This past week, our learning lessons were focused on understand the purpose of iterative prototype design and testing. The prototype assessment and test plan article emphasized that the primary reason “to create a high-fidelity prototype are to help you gain a much deeper understanding of your product so that you can actually test your ideas with real users before you build it.” My team and I started applying this principle during our last class and shifted our focus to creating more prototypes. Our shift to an action-based approach has allowed us to make more tangible progress with our final project.

This learning lesson is something I believe will be applicable no matter what career I go into. The idea to be more action-oriented rather than complacent is an important learning lesson for me. I definitely think that in the future, I want to adopt this type of approach and encourage myself to take more action.

Here is the link to an image of what my team and I were able to 3d print this past week. We printed out the bushing needed to serve as the foundational attachment for a steering wheel knob. The bushing is what will be directly attached to the steering wheel and the screw will serve as the bolt to lock everything in place.

Upcoming things that my team still needs to prototype include:

1. The ball attachment to twist on to the bushing and bracket.
2. The handle attachment.

Our plan is to prototype these and have them printed before class on Wednesday so that we can get feedback from our peers and design plans to test our prototypes. This whole final project has been an experience learning how to continue to iterate in order to make tangible progress. I am excited and looking forward to getting back into the lab with my team to test out our design!