Design thinking for innovation

Peer graded Assignment : Reflection

Visualization Tool

Challenge & Selection      I am currently a mechatronics engineering student and Visualization is a great tool that I use often to  convey an idea for a project. I work with my team members for various events and projects and we have  to convey our ideas effectively in order for it to be understood by all the team members. So the main  challenge here is to convey the idea for the given problem statement generated by each members of  the team and to arrive at the best possible solution with collaboration of each others ideas. This was  particularly used in my teams participation in ROBOCON event, where we have to make a bot based on  the given problem statement. This kind of team work in idea generation and engineering designing,  Visualization is a great tool which can provide a deeper understanding of the idea we are proposing.  When visualising such ideas, the communication between team members becomes more effective and  the better understanding of the prototype makes the final product reach its best potential. As I was the  team lead for the project, I made sure that the work suited for each person is given to them based on  their personas(which is also a design tool) and the main challenge to be tackled with Visualisation is in  the Ideation phase of this bot. I thought the best way to align all the team members towards a common  problem statement is to make them visualize the solution and bring out their ideas in form of visual  medias as it its very effective in engineering. The primary challenge is to bring out the ideas from the  team members(Brain storming) in form of visual tools(using projective techniques).     Application      The Visualization tool is applied during the ideation phase of this project. Although this tool is very  effective that it was used almost in all the phases of this project ,I am going to mention the application  of this particular tool in the ideation phase. Initially when the problem statement was given, I asked all  the team members to think of a solution and brainstorm ideas. We used various brain storming  methods to get as many ideas as possible. But to bring out the ideas my team members have in their  mind in such a way that can be understood by all other team members, I asked them to speak out their  solution (their idea of how the robot should look and work like).But that was clearly not easily  understandable by all the team members and resulted in confusion. So the I asked them to draw their  solutions in a paper(which is projective design tool, which falls under the category of visualisation tool)  and they presented their ideas in form of drawing and flow charts. This brought out the ideas they had  in their head and enabled others to visualise the solutions and enabled them to have a peek into each  others mind .As we moved across the ideation phase, paper drawings was the main tool of  communication between the team members. I even presented a visual 2d drawing of the robot which I  made from finding some common ideas from all the brainstormed drawing from the team members .As  we moved on to next phase of calculating the stresses and forces on particular parts of our design,  Visualisation tool proved to be very helpful in understanding the design we have arrived at and to find  the potential problems in it. We have simulated 3d models of our model and even visualised the force  analysis for the bot with the help of CAD software tools. However this may be regular steps in the  engineering design process, this is to emphasise the role played by Visualization tool in bringing all the  team members to a common platform of finding solution while retaining each others creative ideas

without losing the originality and individuality of each other. So this way I have used Visualisation tool in  that project and formed a working model based on these initial processes.     Insight & Approach      Well, I learnt that visualisation can really help in bringing out the spontaneous ideas of team members.  The rapid ideation sketches made by them gave a lot of ideas to each other which in turn contributed to  the overall better idea generation. Also storytelling was used in some parts to convey the overall sense  of the robot we are planning to make .When I made a story to illustrate the kind of process it does,  everybody in the team actually got a sense of working towards a greater need and the story which  incorporated the various movements and motions of the robot actually made them visualize models.  This shows how story telling and Visualization can work hand in hand. Various visualisations from each  other have significantly influenced each others mind and it indeed inspired them to think of more  diverse solutions. There were some moments where we have got an idea completely out of blue  visualised by team members. I think such new ideas were born out from previous brainstorming  sessions using Visualization tool. Projective techniques and Visualisation tools have given the leverage  of making ideas easily understandable even when people are from different streams.      This course made me see this as a tool in a new way. When I've done it before it was really "ad hoc," but  now I can prepare ahead and think of projective tools and Visualisation techniques that will assist me in  presenting my ideas and best illuminate them and to work better in a team with utmost collaboration  with people from different streams and backgrounds.      I have a engineering background, but I want to pursue designing in future. This course has been an eye  opener on various back end processes happening in designing processes, and has informed me about  various techniques and tools, some of which might be used by us unknowingly, but now can be used  with objective goals and clear intentions and a better understanding of such tools. I am so very grateful  for this course as this has bee very helpful for initiating design thinking in our brains!


Design thinking for innovation Peer graded Assignment : Reflection Visualization Tool Challenge & Selection I am currently a mechatronics engineering student and Visualization is a great tool that I use often to convey an idea for a project . I work with my team members for various events and projects and we have to convey our ideas effectively in order for it to be understood by all the team members . So the main challenge here is to convey the idea for the given problem statement generated by each members of the team and to arrive at the best possible solution with collaboration of each others ideas . This was particularly used in my teams participation in ROBOCON event , where we have to make a bot based on the given problem statement . This kind of team work in idea generation and engineering designing , Visualization is a great tool which can provide a deeper understanding of the idea we are proposing . When visualising such ideas , the communication between team members becomes more effective and the better understanding of the prototype makes the final product reach its best potential . As I was the team lead for the project , I made sure that the work suited for each person is given to them based on their personas(which is also a design tool ) and the main challenge to be tackled with Visualisation is in the Ideation phase of this bot . I thought the best way to align all the team members towards a common problem statement is to make them visualize the solution and bring out their ideas in form of visual medias as it its very effective in engineering . The primary challenge is to bring out the ideas from the team members(Brain storming ) in form of visual tools(using projective techniques ) . Application The Visualization tool is applied during the ideation phase of this project . Although this tool is very effective that it was used almost in all the phases of this project , I am going to mention the application of this particular tool in the ideation phase . Initially when the problem statement was given , I asked all the team members to think of a solution and brainstorm ideas . We used various brain storming methods to get as many ideas as possible . But to bring out the ideas my team members have in their mind in such a way that can be understood by all other team members , I asked them to speak out their solution ( their idea of how the robot should look and work like).But that was clearly not easily understandable by all the team members and resulted in confusion . So the I asked them to draw their solutions in a paper(which is projective design tool , which falls under the category of visualisation tool ) and they presented their ideas in form of drawing and flow charts . This brought out the ideas they had in their head and enabled others to visualise the solutions and enabled them to have a peek into each others mind .As we moved across the ideation phase , paper drawings was the main tool of communication between the team members . I even presented a visual 2d drawing of the robot which I made from finding some common ideas from all the brainstormed drawing from the team members .As we moved on to next phase of calculating the stresses and forces on particular parts of our design , Visualisation tool proved to be very helpful in understanding the design we have arrived at and to find the potential problems in it . We have simulated 3d models of our model and even visualised the force analysis for the bot with the help of CAD software tools . However this may be regular steps in the engineering design process , this is to emphasise the role played by Visualization tool in bringing all the team members to a common platform of finding solution while retaining each others creative ideas without losing the originality and individuality of each other . So this way I have used Visualisation tool in that project and formed a working model based on these initial processes . Insight & Approach Well , I learnt that visualisation can really help in bringing out the spontaneous ideas of team members . The rapid ideation sketches made by them gave a lot of ideas to each other which in turn contributed to the overall better idea generation . Also storytelling was used in some parts to convey the overall sense of the robot we are planning to make .When I made a story to illustrate the kind of process it does , everybody in the team actually got a sense of working towards a greater need and the story which incorporated the various movements and motions of the robot actually made them visualize models . This shows how story telling and Visualization can work hand in hand . Various visualisations from each other have significantly influenced each others mind and it indeed inspired them to think of more diverse solutions . There were some moments where we have got an idea completely out of blue visualised by team members . I think such new ideas were born out from previous brainstorming sessions using Visualization tool . Projective techniques and Visualisation tools have given the leverage of making ideas easily understandable even when people are from different streams . This course made me see this as a tool in a new way . When I 've done it before it was really " ad hoc , " but now I can prepare ahead and think of projective tools and Visualisation techniques that will assist me in presenting my ideas and best illuminate them and to work better in a team with utmost collaboration with people from different streams and backgrounds . I have a engineering background , but I want to pursue designing in future . This course has been an eye opener on various back end processes happening in designing processes , and has informed me about various techniques and tools , some of which might be used by us unknowingly , but now can be used with objective goals and clear intentions and a better understanding of such tools . I am so very grateful for this course as this has bee very helpful for initiating design thinking in our brains !