This week in class we had two guest speakers. The first talk we had was from John. He mentioned the different applications of 3D printing including bio printing. This was fascinating and we talked about so many different applications including 3D printing robotic soft robotic hands for prosthetics and much more. We also had the head of the fab lab, Jeff, come to speak to us. It was really interesting to hear about all of the different making communities around Urbana Champaign. I thought it was really cool how the fab lab is meant to be for everyone in the community not just students. Jeff mentioned how homeless people have come into the fab lab before to design things. I was also really cool to hear that the fab lab had tools for digital embroidery. The fab lab is also working to develop a bio printer.
Later in class we conducted a stories & experience brainstorm. This was very helpful and Adam helped us to categorize our stories. We ended up creating two cateogries. The first was a frustrations and loss of opportunity category. The second was a potential opportunities category. I have attached a picture below of our final sheet.
I think the stories brainstorm was very helpful. We were able to better understand the experiences of the Paralympic athletes. I think especially focusing on the positives helped us to understand how we can use the rules to our benefit and create a hand ring that is different from a typical hand ring. The example Adam was explaining was that you could create a hand ring that is two different diameters. This could then help if we were creating a covering or casing because we could create two separate coverings or grips. I think it’s good that my team decided to create a category that focuses on the positives. In the HBR Design Thinking article, it mentions how one of the personality traits of a design should be optimism. I believe we were all trying to properly embrace this personality trait in our design philosophy.
I think the project brainstorm was a great way to start thinking about what is the specific experience or story we want to tackle. There are so many different ways we can approach this project, but what would be most beneficial and feasible. I am excited for the idea generation phase to see what tangible product ideas we can come up with. I think our group is going to be able to make a positive impact with our product and I am very excited!
Gies College of Business || May 2019
Supply Chain Management & Information Systems/Information Technology
hey! I think it’s awesome that your categorizing activity was helpful. I agree in that optimism is required in design and it is good you are staying positive! I think that’s a design principle we should continue to hold on to as this process gets more and more intense, as it is definitely easy to feel overwhelmed trying to design when you don’t know exactly how it will turn out yet.