Summary
I knew the class activity of combining two products to make one useless one would be tough because we were asked to pick from kitchen products. Now, this task would have been challenging regardless, but when you consider that everything in our kitchens has a purpose, it adds to the difficulty. So, I decided to have a bit of fun and combined my two favorite appliances: my dishwasher and drip coffee maker.
In my mind, and I think in the minds of many others, a machine that produced hot black coffee along with soap and water would be completely useless. Black coffee makes for a poor cleaning solution, and detergent makes for awful coffee. But the professor did to my "useless" device what he did to all others—pointed out its utility. Even without adding coffee beans or soap to my combo device, it would produce hot water, which is pretty useful for getting dishes clean.
I liked that the activity asked me to think outside the box, and it actually sparked a conversation with my friends later that week about product design and utility.
