For this blog I am going to talk through the design process and what stuck out to me the most at each step. The first step was the interview, and I ran into a few problems at this stage. As it was my first time, I was definitely not a great interviewer. I asked very basic questions that didn’t require the interviewee to provide any real insight. Subsequently I received very generic answers that did not give me any ideas on where I could innovate. I continued to ask questions that just asked how he would change his phone or what he liked or did not like about his phone. I got basic answers such as, “longer battery life” or “extra storage”. In this first step I really had trouble getting my interviewee to come out of his shell. The next step was to try and dig deeper. A great suggestion that was made was to ask the interviewee to tell a story of a time where he or she had a great experience or terrible experience with his or her phone. My interviewee started by explaining that he loved how his phone always worked smoothly when he was using multiple apps and on the go. His comment of enjoying his phone working on the go, then led him to say that being on the go really tested the durability of his phone. He explained one instance where he dropped his phone multiple times and cracked the screen in just a couple months. He commented that being on the go, especially as a student athlete, a tougher phone screen would change his life, and save his wallet. This was the moment where I knew nothing would really benefit my interviewee more than a phone screen that was less fragile. The next step was to define the problem, and this part was the easiest part for me. My interviewee had essentially defined it for me when he said that he needs his phone screen tougher because he is an on the go student athlete. My definition of the problem did not change much after it was first defined. The only revision was to include the time issue that comes with not having access to one’s phone during the period it is broken and getting fixed.
As a creative person, the next step was relatively easy for me once I adopted the philosophy to think outside the box then come back to earth and be at least a little more reasonable when adopting my final idea. When I got feedback the most challenging part was deciding which ideas were reasonable, and which were too infeasible. I eventually chose to make essentially a window blind that comes in front of the screen when sensors on the back of the phone sense the phone being dropped. Sketching was the next step which came easy and was not an issue. The next step which was prototyping the solution was probably the section where I learned the most during design bootcamp. As I built my prototype, the components came together well, but I got more insight into how reasonable or unreasonable my design could be. I realized that my sensors would have to be shock proof as well, and therefore be built into part of an actual phone case instead of something that attached strictly to the top of the phone. When I presented in front of the class, my prototype also did not perform very well. I thought this was another failure, but learned that as long as the prototype helped me visual what I could improve and got the gist of my idea across it was successful. Making the prototype I believe also helped my partner ask more in depth and specific questions which led to improved suggestions. The last step in the process was deciding where I needed to go next. I think this part was very helpful as well as I could make a very educated decision after creating and visualizing the prototype, and after receiving all my partner’s feedback and suggestions.