Unit One - Design Process

Write an abstract (brief paragraph) that gives an overview of the topics in Unit 1:

Unit 1 of Designing and Drafting for Production centers around the steps taken in creating a invention or invention. This includes things like the rules for brainstorming, the layout of a design brief, and the steps taken to evaluate the potential of a draft.

Include a bulleted list of what you learned in Unit 2 for each of the topics listed:

List at least 5 things you learned relating to the Design Process / Design Brief / Decision Matrix

• The process of creating a decision matrix and using it to evaluate the potential of an idea.

• How to evaluate a problem and create a design brief from it.

• That the rules of brainstorming are: No criticism allowed - Work for quantity - Welcome piling on - Allow free-for-all.

• The design process used IED is: Identify a Problem - Generate Concepts - Develop a Solution - Construct and Test a Prototype - Evaluate the Solution - Present the Solution.

List at least 5 things you learned relating to the to Engineering / Technology / Product Evolution

• Innovation is separate from invention. Invention is the process of creating something new, while innovation is the process of improving

• What I previously thought to be engineering is in fact just repair work. Engineering is a very different subject that is centered on creation and innovation.

• Most creations we see today weren't simply invented. Rather, a very crude version was created, and the repeatedly innovated to get to it's current state.

• That the four biggest fields of engineering are chemical, civil, electrical, and mechanical.

Type out the reflection you wrote in your Engineer's Notebook for the Board Game Reflection questions as listed below:

1 - Describe the process that your group went through to come up with your solution starting from the introduction of the project to the final version of your board game

To come up with our solution, each member of the group started brainstorming ideas as individually Though we did not vote on these ideas (we narrowed then down first) we did read them to each other to to see if anything in particular seemed interesting. If so, that idea would be given more consideration. Each person would then create a decision matrix to narrow down their two best ideas. Once each person had 2 solid ideas and basic sketches for them, we presented the pictures to each other and discussed them before voting. The winner of the vote was chosen, though the runner-ups were kept in mind in case the winner did not work out.

2 - Identify at least 1 problem your group encountered during this project. How did your group resolve this issue:

A problem my group had was communication. Though we were given time in class to work on the Board Game, we wanted to insure we were all on the same page and finished on time, and for that we needed time outside class. We resolved this by talking on the chat service, Discord, allowing us to contribute at any time.

3 - Identify the 3 group norms your team was given (posted under Board Game Design link below). How well did your group follow each of these rules?

The three group norms are as follows: The group will follow the rules of brainstorming and the design process - Group members will each make significant contributions - Reach decisions through consensus.

I believe our group followed the norms of consensus and equal contributions quite well, and the norm of brainstorming we did well, with room for improvement. Our consensus is evident in our system of voting and sharing to pick the final board game, and the significant individual contributions can be seen in the lists of ideas and sketches we made to present to the group. I put our use brainstorming lower for two reasons: because I can't really attest to the individual brainstorming done by my partners, and because when meeting together, we mostly voted on what we already had, rather than creating new things through brainstorming.

4 - Identify specific improvements that you would make to your board game design.

If I could redo my board game I would largely make superficial changes, making things neater and cleaner. For instance, I left a section of an image with it's background, instead of removing the background like the other images. It isn't substantial, but if all those little things were removed the finished product would be even better.