Could you reflect on your prototype? What were some strengths? What needs refinement?

  • The candy machine looked just as the model planned, and the controller in the middle that controls the number of fallen candies was successful. The middle part was the hardest to make because I had to think of a way to make the lever able to pull and control the height of the top and bottom parts so that the space left for the lever was not too squished and not too empty. At first, I stuck the wrong pieces together, causing the whole candy machine to be in the wrong dimensions, but luckily I realized my mistakes in the last class and refined my product.
  • two places needed refinement, the first was the track where the candy falls down, and the second was the connections between each section of the candy machine. Due to time reasons, I rushed through making the track and ended up sticking it the wrong way onto the candy machine. This causes the track to face the side when it should be up-right. Due to the track’s failure, the candy machine didn’t meet the success criteria. The other problem is the connections between pieces. I cut out all my details according to how they will successfully join together but didn’t consider how the parts would be conjoined. This causes my final product to have used both hot glue and clay for the stabilizing use.

Outline the feedback from peers. Share some changes you will make as a result of this feedback.

  • During the first few classes, when I started making my product, I considered using a round tube for the track on the bottom, but many of my plans didn’t work. The design teachers gave me some ideas, and I used a wire. Because wires are flexible and can be shaped into the shape I want quickly. This helped improve the model by lots, even though it failed.
  • Because my product wasn’t finished before the last peer feedback, others didn’t get to actually see my design made. This limits the input I got, but there was one that I thought was really helpful. A peer reflected that only making the track with wires might be complex and too slippery and cause the candies to fall off. I took their suggestion and placed clay over the tracks to ensure the candy didn’t fall off on the way down.