User:Carina
Blog #2
In this blog, I was told to watch a video about the founder of Ideo, read an article about tinkering, and answer some questions.
Video: How to design breakthrough inventions
Article: "The Tinkerers: How corporations kill creativity
Do you feel that you are a tinkerer? Do you know anyone else who is?
I do not think I am a great tinkerer. Most of the time when things break, I would just replace them with new ones, especially for electronics. I do know a friend that would always make good use of her pink tool box whenever she see something broken.
What do you think about the argument regarding the influence of corporate culture on tinkering?
After reading the article, “The Tinkerers”: How corporations kill creativity, I have to agree that corporate culture kills tinkering. It is only logical that corporations would not want people to tinker because it would mean less profit, and even a child can tell you that less profit is bad. The art of tinkering dies fast especially when corporations produce newer items with shorter lifespan. I still remember the days when most people own a Nokia phone. Nokia phones are famous for having a long lifespan. Even if you drop it from Mount Everest, or burn it to ashes, Nokia’s phone will still work (alright, I might have exaggerated a bit, but you get my point). However, companies nowadays, especially in the developed countries, understand that preferences of consumers changes rapidly, so they make good use of this psychological effect and launch products that may only last 3 years instead of the usual 5. Having short lifespan means consumers would need to constantly repair the product (phones for example). The inconveniences would eventually lead consumers to get a new phone instead of trying the repair the phone which would probably break again in the near future.
At the end of the article is the line, "...preserving the habitat of the tinkerer is one of the few time-proven ways we as a nation can get back on track." What do you think about this idea?
I think, to a certain extend, preserving the habit of the tinkerers can get the nation back in track. Tinkering does promote individualism and creativity, which is very important, but it can also create an increase in the number of hackers. There is a fine line between tinkering and hacking, and not all people fully understand it (to be honest, I do not really know the difference either).
What are the primary design principles you took away from the interview?
The primary design principle I took away from the interview is being EMPATHETIC, understanding what people really want. I think that is why he brought people with different backgrounds together. Working with people with different cultures and field of expertise allows ideas to building upon one another, and eventually come up with a product that no one mind can think of.
What did you think when you saw his final project with his daughter?
I thought it is cool that he is building the printer bot with his daughter. I think building a printer is a good project that integrates different fields of engineering. The chip of the machine involves electrical engineering, the structure of the printer requires mechanical skills, importing graphical designs to the printer needs computer science knowledge...... Again, this video reminded me how glad I am taking this 3D printing course right now. Not only am I learning how to build and use a 3D printer, it is also teaching me how to be a tinker. Instead of buying a brand new 3D printer that will cost a fortune, we are improving and fine tuning the old ones. Although there are many frustrations when our group are trying to fix the machine, I believe that we will eventually solve the problem and gain invaluable experience.
Can you think of how some of his principles might apply to our work?
From the video, I have learnt the importance of working as a group, and collaborating with people of different backgrounds and culture. All of my current group members have different major and we are very diverse. It is a good start for me to apply David Kelley’s principle to our work.
Bog #1
Useful
Have you ever got annoyed by people when they keep on asking you how to use the remote, phone, or anything thing else with more than 3 buttons/ keys. This TV Remote Adaptors for Seniors design is useful because it converts the more complicated (with at least 50 buttons/ keys) remote control to a simplified version. The cover is always detachable to access the advanced settings of the remote control.
Artistic/ Beautiful
This replica of Notre-Dame Church of Pairs no doubt impressed me in many ways. The details, size, execution, and accuracy of this model is by far one of the finest I have seen in the Thingiverse website. This 3D printed, multicomponent Notre-Dame Church in Paris, demonstrates the ability of 3D printing machine (in this case UP! 3D printer) to handle complex structure.
Pointless/ Useless
This Ant Coffin is designed to trap an ant. Ants can carry up to 50 times their body weight, and I doubt this ant coffin is heavy enough to trap an ant. It a funny, interesting idea, but practically useless.
Funny/ Weird
Despicable Me is one of my favorite animated movies. And like many, my favorite character is the “Minions”. Though this replica is not perfect and has some distortion here and there, it still make me smile whenever I see it. =]
Scary/ Strange
This Monster model may be an art piece to some, but the sharp teeth and unrecognizable features make me uncomfortable at times.
