This week started with the finalization of our project scope: addressing the difficulty of balance for Jenna, especially when she’s doing yoga. Our team definitely rallied around this idea and we’re very excited to work with her.
In class, we had the privilege of hearing from an employee of the start-up Earthsense. He explained how his company has overcome challenges from their first version to the version they are about to release. They 3D print some of their parts, and the number of iterations he had done for certain small sections of the robot were incredible! It was great to hear about his “failures” and his experience with design thinking. It was very reassuring to hear him speak about the prints he made that once in action did not meet the user’s requirements. I think it made the approach to designing for a user less intimidating, because all of the failures help add to the end success
Also, we got to print for the first time! After learning the basics of Tinkercad, our group met up to decide on a team name. Understanding that our real goal goes beyond just the yoga application, but truly targets Jenna’s balance, we decided on the name 3D-Bal (short for balance). We thought this encompassed our goal and was a fun, easy name to stick with through the semester. We created our logo, which shows the Bal “balancing” on top of a 3D sphere (see below).
Design of logo mid-print 
Design of logo post-print, with supports
This was the first time I had been in the MakerLab, and the first time I had ever printed something that I helped design. It was a very cool process to see the ideas in your head come to life within minutes. I think that that is the true value of 3D printers – you can immediately bring your ideas to life to understand them better in the space you are going to use them. When an object is just a 2D sketch or on a computer, it is a lot more difficult to understand the object’s intricacies. However, when you can bring a quick prototype to life, you really understand how it plays in the space that it is in.
Looking to next week, we are going to go more in-depth on our research with Jenna and other stakeholders to better understand the opportunity we are looking at from their perspectives. Hopefully this lends itself to increased design potential for our group!
I agree with your point how Micheal Hanson showed us that failing isn’t something we should be intimidated by it. In our design classes, I create about 20 different prototypes to come to a final conclusion. And each of those prototypes are failures, but each step were necessary and I was able to create a much stronger final product. I feel like we will do the same for our project as well. We will create multiple prototypes based off on mentor, Jenna’s experience and conduct empathic experience or ask Jenna for her experience.
Hi Samantha,
I thought it was interesting when you mentioned that “all the failures add to the end success.” Without making these failures, we can’t move forward with design or think about where to improve said design, so in a way, the failures are an essential aspect to any design creation. This is something I agree with, even if it is slightly scary to think about. I totally relate to how you said it was reassuring to hear Mike talk about his approach and how failure is a part of that and that his talk definitely made the design thinking process seem less intimidating than I had expected. I think one bit of advice on your logo I wanted to give (and feel free to not take it) is that the way you have the words set up, it seems like your logo is Bal 3D. and not 3D-Bal. I took a typography course in the past and word order and the like are really important in how you express things like logos. Your logo is cool, but causes some misunderstanding due to the way that Bal is on top, so I would suggest that you switch the order of how that is done – even if you end up having to print it upside down to start.
Hey! I really like your team logo and how you incorporated the idea of 3D printing into it in combination with what your team is designing for. You logo is also interesting because it includes a sphere whereas many other teams stuck with more block or square structures. This might be an interesting interview for your team to read as well as a potential outside expert to contact? https://www.huffingtonpost.com/rob-schware/getting-a-leg-up-yoga-for_b_5019117.html
Hey Sam,
I think your post did a great job of the lessons we learned in class. Michael Hanssen did a really great job of making sure as your designers that we are not afraid to fail. I think that failure is so important in creating our best project because failure is what, as designers, we actually learn from.
Secondly, I really liked your logo. It is so incredibly cool and intricate. I really like how you incorporated 3D into your design. It does an awesome job of interesting the consumer and want them to ask for more. I’ve attached a link of what makes a great logo for background. https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/08/vital-tips-for-effective-logo-design/