Week #9: Make-through

• for me i haven't used design thinking ever and actually it really helps when it is about thinking the right process of creating a project or initialize an iteration so my project idea is a smart coaster and it is a device which indicates the drink temperature and indicate with a specific color when it is ready to drink and also there is a water reminder the idea of this feature is to remind the user every 4 or 5 hours to drink water .

• Through my Empathize stage my target users was the geeks or the people who are interested in technical gadgets

• i conducted my interviews through meetings and i have targeted a friends of me which they were interested about the idea of my smart coaster

• i have interviewed 5 of my friends and i have described the features of the product and asked them if they fit in the product description or they are just a not needed features and actually there comments were very insightful some of them agreed with the features i provided and the others suggested adding more features or edit the existing ones the output was very good actually some people suggested me to add a something that makes sound every 4 or 5 hours to remind them to drink water and other people suggested adding light sources which indicates the drink temperature when it is hot indicates red and when it is good to drink lights up with different color and so on..., some users like music so they suggested to add a sound reactive led which the coaster will interact with music that is getting played behind the coaster but others suggested that it is a irrelevant feature so they suggested to create another version with sound reactive feature.

• i have used the empathy map in order to filter the results i have got from the interview and what i have did is write all my features and compare it to the desired and common features between the users and i have reached to a number of features that was needed and suggested by the users.

• for the ideate stage i have generated the idea of my project through looking for similar products and their different feature and how each product is different to the other and their competitive points so after collecting all the features i have filtered them due to my ability and the availability of resources i needed based on the previous thoughts i have decided exactly what i need to do.

• the prototyping stage i have successfully produced a CAD Design for the product i needed to create and this was much easier for me after trying the cardboard and hot glue because in my project case it was hard to initiate a prototype using those materials because mine based more on realistic ideation not the imagination stage for the smart coaster its default shape is circular so i thought it would be cool to change the standard shape but later i decided to keep the default shape the ideas was to create a proper fittings and easy to manage wires to keep the coaster shape and height small and to calibrate the sensor to measure the real temperature of the drinks and make cool animations in the lighting and so on...

• last stage was the test stage i managed to test the prototype through creating a real model using the 3d printer and the outcome was quite blessing to the first prototyping solution.

• The main problem the specified users faced that they needed always something to remind them to drink water regularly during their working time or busy with something and once they make a drink they get busy and forget to drink it till it becomes cold so the users needed a device to remind them to drink water and the right time to drink their drink with a suitable temperature

the problems i have encountered was how to fit a really needed features by the consumers using only the available resources and i have solved this by suggesting a relevant feature using the available resources.

• What are the design thinking process

• How to conduct interviews with users

• how to create a problem statement through the ideas collected and filtered from the potential and targeted users

• More helpful and communication skills

• innovative ideas for solutions using ideation techniques

• Produce and test a Lo-Fi using a recyclable and simple materials