Be Creative and Innovative

Author: Xiu Chen

My Final Prototype: the Fishing Bite Alarm

My final prototype is the fishing bite alarm which has been developing throughout the semester. I have walked through all stages of the design thinking during my design process of the fishing bite. From observing and engaging fishing with my dad, I found the problems he had with his fishing detector: easily to fallen off, couldn’t been heard and seen easily at night. After defining the problems, I had brainstorm and  some possible solutions based on problems I observed, then built the first version prototype shown bellow:

Version 1

The older version has one LED light, which can be seen from far. It also has a sound that one can hear from a distance when there is a fishing on biting. The older version of the fishing bite alarm has a spiral screw that one uses to twist until a fishing line is tied to the alarm. It won’t easily fallen off.

The designed was improved after I had a conversation with my potential customers.  I got really valuable feedback from my dad’s friend who was a fishing enthusiast. I found out new problems that most of the fishman had: they were often misled by the false alarm. The alarm would ring by other forces like wind or other moving objects in the water pulled the fishing line.  He suggested me to improve the spiral screw, because the tiny screw was not easy to rotate by big hands. In addition, he told me that it might work better if there was an indicator to show the position of the rod. By showing my visual prototype to my dad’s friend, it allowed me to learn, gain insight and test my prototype on the actual users who would use it and help me made decision on how to move forward and what needs to be improved. Based on new defined problems, I have refined my design shown below:

Version 2

One of the new features in this redefined fishing alarm is the addition of one LED Light. This means the alarm has two LED lights in total, a red and yellow one. The yellow Led light is designed in a way that it shows the fishing rod position at all times. Whenever there is a fish bite, the yellow light automatically goes off , the red light will be on and the alarm rings to indicator that a fish has been caught by the fishing rod. The volume of the sound can be adjusted by spinning the gray volume control knob. It avoids noise in the quiet environment. Other feature is that the design is integrated with motion sensitive system, it avoids noise caused by other forces like water wave or wind. It ensures that fishermen do not end up being misled by a false alarm.  In addition, the spiral screw is replaced by “the watch strips”.  It is adjustable and made it firmly and tied on different sizes of the rods.

Having showing the physical prototype and conversation with my potential customers, it allows me to learn, gain insight.  It also allows me to test my prototype on the actual users who will use it to determine how I might move forward and refine. It truly help to develop my design, make it better and fit my customer’s needs and wants.

The following is the video of my product description:

Reflection on Readings about Failures

I believe that there is a very close connection between failure and success. This belief has been reinforced with the knowledge I have gained through reading the articles. The articles highlight instances of plunders that various companies committed leading to their failure and the lessons that can be drawn from the failures.

From the Doppler lab’s downfall, I learn that money can be a curse and not an indicator that promises success. The 50 million dollars that Doppler lab raised attracted pressure from employees and investors, office furniture, health benefits, and many expectations. Doppler should have taken institutional funding until it attained significant sales in the product and mass production of their products that met customer expectations (Pierce, 2020). Doppler made a plunder by placing the cart before the horse which led to their downfall. Doppler could have made sure that their products sell in the market before capitalizing on the product sales as their main stream of revenue.

I have enriched myself with the knowledge of the size and the market. The market chooses the winner regardless of an organization’s size. For instance, Jawbone, which boosted its classic Bluetooth headsets and speakers, collapsed in 2017 after years of struggling to find its position in the market even with new products and new efforts (“5 Lessons to Learn From the 10 Biggest Startup Failures So Far in 2017”, 2020). The company still struggled even with savvy marketing funded with 1 billion dollars, which put the company closer to the established players in the market.

Having gone through the articles, I now realize that no good marketing can save a faulty product in the market. Of worth to note is the home juice maker called Juicero that was worth $ 400. The company got various funding from Google Ventures and Kleiner Perkins that accumulated to $ 118 million. Even with this massive funding with an excellent health-based affluent target marketing, Juicero did not secure marketing for its juice due to hand squeezing of the juice bypassing the costly device.

The most important idea I have learned is for the articles to meet the customer’s production expectations. Money is nothing without a product that can work to meet the expectations of the customers. Gaining customers with a better product is the best strategy in business. Doppler launched a product that could not replace headphones. Its downfall could be attributed partly because of failure to test its products to ensure it works and meets the customers’ expectations before launching it.

I have also learned that speed is the only tool that startups can use to attract significant and high tech companies. Anything small made by startups can be replicated and marketed better by Amazon, Apple, or Google. If these big companies realize they can launch the product before the startups or launch later than the startups but a product with better features, they perfectly play the game to their advantage. The startups have to get their speed right for them to take over the big tech-savvy companies.

Finally, I have known that being the first to market does not guarantee a win in the market. Executing the best product and services leaves the users or consumers remembering the provider.

Reflection on Product Evolution

Product evolution refers to how firms who have the visions not merely seeing a product idea, but how that merchandise will evolve as time move. It’s fundamentally the idea of mapping out, habitually before the first item is even manufactured, what future iterations of a product could be as it grows and improves. The origin of the formula is built on a Russian system called “TRIZ.

Sophisticated designs are typically the effect of design evolution. An unsophisticated first design will generally have been developed from initial sources of information, usually from a basic need. In the lifetime of the first product, data in the form of feedback, better materials and new processes from the merchandise’s use will then offer impetus to develop the design further. The challenging economic weather has made all companies to re-evaluate their marketing and scrutinize methods to segregate their products from their rivals. The design has a central role in sales, and there are abundant examples of enhanced sales reshapes of products and packaging, which lead to improved growth and sales in market share. The product design is not entirely new since other firms who have been operations is facing stiff competition and thus redesign their products to compete effectively.

A prototype is an early model, sample or release of a product made to experiment a concept or process. A prototype is customarily used to assess a new design to heighten precision by the system user and analysts—prototyping assists to give specifications for an existing, working system instead of hypothetical one. Having a prototype makes it easier to comprehend the tasks for every member of the team. It offers them the chance to do the further realistic design of development deadlines and more precisely define the cost of work.  A prototype, in my view, is identical in appearance to the final product.

Reflection on Agile Management

What is the true meaning of Agile Management? How do you communicate it?  How do you determine whether a unit, a team or the entire organization is Agile? Notably, the ability to clearly and consistently answer these questions is critical in an organization’s successful running. One notable thing is that advocates have disseminated many different flavors of Agile. Though done with the best intentions, presenting these variants may lose sight of Agile’s essential. This resulting cacophony can make it possible for critics to conclude that Agile is perhaps just noise and confusion.

The Forbes article articulates that Agile Management is poorly implemented in an organization; it can give it a bad name. It is, therefore, essential to articulate the minimum viable requirements for true Agile. According to the Agile movement, it means understanding and accepting the twelve principles and four values of the Agile Manifesto of 2001.

Agile’s other approach focuses more on the software development aspect of Agile Management. The other distinguishing factor is that the concept further subdivides Agile Management and development into two significant disciplines; Scrum and Kanban. The idea of the two approaches is based on the Agile manifesto.

Agile’s Forbes approach is that the successful implementation of rigid principles and values in any organization is not necessarily a software development business. This means that the methodologies can evolve with time to cater to the changes in the business world.

The second approach defines Agile software development as a group of methodologies based on iterative development, where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing cross-functional teams. The two methods that are widely accepted in Agile Management and development are Scrum and Kanban. Agile management promotes a disciplined project management process that encourages frequent inspection and adaptation. This approach encourages leadership philosophy, teamwork, self-organization, and accountability. Successful implementation of these methodologies aligns software delivery and development in business with customer needs and company goals.  When an organization fully and successfully embraces Agile management, its benefits make the software more manageable and economically viable. This is possible because there is increased responsiveness to requests, and the features will be quicker with short cycles. The development teams also enjoy the development of more valued work with reduced non-productive work.

Forbes’s approach to Agile management mainly focuses on lifting the employees’ spirits and maximizing labor utilization. Division of labor is key in ensuring that these sub-divisions successfully implement the principles and values as stipulated in the Agile manifesto to the organization’s advantage.

The second approach insists on the sub-division of the development processes in software development to increase efficiency. This creates opportunities for regular inspection and adaptation of this high-quality software while aligning the development with customer needs and goals.

From the above representations, we can rule out that these two approaches are similar in many ways. Still, the difference is also visible in the implementation stage of the strategy. These approaches have to improvise to keep up with the competitive business world that has dramatically embraced technological development and social media. The Agile Manifesto was drafted in 2001, and from that time, major technological advancements have been incorporated in the running and management of organizations.

Version 2 of the prototype: Fishing Bite Alarm

My dad was satisfied with my old version of the fishing bite alarm, but that did not mean that all my potential customers would like it. Therefore, I tried to get more feedback from others in order to improve my product.

I had a conversation with one of my dad’s friend who was also a fishing enthusiast and found out new problems that most of the fishman had: they were often misled by the false alarm. The alarm would ring by other forces like wind or other moving objects in the water pulled the fishing line.  He suggested me to improve the spiral screw, because the tiny screw was not easy to rotate by big hands. In addition, he told me that it might work better if there was an indicator to show the position of the rod.

Through the conversation, I got an valuable information and based on that, I have created the new version in order to solve the new problems.

One of the new features in this redefined fishing alarm was the addition of one yellow LED Light.  This was designed in a way that it showed the fishing rod position at all times. The fisingman would easily to find out where the rod was even there was no fishing bite. Whenever there was a fish bite, the yellow light automatically went off and the red light turned on.  In order to prevent misleading by the false alarm, I  created a circuit with a sensor motion. The alarm would ring only for 2 seconds if it was triggered by the other force like wind or if the fish bite a bait and run away. The alarm would kept ringing if there was a fishing bite bait. I also replaced the spiral screw with the “watch band” , it was adjustable and would be firmly tied on the rod.

The new version would ensure that the fishmen could not get false alarms in the future. The two Led lights allowed  the fishmen to see the position of the rod easily. “the watch band” helped it to be firmly tied to any size of the rods. The new prototype design would work more efficient and solves more fishimen’s problems.

What does the novel shoppers’ umbrella do?

My design of the  fishing bite alarm is successful. My dad likes it and believes it will solve his problem. For this week, I have designed an “innovative product”- the shopper’s umbrella.

The shoppers’ umbrella is an umbrella that’s built to enable shoppers to hold shopping bags of light to moderate weight effectively while navigating the rainy weather conditions.  This made possible by a differently designed shaft, which is equipped with a line of four hooks that are attached to a rectangular handle that is located at the bottom of the shaft.  The hooks on the shoppers’ umbrella design function to hold up to four shopping bags to on one hand, the hand that holds it, to facilitate the use of the other hand to perform actions such as opening doors and opening car doors to get out of the rain. The shoppers’ umbrella user can insert the hand that holds the umbrella through the rectangular aperture that forms the base of the shaft to have a more secure grip particularly with the added shopping bag weight.

As indicated by the name, the shoppers’ umbrella is designed for shoppers. This encompasses majority of the adult population as most will shop at some point. The shoppers’ umbrella like other types of umbrella is used as a sunshade during hot weather conditions, and as protection from the rain in wet weather conditions. The shopper umbrella user therefore enjoys the use of this design in effectively holding their shopping while being shaded from either rain or direct heat from sunlight. The hooks can also be used to simultaneously hold a pet leash for shoppers who are also pet lovers.  Moreover the shoppers’ umbrella hooks are effective in holding the umbrella up to dry after use during rainy weather conditions or during storage. The multi-functional nature of this umbrella design and the functional usefulness makes it a valuable investment for potential users.

The shoppers’ umbrella is a novel umbrella design that is set to revolutionize the shopping experience for its users.  Although there are many umbrella designs in the market, none has been designed to specifically cater for shoppers. While the Backpack umbrella comes close as it’s a carry-on bag with a normal umbrella attached to it, this design however requires that its user make dual purchases of the bag and the umbrella, in order to use it; the shoppers’ umbrella on the other hand is cost effective and practical in its application. Moreover the shoppers’ umbrella canopy design is made with recyclable, flexible material that springs back into form during high winds; its ribs are constructed with fiber glass and not steel ribs, these are easily repairable and expose the users to lesser risks in electrical storms. The shopper’ umbrella has rounded tips to limit accidents  such as poking eyes ,rather than  pointed wire tips as in other umbrella designs.

The shoppers’ umbrella will explore various strategies to reach potential users, such as through in store sales through retailers and wholesaler at shopping spots like malls and online sales through shoppers’ umbrella product website. Customer feedback will be sought through administration of customer survey to buyers by product sales representatives stationed at stores holding the product. The customer survey will be administered via email to customers after a few months of product use. The aim of the customer survey will be to establish the level of customer satisfaction, to understand their needs and build customer loyalty for the shoppers’ umbrella. Thereafter regular customer surveys will be conducted are get product and service feedback.  Inducements such as small gifts and discounts on more than say 1 purchase can be offered to motivate uptake of the surveys by users.

 

Conversation with My Dad

The conversation took place when I went fishing with my dad at Hudson River last Sunday night.

I asked my dad questions at different moments.

Few questions I asked when my dad tried to set the hook and the fishing bite fallen into the river. I heard my dad whispered: “Again？drop again?”  At this moment I asked my dad: “Does the fishing bell often fall into the sea?” My dad replied: “Yes, it is easy to fall off when I set the hook.” “Have you tried to find a way to make it firmly stick on the pole?” I continue asked. “I was thinking to stick it with glue, but I found it is inconvenience to remove.” answered my dad.

Other moment I asked questions was when my dad missed the fishing bite because he did not hear the sound from the rod where was placed far from him. I asked my dad: “Do you feel the sound was hard to be heard?” My dad said: “The sound was not loud enough especially for my age.” “Will the fish scared away if the sound become louder?” I asked. My dad laughed and said: “the sound does not travel well between air and water, the loud sound will be barely noticeable to the fish underwater.”

Another moment I asked my dad questions was when two bells rang at the same time and my dad could not recognize which two rods had fish bites in the dark, until he got really close to see which two bell were shaking. My dad was disappointed because when he spent time on finding out the rod with fish bites, the fish already bit and ran away. I asked my dad: “do you feel the shaking bell is not easy to be seen?” My dad replied: “It is hard to be seen them shaking during the day, to say nothing of the night.

“Do you think the fishing bite bell needs improvement?” I asked. My dad replied without thinking: “Of course it needs to be improved in one day. As you can see, how many time I have missed the fish bites tonight. I bet some others have the same problems as me. Everything in this world are improving, because we all try to make life easier and convenient. I believe this fishing bell will be improved one day by designers.

Through the conversation with my dad, I believed I did find out what the real problem was. I could felt my dad really wanted this fishing bite bell got improved. I also believed my design: fishing alarm with all in one integrated: sound, light and firmly secured would best fit my dad’s needs.

Electronics Mini Design

Electronics Mini Design

I really enjoy my first trial of creating the CAD circuits.  I found it was challenging and interesting. I was struggling with connection. I could not recognize which side I need to connected to  “+”, which side I need to connect to “-“. However,  the electronics lessons on Makerhub website really helped me a lot. Thank Makerhub website for the knowledge about the circuits and how to create basic circuits on Tinkercad.

By following the steps on the website, I created  a parallel circuit by using Arduino board and breadboard. The circuit contains 4 parts (1) two different color of LED lights: red and yellow (2) two different switches: push button and slides switch. (3) two resisters to reduce current flow and (4) a piezo speaker.

Click the flowing link to simulate my design:

MY mini electronic design simulation

or watch the video below to see  simulation experience

New Fishing Alarm Helps Solve My Dad’s and All Anglers’ Problem.

On this Saturday night, I went fishing with my dad. I have observed some moments that would reflected some problems. I saw one fishing bite bell dropped into the sea when my dad set the hook.  I also found that my dad could not hear the bell rang when he stood just a little far away from the fishing rod. The last thing I observed  was that my dad could not recognize which bell rings until he got really close to see the shaking bell. From the observation, I concluded the following problems with the fishing bite bell:

  • The fishing bell was easy to fall off into the sea
  • The bell ring was not loud enough to be hear
  • The fishing bell could not been seen easily

I was questioning the following myself:

  • How might we make the fishing bell be very firmly tied on the rod, so that it won’t fall into the sea?
  • How might we make the fishing bell be easily seen, so the angler can notice which rod has fishing biting right away?
  • How might we make the sound louder, so the angler can hear clearly?

I had brainstorm some possible solutions based on problems I observed.  The following were my ideas about the new fishing bell that I believed fit my father’s and other anglers’ needs and wants:

  • Creating a fishing bell with a spiral screw, so it can be firmly tied on the pole.
  • The fishing bell should have a light on it, so it can be easily seen in the dark
  • The fishing bell can be plug in the alarm feature, so it can be heard by the angler.

The following is my design for the fishing bite alarm on Tinkercad:

:

The red bottom part was LED light with sound feature on it. The little yellow part was a spiral screw, you can twist until it was tied. The silver twin bells were there in case that there was run out of battery for the light and alarm.

I believed my “product” would fit my dad’s and other anlgers’ needs,because it is all in one integrated: sound, light and firmly secured. It helps solve all problems with single product.