Aquadio : wearable product development

Abstract

Aquadio was a product design project started by a group former 2.009 students who wanted to continue learning through doing - we were interested in running our own learning experience by designing our own product. The team was organized like a start-up, using a top-down organizational structure and breaking up our team into a number of sub-teams. We started with an idea following a nominal product development process, were able to research and interview enough users to convince ourselves and others that our idea was feasible and useful. Throughout the project we honed our electrical, mechanical, software, and integration skills as a team. The product, called Aquadio, was device designed to help competitive swim teams train smarter by providing real time information and feedback to coaches and swimmers. By the end of the term we had successfully been through two iterations of our product. This work documents these design iterations and what was learned about industrial design, printed circuit board design, software user interface design, and integrating all three of these aspects. Further, through the course of the project, we justified our design decisions with responses from real world users. Finally the thesis reflects on the process that was followed. Overall, the design process we used throughout the semester was successful. The hardware challenge of creating a wearable was successfully executed - we were able to match the size constraints swimmers needed with our electronics and mechanical components. However, it was realized that electrical and mechanical design should have been more tightly coupled, and a stronger focus placed on industrial design at the earlier stages of the project. Additionally we underestimated the importance and the amount of time required to integrate all device systems for a working alpha prototype.