Studio activity

This week in the studio, we were able to catch up on what everyone has been doing over the break. it is interesting to see what other students have been coming up with, some having already completed their prototypes. I was quite concerned when I heard some students being so far ahead with their developments, this, however, did not last long as I realized that most of the students and my team members were in the same boat as me - still figuring out the best way to approach the situation.

For me, I only worked on prototype sketches and product research other the break, I wanted to ensure all the components I purchased was Arduino compatible and as my prototype could be executed in many different ways, I wanted to solidify one model that I think will be the best approach and stick with it, allowing me to buy components for it and continue on my development process. In hindsight, I should have put more time into the project during my break but instead, I spent most of my time binge-watching tiger king- which I thought was well deserved after my 2 big submissions.

Concerns

The main thing I am concerned with at the moment is reaching our target audience. initially, I thought to post questions online and in Facebook groups were going to be easy, however, no one really takes time out of their already busy days to answer interview questions from a stranger. most of my attempts were ignored- which is completely understandable, but it makes the SDLC very very difficult as I don't have a base of user testing to iterate changes on my prototype. as an alternative, I've decided to reach out to my parents to help me identify potential users for me to contact lol. Hopefully, it will go better than having questions post online.

Project wise, I am still quite concerned that my idea is too simple. having students trying to build robots and really cool stuff made me self conscious but bless my teammates for always supporting my idea and giving me feedback as to what I should focus on, which is focusing on a good idea that fits the brief despite me thinking its too "simple".

This week

This week, I'm working on using components in the kits I've received to build something that can act as an MVP before all my other components get mailed to me. I will also be working hard to get hold of a few potential users for me to interview. instead of targeting exactly my stakeholders to be interviewed, I have expanded my testing audience to anyone who has experience with children before, I understand that the raw data will not be as accurate but in these circumstances, it might be my best bet.