Early stage product design process : a case study of an educational building kit
Name
1020073086-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
3.91 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
71af82e7e63ec60ee4aa27081505a80a
Author(s)
Alper, Natalie B
Advisor(s)
Maria Yang.
Alternative Title
Case study of an educational building kit
Date Issued
2017
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
A Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) kit for the assembly of a lamp was created to encourage children's interest in mechanical and electrical engineering. To ensure the lamp was intuitive and fun to use, user testing was conducted. As the user interface (UI) for the lamp was designed and developed, tests were conducted with users using a variety of prototypes ranging from paper, cardboard, and plastic to PowerPoint storyboards on the computer. By incorporating user testing throughout the process of identifying possible button layouts as well as proper lamp proportions, a final intuitive UI with a single panel of buttons was converged upon. This UI utilized one button to switch through the four possible light modes instead of having a separate button for each mode. This UI will be employed in a future prototype that will be further tested with children in the intended age range. These tests will utilize 3D printed pieces for the base and buttons, and will incorporate all the PCBs and LEDs that are intended for use in the final product.
Description
Thesis: S.B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2017.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (page 35).
Subjects
Mechanical Engineering.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
Terms of Use
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