Class this week was a little out of the usual as due to the dangerously subzero temperature as a result of the polar vortex, we had to have class through a different medium rather than in usual in-person sessions. Professor Sachdev demonstrated to us on how technology can solve problems even those imposed by mother nature by hosting class online through video telecommunication software.
However, pre-class activities were delivered through the usual method on our class website. From the videos on HCD, I learned that it is important to record the elements that inspired us during our creation phase as it would be helpful and useful to have references in the later stages. Perhaps I was too caught up in the mentors’ amazing individual stories that I forgot to take notes. Whatever the reasons were, I now know better and will for sure remember to use all the tools at my disposal to record the moments and elements that will inspire and guide my team in the future.
For our lecture this week, we were fortunate enough to be able to have consultants of Milestone Labs to help guide us on transforming our ideas into actual plans for our projects. The session was indeed interesting as the consultants encouraged us to brainstorm throughout the class and eventually, we were told to join breakout sessions with our team to further discuss our ideas based on the pre-class videos and the materials presented in class. My team and I decided to settle on our Yoga support extension based on Jenna’s personal story. Due to her unique situation, she found it challenging when performing certain poses during her yoga class and a simple detachable attachment would solve the problem and help her find balance while performing those poses. It was reassuring to her the consultants praise our idea even though it was a simple one.
I know that the extent of our idea may only be applicable to a small group of individuals in the world. However, this does not change the fact on how much value it can created for these individual users and add to their experience of life overall. Furthermore, I can see this project only being a starting product for a line of other gadgets that can be modified and crated for individual users to assist them in different tasks. I know that myself and my teammates are thrilled to work with our mentors for the rest of the semester and work to make our idea come to fruition.
I really like that your group decided to focus on the problem of balance that Jenna faces when performing yoga. My group also decided to focus on Jenna as our mentor and I was surprised that we ended up identifying very different needs with different solutions. This just goes to show how important it is to go through the inspiration phase and really dig deep in interviews to come to the root of the problem. In addition, I love that your group has already thought about possible ways to scale your product to meet the needs of others. If this is your goal, I think it would be helpful to make your design as modular as possible so that it is easily modifiable.
I think that I was having the same issue during the group interview with the mentors like you. I was too caught up with the mentors’ amazing experiences and stories that I forgot to make notes (take photos) that relate to the mentors’ experiences. But I think we still have the chance to make up the missed out parts because we would have more in-depth learning with the mentors and experts. I think we should not forget about the techniques that we learned from the HCD because we could use them during the subsequent interviews when we are learning from the people who are related to the opportunity we defined and when we are learning from the experts.
I think the topic your group decided to focus on is very interesting. It related really well to Professor Sachdev’s mindset of play and creating a product that can bring enjoyment. I have been doing yoga since high school and one think that could help is during a yoga class there are certain tools that are used to help people adapt the normal poses. The first is a yoga strap if someone is not flexible enough to fully stretch their leg. The second is a block if someone is doing a pose and can’t touch the ground. I view what you are trying to create as another tool that could potentially even be helpful for other people who are beginners to yoga.
Hi Ruei,
I too was having a problem recording important information during the events, especially because I am not much of a note taker. I try to take notes in different forms, such as digital, to make the process a little easier. Also, the extent of the audience that your project will affect is not more important than the impact. I think your team is going in a great direction.
Hi Ruei,
I was also obsessed in mentors’ great stories. I really like the way you come up a more advanced idea with the help from consultants from Milestone. I also think that after this course, each group’s project has been improved and become more realistic comparing to the original thought. I’m really glad that your team choose to work on the Yoga support extension to help Jenna reach some difficult poses. It’s great idea, but as what you said, it may not be able to help large group of people. However, the whole point of our projects is helping others and make their life better. Even though your product may just benefit a few people, I believe that it’s a feasible project as long as you help someone. You might also be able to improve your product or even based on the original model and create more different products that will benefit others.