[MUSIC] Welcome to the session on design thinking and action. So in this video, we are going to help you run through an actual application of the design thinking framework. And see how you can use to come up with a solution to a problem. A prototype that you can test or several prototypes. Because with 3-D printing, the main benefit is that you can prototype fast and test again. And then finally, you might even be able to come up with a product that you can actually sell. So now to do this, we are going to use a project that one of the teams, who worked with Doctor. In his course called Making Things. They came up with a product that they actually tried. They were successful at selling during the course of 16 weeks that they had in the spring semester. So we have with us one member of the team. Mr. Kevin Hauger, who is an industrial design student and also a guru at the Illinois Maker Lab. So welcome, Kevin and thank you for taking the time to chat with us. >> Yeah, thanks for having me. >> So, could you give us a sense of your background? >> So I'm a senior in industrial design here at U of I. I'm also a guru at the lab, like you said. >> Okay. >> And just a designer in general. I like making things, either with 3D printing, or just a number of things that I can get my hands on. >> So, before we discus the particular project that we are doing to explain the design thinking framework. Just give us a sense of what industrial design is. >> So industrial design is kind of a broad term for product design. And so, I like to tell people that product design kind of then encompasses consumer goods that you would go get at the store. But industrial design is more of encompasses every industry or field, so anything that gets designed, really. So it could be anything from toy design, furniture design to UX design or anything, really. >> So tell us a little bit about what did you make. >> So my team created multiPLY. And multiPLY is a toilet paper attachment that lets you add an extra roll onto your standard toilet paper holder. >> That seems like a great solution for a common problem. So, in the process of identifying the users you're going to work for, or the users you're going to try and help. One of the first stages we constantly emphasize process, so tell us how you applied this part of the frame work. >> For our team, we all had the same issue with roommates not replacing the toilet paper roll. So, we've all experienced it ourself. But it's important at this stage to remember, that you're not always just designing for yourself. You're designing for other users and so, we went out. And we asked a number of people that had roommates or family members that they lived with. And really tried to figure out more about the problem and experiences that they have. >> Once you get a sense of who your users are and perhaps a range of problems that you're looking at. How do you focus and get to one particular problem? Or perhaps, most important problem or the problem that you want to solve and we call that the defined process? Could you talk about that?? >> Yes so for the defining stage, it's really important to narrow down your scope, so you only have a few problems. And so typically what I like to do is, choose the most important problem you're trying to solve. So for in this case, it was the problem that you're in a sticky situation, can't get up, you need a spare roll. So how can we always have the user have a spare roll. >> One of the other thing that also come up is the constraints that we have. So for example in this case, perhaps one of the constraints I just can't get a double sized rows. So, I think that's also important too. As you look at the problems you also identify the constraints that the user has. So once you have the problem identified and you are also looking at the constraints that are applicable to the problem. Then you start thinking about the design alternatives and going towards the prototype phase. Could you talk about how you went through that? >> We initially sketched out ideas on paper. So, we had a number of different ideas out and then, we chose our top two. And then we modeled in a 3D CAD program, similar to Fusion 360. >> Okay. >> And so at that point, we were able to, within a few hours, put them on a 3-D printer and already have our first prototype out. And so that's the great thing about 3-D printing, is because now you already have a fully functional prototype. That you can either take home and test yourself or give to your target market or your users. And have them test and give feedback and so, at this point in the stage, we're able to give it to our users. We let them test it for a few days, and then give us a bunch of feedback. And then we went back to the cabs software and fixed our issues and then, printed it out again. >> So how many prototypes would you have made? >> For our specific product here, we had around 42 prototypes. >> Wow. >> A large number. But it really depends on your timeline and the problem you're trying to solve. And the feedback you get from the user will kind of define how many prototypes you should go through. >> So you were able to do, to make the sketches, design alternatives and prototype and tests all together. With Feedback loop among these three stages, so that's another important point to note. That you may not want to look at these stages as discreet, something that happens one after the other. You might just be doing them in a cycle with a feedback loop from each of these phases. So, you were able to do so many prototypes in a short time feed. Could you take us through sort of the timelines for this process? >> So we spent about a week really, understanding our user needs and researching and talking to the users themselves. And then the next week or so, we spent ideating just on paper. Figuring out, what are some ideas that we could have. And then we jump right in, spend about eight or nine weeks, CAD modeling our products. And then prototyping and testing, getting feedback from the user and then recycling that circle. >> And so all of this was done in the Illinois Maker Lab where we have 3D printers there. And from identifying a problem to design, prototyping, and iterating and even testing. Their team also designed the packaging for the product and the branding. And they were actuallyalso able to sell the product to students in our time frame of 16 weeks. So, that is pretty amazing and I think several other teams in the same course were also able to do that. So that is really a powerful example of how fast this process can proceed given the tools that we now have. >> Exactly. 3D printing has really let anyone become an entrepreneur. Within a day, you can take your idea into a prototype or even a small product that you can sell. So it's pretty great. >> I know you also have your product up on Shapeways. Hopefully, you'll make some money selling that there as well. Thank you for joining us for the session and thank you Kevin for sharing your thoughts. We hope that you have gained a clearer example of design thinking in action. So this is motivating the skills that you will be learning in the software modules and the hardware modules. And you would come back to the design thinking process again, to apply that in the caption as well, thank you. [MUSIC] [SOUND]
