We are at a time in the semester where everything is coming to an end. This is also a time where everything on our product is coming together. Throughout the semester we have developed a product through rapid prototyping. Now we have reached the point of product testing. This will help teams figure out what they need to fix to either make their product better or appeal to more consumers.
It has been a journey for my team to get to where we are now. Last week, we had a small prototype of our product. It was functional. As we held it in our hands, we realized what we could improve. We thought we needed a bar at the front of the device to keep it from letting the sliding mechanism from sliding out. We also thought the sliding mechanism could be longer. Besides the improvements we were able to notice as a group, we met with other groups to get their feedback. This was very helpful to get their feedback. Since others teams are going through the same process of developing a product, they have helpful insight. One team told us that they felt some of the sides need to be made thicker. If we increase the sides then we are less likely to have weak points in our design. Other than those comments, the teams liked our design and that we were going to use the Flex material to the sliding mechanism.
After getting that feedback, my team and I went to work on making changes to our design. We essentially made everything thicker. We also added a bar to the edge of the base. This is to prevent the sliding mechanism from sliding off. In order to make this adjustment we had to make the sliding mechanism into 2 parts. The handle on the sliding mechanism is separate from the entire mechanism. We will just need to glue those two parts together. I thought this would be fine because the handle does not need to be very strong since it does not come into direct contact with the door.
These adjustments got us closer to our final design. Although since we did make more adjustments, it did set us back on properly testing our product. We should be able to put our print on again to have it printed in the flex material. Then we will be able to do proper testing!
Hey Olivia,
I’m glad to see your product is progressing well. I’m glad you took into account some of the improvements people had suggested. Listening to improvements people have on your product is an important skill to have and while your product already looks pretty good, acting on the suggestions people gave you can help it to be amazing. You guys have seemed determined and hard-working these past weeks and I’m confident your product is going to turn out awesome.
Olivia, I thoroughly enjoyed how you walked through each step of the criticisms and how you are going to address them. The positive attitude going into the review with Vishal tomorrow will be very helpful and changing designs as needed is very important when it comes to creating a functioning prototype. Looking forward to seeing how you guys increase the durability!
Hey, Olivia!
Wow, just looking at your summary makes me feel all the craziness that was happing this week. It’s great how the feedbacks were helpful and I hope that the feedback sessions really made an impact on your project. Good luck with your project!
Odelia
Hey Olivia,
Loved the post! Really awesome to hear how your team is progressing. Your team gave us really great feedback during the design review. Definitely looking forward to seeing your final product in person. Hope the semi-flexible material works out for you guys. I think it could be a really cool product!
Hey Olivia!
Great post you did here. I can definitely agree its been a crazy week. Just like you I thought the feedback sessions were extremely helpful this past week. Being able to take our prototype to the next level was huge. Increasing the surface area of the base of our structure as well as the shock absorption component are going to vital in the success of our prototype and final project. I also think printing our final product with the flex-plastic in separate parts will yield highest levels of success. That way we will be able to maximize and optimize the dimensions of our doorstopper. Can’t wait to get back to work with you tmmrw Olivia! Until tmmrw!
Best,
Ben