Hello!

Mid-February we met in Scott and over Zoom to finalize what we wanted to purchase for this prototyping round. We sent in our purchase request but some miscommunication meant we didn’t physically handle anything until yesterday, Monday, March 1. We learned what we can do to improve our purchasing and make it easier for the chain of people helping us acquire things.

So finally we met Tuesday to assemble our prototypes and work through their benefits and downfalls. It went really well. We were able to make a better-defined prototype for the floor panels (which we have decided from here on to call the “rolling back panels”) and the side panels (aka “sliding side panels”).

Additionally, we worked through a persona for each design we’re working on which we think will help ground our arguments and make the problem more tangible.

We are getting there! In Prototype 3, we’re hoping to work through a few different hinge configurations as well as different wheels. And we have begun seriously investigating the panel material of choice.

This project is shaping into something really cool.

We decided for the Prototype 1 iteration, we would create all 4 of our top-rated ideas:

• The large panels mounted to wheels that move around a room
• The telescoping rods that pop out of a desk to create privacy on the sides
• Panels that nest on the sides of a desk and have internal telescoping rods that pop up for privacy from behind
• A desk hutch with maybe additional privacy screens that come out from above to add privacy behind

These may not make sense right now, but we were able to meet in person to flesh them out! So Wednesday of this past week we met in the Product Design capstone room in Scott (wearing masks and maintaining distance) to put together prototypes of each idea and discuss their efficacy. We found that since we’ve all gotten somewhat proficient in making online meetings productive, meeting in person was so much more efficient because we were able to use our hands and a shared piece of paper to get our ideas across. Very exciting!

Pictures and descriptions to come, posted to Prototyping > Prototype 1.

Hello!

We recently finished presenting our Prototype 0 deliverables and it seems we have quite a bit of work to do!

The other groups in our class had several works-like prototypes of their leading ideas whereas we only had one. We decided to run with only the three-panel cubicle idea put together with a few pieces of 6″x6″ 1/4″ plywood and some typical butterfly hinges. In our idea slideshow, this idea featured wheels so that the user could easily move it about the space; for this prototype, however, we chose to simplify the idea by excluding the rollers.

After class, we met as a group and decided that moving forward into Prototype 1 we would:

• Expand on the 4 ideas that ranked Score 6 meaning developing a works-like model for each
• Research possible wheels and feet for a moveable panel design
• Look into different sound insulating materials
• See if we can combine a few ideas into a single multi-function idea

We have agreed to meet in person for the first time (!!!) during our class period next week to work through our ideas and put together our prototypes.

The next presentation will go better!

This website was made to document our progress as we research, explore, and solve the challenges of working from home in this modern-day pandemic. Each tab highlights one step taken and the information found on each page represents all the accumulated work we’ve collected.

Thanks for visiting!