Our Solution
For our project, we had to come up with a solution for any project that meant something to us. We were supposed to use the Engineering Design Cycle to help us create a solution. There were plenty of other topics I had on my list, but the one I chose was rape. It is a topic that is very close to me and one of the biggest problems out there. We chose a group with people who wanted to do that topic and we started from there.
The Engineering Design Cycle
1. Identify Need: Our group wanted to solve the problem of rape. It is a big problem so we mainly focused on rape or sexual assault in public surroundings.
2. Research Problem: Mr. Williams had us find three websites, each person has different ones, and we would annotate them. We researched as much as we could and found good information that would help us figure out some ideas for our actual solution.
3. Develop Possible Solutions: Our group decided to each spend about 10 to 15 minutes brainstorming ideas for what to do. We put out a bunch of ideas but we didn't get to far because each idea seemed to displease one of our members, so we decided to think about it and come up with one really good idea as "homework" and show each other the next day. I had written down a blueprint for my brainstorm to go further into depth for what I thought it should be and if we did use my idea what it would look like.
4. Select the Most Promising: They decided that mine was the most promising idea for a good solution so we decided to get to work. I showed the idea to Mr. Williams and he thought it was a great idea and liked the blueprint.
5. Construct a Prototype: I got my design idea from the lokai bracelets. One of the people in my group had one of them when we were brainstorming, so I had him bring in the bracelet for me to see what it would look like. Since the black bead on lokai bracelets are the most eye catching, we thought we would put an alert in that button, and the gray button we would put an alert to the police.
6. Test and Evaluate Prototype: Since I didn't want to take apart my group members bracelet, I showed what it would look like in my presentation, and my other group member brought in a rape whistle just to show them what it would sound like if one of the buttons had been pressed.
7. Communicate Design: We thought that a good way to share our design with the world was to create a fully functioning prototype and show it to the NUSD school board, and if they passed it as a good design that would benefit the students in the high schools, we could have the health teacher pass it out during the rape unit.
2. Research Problem: Mr. Williams had us find three websites, each person has different ones, and we would annotate them. We researched as much as we could and found good information that would help us figure out some ideas for our actual solution.
3. Develop Possible Solutions: Our group decided to each spend about 10 to 15 minutes brainstorming ideas for what to do. We put out a bunch of ideas but we didn't get to far because each idea seemed to displease one of our members, so we decided to think about it and come up with one really good idea as "homework" and show each other the next day. I had written down a blueprint for my brainstorm to go further into depth for what I thought it should be and if we did use my idea what it would look like.
4. Select the Most Promising: They decided that mine was the most promising idea for a good solution so we decided to get to work. I showed the idea to Mr. Williams and he thought it was a great idea and liked the blueprint.
5. Construct a Prototype: I got my design idea from the lokai bracelets. One of the people in my group had one of them when we were brainstorming, so I had him bring in the bracelet for me to see what it would look like. Since the black bead on lokai bracelets are the most eye catching, we thought we would put an alert in that button, and the gray button we would put an alert to the police.
6. Test and Evaluate Prototype: Since I didn't want to take apart my group members bracelet, I showed what it would look like in my presentation, and my other group member brought in a rape whistle just to show them what it would sound like if one of the buttons had been pressed.
7. Communicate Design: We thought that a good way to share our design with the world was to create a fully functioning prototype and show it to the NUSD school board, and if they passed it as a good design that would benefit the students in the high schools, we could have the health teacher pass it out during the rape unit.
Reflection
This project has been a really good one. I enjoy the fact that we got to pick groups with the same interests in the topic rather than just going to any random group. I wasn't super excited with my group at first, but once we got everything settled I realized it'll be a good group. After a good amount of time getting information, I thought I was doing a good amount of work. Once we started working on the actual slideshow I started to realize I was doing most of the work. I got the boys to start to do some stuff and it was all good. I think I did really well managing our groups time and keeping them on task, no matter how hard it was. I also believe I did some really good work and put in some great ideas to get our complete project.
A slight downside to this project was that it was hard figuring out a solution to rape if it were to be something you would wear because both men and women deal with this so we had to come up with a unisex design which is where the bracelets come in. We solved our problem fairly quickly. The last thing that was kind of difficult was getting everything together by the due date. I wasn't as stressed because I think I managed my time pretty well but in the end I feel like our presentation was great overall.
A slight downside to this project was that it was hard figuring out a solution to rape if it were to be something you would wear because both men and women deal with this so we had to come up with a unisex design which is where the bracelets come in. We solved our problem fairly quickly. The last thing that was kind of difficult was getting everything together by the due date. I wasn't as stressed because I think I managed my time pretty well but in the end I feel like our presentation was great overall.