#ideation phase

As I predicted last week, this week was very busy for me. I spent most of my time modeling, rendering, and drawing laser cuts.

Things I have done this week:

1. Create 3D modeling and rendering 

2. Draw the drawings for laser cutting

3. Explore the color palette for the cards

Reflection/Thoughts on what I have done based on Rolfe et al's (2001) reflective model( What? So What? Now What?):

What?

I modeled it based on the paper prototype I made earlier and the concept drawings. Modeling is a better area for me, so I'm glad it wasn't too difficult. I had trouble making the wave pattern though, the wave pattern I started with was more like flower petals than waves, they were too regular in shape. I tried to draw the waves in different curves, but they didn't have enough roundedness, and they appeared too sharp in some places. It didn't look good either, so I spent a lot of time adjusting the curves before I finally got it to look satisfactory. For the rendering, I chose the same materials as I decided to use for my final prototype: light blue acrylic for the wave pattern and pure white acrylic for the body of the pinball game.

So What?

After I made the model, I started making drawings for laser cutting. I had made laser cuts and drawn them before and had a little experience, but that was two years ago, and this prototype being made now is much more complex than the one made two years ago. So I spent a lot of time watching tutorial videos, tweaking them repeatedly. Still, since my pinball game machine is more complex than a regular structure, I wonder if my drawings are entirely accurate. There's a considerable chance that the final machine will have some modeling gaps or places that don't fit perfectly, so I will be prepared for the worst. At first, I was going to use 16mm pinballs. Still, I realized that if I scaled them up to this size, the total length of the actual prototype would be 63cm, which was much bigger than I expected, and I didn't think it would be suitable, so I decided to use 10mm pinballs instead, which is the smallest size I've seen on the market. If I follow this scale for the holes in the pinball game machine and enlarge the game machine in equal proportions, the total length of the actual prototype would be around 40 cm, which was bigger than I expected at the beginning. Still, it was a relative fit compared to 63 cm.

With that done, I started looking for a suitable color palette for my cards. As my topic is sustainable fish breeding, and as the fish I started with is predominantly salmon, and it is salmon that is the popular commercial fish that is facing the crisis of unsustainability, I chose the salmon color scheme for my palette, which is the combination of light pink and light orange.

Now What?

The experience of making laser-cut drawings made me realize that the technique I chose to use in the first place was actually very challenging and that if I were to re-conceptualize the idea of a prototype, I probably wouldn't make the same pinball game machine again, because figuring out the structure and drawing each layer in detail was just more complicated and time-consuming than I thought it would be. I was in an irritable mood while I was working on the drawings, and even after I was done, I was worried because I was afraid that the physical prototype I made according to my drawings would be too different from what I expected. If there is a next time, I will prioritize my best skills so that there won't be so much uncertainty, and it will save a lot of time.

Next week, I will start using Illustrator to refine the card sketches I made earlier and draw the icon stickers that will be placed on the pinball game machine.

Reference:

The University of Edinburgh. (2020, January 30). What? So what? Now what? The University of Edinburgh. https://www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-toolkit/reflecting-on-experience/what-so-what-now-what

Driscoll, J. (1994) Reflective practice in practise. Senior Nurse 13 (7): 47–50.

Borton, T.(1970) Reach Touch and Teach: Student Concerns and Process Education. 

This week is still a prototype week for me. I have received a lot of helpful feedback from my peers and tutors about my paper prototype.

Things I have done this week:

1. Peer Review

2. Continue Prototyping/Drawing out the tracks for the pinball game

3. More prototypes based on the tutor and peers' feedback 

Reflection/Thoughts on what I have done based on Rolfe et al's (2001) reflective model( What? So What? Now What?):

What?

Last week, I finished my paper prototype, and this week, I took it to school, where my tutor and classmates gave me helpful advice based on what I have done so far. One of my classmates told me that she thought my idea was very creative, and the pinball game was very playable and could be linked to my HMW statement well. Still, there was a lack of explanation, and it was hard for her to figure out the meaning of the icons next to each hole in the pinball game when she was playing it without any extra explanations from me, so she suggested that I should either make some cards or prepare some notes to be used for explaining the meaning of each icon to make my idea more straightforward. My tutor advised me to add some Māori elements to the card, such as Māori fishing traditions, ceremonies held before going to sea, honoring the sea, etc. These can be summarised and added in the form of a story on the back of the card to increase the connection between my prototype and the Māori community so that players can learn about how Māori support sustainable fish breeding in their traditional way through playing the pinball game, which will also be more relevant to my HMW statement as I mentioned "Tiakitanga", it needs me to focus on Māori form of protection of the sea, fish, ecological balance.

So What?

Based on the suggestions I've gathered, I continued the prototyping. I drew a more complete pinball track in Illustrator based on my previous paper prototyping and marked in detail the location of each hole and the icon stickers next to the holes, the location of the start and end points, the turntable, and the location of the slips on the turntable so that it will be more accessible for me to draw up a drawing for the laser cut to be made later.

I have also drawn some cards to explain the meaning of each sticker icon. I have currently decided to explain the icon on the front of the card and use the back to introduce Maori traditions of supporting sustainable fish breeding, the cards I have drawn so far are just rough drafts, I will use Illustrator to refine them further and print them out to make them easier to read for my target audience.

Now What?

Through making paper prototypes, I realized that when we designers design prototypes and solutions, we should not only focus on their appearance and playability but also on their practicality, which is far more critical than any other elements, and failing to let the target users feel the deep meaning of the product is a design failure. Although I've made a lot of progress so far, my final prototype is quite complex, and there's still much to do. And I can't afford to slack off in the next few days, I need to get a rough model of the prototype built as soon as possible and start working on the drawings for the laser cutting, the next week will be hectic.

Reference:

The University of Edinburgh. (2020, January 30). What? So what? Now what? The University of Edinburgh. https://www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-toolkit/reflecting-on-experience/what-so-what-now-what

Driscoll, J. (1994) Reflective practice in practise. Senior Nurse 13 (7): 47–50.

Borton, T.(1970) Reach Touch and Teach: Student Concerns and Process Education. 

This has been a very productive week for me. I identified the pinball game as the idea I'd eventually use for development and started with the paper prototype.

Things I have done this week: 1. Material Research 2. Idea Sketches 3. Paper Prototype

Reflection/Thoughts on what I have done based on Rolfe et al' s(2001) reflective model(What? So What? Now What?):

What? After deciding what I wanted to make, I did some research on materials. I initially chose to use laser cutting to create the final object, as our school fab lab makes it easy to make laser cuts. I just needed to get the drawings drawn up. Thankfully, I had experience with laser cutting and drawing up sketches before this and knew what to do. I investigated all standard materials for laser cutting, such as acrylic, PVC, and cork. The cork would have been the most accessible material for the final product because it is more common in the fab lab, and most students use it to make laser cuts. But, I preferred PVC and acrylic because they are more aesthetically pleasing. I want my final product to be playable and visually attractive.

So What? After getting some initial ideas of the materials I might use, I started to map out my ideas based on some existing pinball games I found. In my vision, the pinball game I was making would be different in appearance from most pinball games on the market and had to be unique enough. I made the main shape of the game circular (the general shape of which was inspired by my biscuit box) and added two layers of wave patterns around the edges to simulate the marine ecosystem. I considered using blue translucent acrylic for this part to simulate waves better. I designed the rough track of the game with some traps (holes) and a turntable on the track to add playability and fun. I wanted to create the pinballs in the shape of a fish. Still, the shape of a fish is not a regular circle, so if I made the pinballs exactly in the shape of a fish, they would not be able to roll on the track. So I considered adding some fish elements to the pinballs, such as scales and the representative color of the fish. I also want to add some stickers/patterns next to those holes to represent factors not conducive to sustainable fish breeding, such as overfishing and too high seawater temperatures, so that the player can simulate the fish while playing and avoid those dangerous areas to reach the end. I considered using pure white acrylic as the material for the main body of the game, as I thought it would look better with blue acrylic.

Based on my sketches, I made the paper prototype in the fab lab.

It's a rough paper prototype, I just modeled the general shape with a paper shell and drew the track and the pattern next to the hole with a black pen, but it's a good process. Materializing the idea helped me better understand what the final physical object would look like, and it's more intuitive for the tutors to understand and give me suggestions based on that.

Now What? One thing that I lacked consideration for was production funding. The realization came after I finished the paper samples. Because I envisioned the pinball game to be at least thirty centimeters in total length, it should cost quite a bit if it is all acrylic. Although I have not researched the price, my intuition tells me it won't be cheap because it's not small. If I can't afford to go all acrylic, I should look for both strong, aesthetically pleasing, and cost-effective alternatives. Next week, I will build the 3D model and then work out the details from the model so that I can make laser-cut drawings after that.

Reference:

The University of Edinburgh. (2020, January 30). What? So what? Now what? The University of Edinburgh. https://www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-toolkit/reflecting-on-experience/what-so-what-now-what

Driscoll, J. (1994) Reflective practice in practise. Senior Nurse 13 (7): 47–50.

Borton, T.(1970) Reach Touch and Teach: Student Concerns and Process Education.