Make Tools Workshop
For the Make Tools Workshop, we created an object that had something to do with cats. In this workshop, we followed the design process as an entire class. First, we defined a problem that had to do with cats. My group’s problem was feeding cats on time. Next, we ideated a solution for a different problem, which was communicating with cats. We ideated to create a collar that collected and translated a cat’s “meow” in order to understand what the cat was saying. Afterwards, we prototyped the solution of another group which was creating a sensor on the steering wheel to detect if cats (or other animals) we near the vicinity in order to not run them over.
The process was quite challenging given but also made it a collective effort with the process. I felt as if I was part of every step of the process of several different ideas. It helped gain a fresh perspective in each iteration which I think what thinking of the process on your own lacks. Sometimes, you pressure yourself to think about the solutions that you constrain yourself from thinking creatively. This workshop helped to give space for your ideas to breathe. However, I do think iterating through different people’s idea also can also prevent one from thinking of better solutions because one may not understand the problem because of the wording or their intention — which is what our group ran into during the second iteration.