The five things I know for sure now:
1.The most difficult part of the course has been the design challenge.
2. Being paired with design students is wonderful. They are artists with skills I appreciate. I am a clunky sketcher and they are smooth.
3. Learning CAD design is hard stuff. But, being able to pull up a section of a drawing of a rectangle to instantly create a roof is really cool.
4. The Maker book is really well written and entertaining. I bought the hard copy, the Kindle version and the audible book.
5. The Jump creative process is an interesting ideation method for product development. I find it refreshing that it starts with empathy.
My unique take on the experience is that it is experiential learning. It involves learning new software, constructing designs, reading articles and books, meeting with a group in brainstorming sessions,sharing insights and following a vision with segments of the steps presented on a just-in-time fashion.
The design challenge has required me to look for books about sketches in art stores and watch inadequate tutorials for Sketchup. If you have only drawn stick figures throughout life, quickly learning to design in a highly advanced CAD program is like learning how to play concert No. 2 in F minor as the first introduced to a piano. At least for me. To overcome this challenge, I practiced the videos over and over. I wish Lynda.com took on Sketchup.There is too mucha assumption in the tutorials about the level of the person using the software. This product screams for a 101 level video tutorial. Bring on Sketchup for Dummies!
My strengths are research and writing. I bring to the group many different resources and information about containers to help spark ideas. Ideation is a strength I am developing as I search for inspiration for this project.
