Dear SEP Families,
The students of Session 3 engaged in the process of iterative design. Following a standard design flow process, we developed products through five stages: plans, prototypes, tests, refinements, and final products.
The students started brainstorming combinations of problems to solve and ways to solve them. Once each group or individual decided on a problem to solve, we did research on the topic to find competitors and viability of their ideas. Students struggled with the usefulness of their ideas. To combat these thoughts, we explored the SUCCESs Model to test the potential “stickiness” of the solution and whether a consumer would be compelled to buy or use the product.
The final part of the planning stage was creating technical drawings, which conveyed multiple ways to use the product and helped to ensure that other people understood their vision. Students varied in their ability to communicate their ideas clearly through drawings, but in the end they were successful. The value of this became clear during the next stage.
Before building prototypes, students took the time to get feedback from other groups on our ideas. Some groups learned a lot and updated their plans before moving onto the prototypes. Taking the first round of feedback into account, the students progressed to building the prototypes. Students worked hard to bring their ideas to life and were quite creative when adapting their visions due to the time/material limitations, such as using cardboard instead of metal or hard plastic. The students were highly engaged in the prototype stage, as they gained a sense of accomplishment by having something tangible.
The prototypes were utilized in the next round of testing. This time the students were encouraged to “use” the prototypes as if they were using the product and answer questions on this interaction. This feedback allowed each student to further refine their ideas. This cyclic pattern of build, test, and should continue until students are completely satisfied. Even though we only got through two cycles, the products improved greatly.
The students struggled to condense their thoughts to a poster as they prepared for last day. Little did they know that they would not just be presenting their products to each other, but they would partake in a Shark Tank-style competition. SEP counselors questioned the value and usefulness of each product, which helped the students understand how the feedback they had gotten previously had prepared them to answer many of the questions.
The students of Session 3 engaged in the process of iterative design. Following a standard design flow process, we developed products through five stages: plans, prototypes, tests, refinements, and final products.
The students started brainstorming combinations of problems to solve and ways to solve them. Once each group or individual decided on a problem to solve, we did research on the topic to find competitors and viability of their ideas. Students struggled with the usefulness of their ideas. To combat these thoughts, we explored the SUCCESs Model to test the potential “stickiness” of the solution and whether a consumer would be compelled to buy or use the product.
The final part of the planning stage was creating technical drawings, which conveyed multiple ways to use the product and helped to ensure that other people understood their vision. Students varied in their ability to communicate their ideas clearly through drawings, but in the end they were successful. The value of this became clear during the next stage.
Before building prototypes, students took the time to get feedback from other groups on our ideas. Some groups learned a lot and updated their plans before moving onto the prototypes. Taking the first round of feedback into account, the students progressed to building the prototypes. Students worked hard to bring their ideas to life and were quite creative when adapting their visions due to the time/material limitations, such as using cardboard instead of metal or hard plastic. The students were highly engaged in the prototype stage, as they gained a sense of accomplishment by having something tangible.
The prototypes were utilized in the next round of testing. This time the students were encouraged to “use” the prototypes as if they were using the product and answer questions on this interaction. This feedback allowed each student to further refine their ideas. This cyclic pattern of build, test, and should continue until students are completely satisfied. Even though we only got through two cycles, the products improved greatly.
The students struggled to condense their thoughts to a poster as they prepared for last day. Little did they know that they would not just be presenting their products to each other, but they would partake in a Shark Tank-style competition. SEP counselors questioned the value and usefulness of each product, which helped the students understand how the feedback they had gotten previously had prepared them to answer many of the questions.
Resources for Continued Learning
Having your child flex their creative ideas and continue creating inventions through this process will reinforce these ideas. Going to your local museum and talking about the creative process that must have gone into machinery that is on display. Depending on the museum, they can have anything from spaceships to industrial revolution steam engines and everything in between that could spark these conversations.
Additionally for creating your own ideas, here are some more supportive material to help with different aspects of the design process.
TED Talk videos
How to build your creative confidence - https://www.ted.com/talks/david_kelley_how_to_build_your_creative_confidence
Human-Centered Design - https://www.ted.com/talks/david_kelley_on_human_centered_design
Design is in the Details - https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_bennett_finds_design_in_the_details
Designing for Simplicity - https://www.ted.com/talks/john_maeda_on_the_simple_life
Podcasts
http://spec.fm/podcasts/design-details
http://www.adventuresindesignmarket.com/
http://99percentinvisible.org/
Websites
http://www.gdcvault.com/ - This site has videos and articles from Game Designer Conference (GDC)
Thank you for being a part of SEP 2016 Session 3!
Additionally for creating your own ideas, here are some more supportive material to help with different aspects of the design process.
TED Talk videos
How to build your creative confidence - https://www.ted.com/talks/david_kelley_how_to_build_your_creative_confidence
Human-Centered Design - https://www.ted.com/talks/david_kelley_on_human_centered_design
Design is in the Details - https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_bennett_finds_design_in_the_details
Designing for Simplicity - https://www.ted.com/talks/john_maeda_on_the_simple_life
Podcasts
http://spec.fm/podcasts/design-details
http://www.adventuresindesignmarket.com/
http://99percentinvisible.org/
Websites
http://www.gdcvault.com/ - This site has videos and articles from Game Designer Conference (GDC)
Thank you for being a part of SEP 2016 Session 3!
