Last week team Supra went in with a trash compacting idea and have completely changed the whole idea. As we were approaching the prototyping stage of our product we had a lot to consider. Does our product solve the problem? Does it appeal to the consumer? Is it still low cost?
My team and I faced a few problems. We did not feel like our product had much of a need since we had redesigned it. So we needed to start over with our design of the trash compactor. We thought from the perspective to get maximum compaction. We modeled it after the Big Belly trash can you can see around campus. The design would have the look of the Big Belly so that you could throw trash in the top side to the trash can. Then the top would have a board with a weight attached that could be released to compact the trash in the can. Then the weight/board would be connected to a leaver arm that could crank it back to the top of the trash can. After thinking of this complex design we asked the question “Why would people actually need this in their household?” There is really no need for “maximum compaction” in a household trash can. We found ourselves overcompensating to fix some problems in our design and under compensating in some parts of our design. This created a massive problem for us. We thought it was best to revisit different product ideas.
We went back to our original idea list. One idea intrigued us. We wanted to create an improved version of a door stop. We find the conventional door stops that have already been designed faulty. They never really hold the door open and are hard to maneuver. So we plan on developing a door stop that you can attach to the door a few inches above the door handle. It will have a sliding function that will allow you to have it hold the door open when it is slid out and then slid in to allow the door to close. We are still in the beginning stage of figuring out how we are going to attach it to the door and what material we will use. I was originally thinking thinking plastic so it would be cheap, but I am afraid a hard slam might break it. So then I thought about using metal so it is more sturdy, but I think a thick rubber material might actually be the best. We still have a lot to figure out, but we are making a lot of progress!
Hi Olivia,
I love the the title of your post! And I think your wrote an excellent post here. You excellently illustrated the struggles of our design and prototyping we endured last Monday. I could not agree with you more that it was such an epiphany and humbling experience to take a step back and re-evaluate our idea and realize that it was simply not feasible, too complex, and would not generate enough demand. However, this is probably one of the greatest thing I’ve experienced in this class. It was so nice to see how effective rapid prototyping is as we were able to come up with a new innovation idea from scratch not too long afterwards. Can’t wait to get back to work tomorrow!
Hi Olivia, I think its great that your team was able to recognize your problems and determine the best course of action to take. Too often firms will pursue an idea far too long before they realize it is a lost cause. Your team was proactive in not wasting your time or resources by switching projects early on. As you go forward, be sure to take the advice of David Kelley from the video clips we watched. Ask for a lot of feedback frequently so that you can take care of any design faults and have a better product much sooner!