had a group member and a friend answer the questions after using the prototype in their apartment. We wanted to know how easy it was to use the design, any difficulties they found in their apartments, and any concerns they had about the product. Using this feedback, we hope to have the best product possible that could be brought to market.

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On Friday, Brian Xu and I had the opportunity to travel to Chicago with students from the Making Things class. We left campus early in the morning and arrived at Deloitte Chicago for a presentation and workshop. We were treated to lunch while learning about Deloitte’s Tech Trends and had a quick startup workshop on solving problems on our campus with a product that incorporated the tech trends. After running through the workshop, we headed upstairs to the Deloitte Greenhouse for a tour. The Greenhouse was designed for clients to come in and reach “breakthroughs” with problems they are facing in their firms. The Greenhouse incorporates different technologies into the space along with sensory equipment to enhance the experience. It was a really cool space to be in. After the Greenhouse tour we drove over to mHUB for a tour. mHUB is a unique space that allows members and partners to work together on learning, producing, and manufacturing. There was an incredible amount of equipment in the massive space and we were able to see some of the companies working on their products as we walked through. The entire experience was a great way to spend my Friday!

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4 thoughts on “Auditing, Testing, and a Trip to Chicago

  1. Hi Brian,
    I really enjoyed reading your post. It is a very cool project and I’m glad to see that you guys worked out everything! I also like the feedback you learned from your prototype testing. Some of the comments were empirical and might be hard to think of from a designer’s perspective. The trip to Chicago sounds like a great experience and opportunity to learn! It’s a huge disappointment for not able to be there and I hope there could be some other opportunities like that in the future.

  2. Brian, I enjoyed reading about how the feedback you received from other teams was very beneficial to your design. The audit was very useful in allowing for an outsider point of view to be incorporated. I am very excited to see how you end up in terms of design and functionality of the project. The Chicago field trip looked like a blast as well as I was originally supposed to go but something came up and I wasn’t able to attend. It was great hearing how the experience was a good time and in the future I wish I will have another opportunity for such an experience.

  3. Hi Brian,

    I loved reading this post! It’s amazing how far each team has progressed and certainly as we’re coming down to the last week or so, it’s definitely amazing to see how much each team has accomplished. I glad that the Deloitte Greenhouse was cool. I’m definitely disappointed that I couldn’t go, but happy you had the time for it!

  4. Hi Brian,

    I think this is a great post here that is very well written. I had the opportunity to audit your group this week and I think you guys are going really far with your prototyping and product. I’m so glad to see all the progress you guys have made since! I really like the idea of printing your product in white and most importantly I am still wondering if you guys have been able to figure out how to send multiple messages to the user as opposed to just the first one text message. Additionally, I really enjoyed seeing how you guys minimized your false positive and false negatives. The Deloitte Greenhouse was super cool too!

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