Design Project day 5

   Our goals for the arcade game was building up tension, challenge, competition and rivalry with a catchy design and put a lot of different holes. Our first goal was achieved because our game was very challenging and it created tension for the students. However, we failed to achieve the other two goals because we were short of time. We weren't able to decorate the arcade with an eyecatching design. We weren't able to put a lot of holes because if we did it, we had to make 5 or more layers and we were short of time. It would have been more fun if we had more holes, but at the end, we just made one hole.
The biggest problem we encountered was finding duct tape to make a sturdier structure. In order to build a strong structure, we had to find strong tape because in our prototype model arcade, we failed building a strong arcade because the weak tape did not support the structure. We first went to the middle school arts room and the high school arts room, but they didn't have the tape. We finally found tape in an art supplies managing room.
Our biggest "AH HA" idea was building a strong ramp that would make the ball roll smoothly. We managed to solve a good slope for the ramp and find good tape to make the ramp. The ball didn't move too fast or too slow, it was just right.
 Rachel resisted our new ideas the most, especially when we were building the hole. Callie and I agreed on making the hole with the radius of 6cms(?) but Rachel insisted on making it bigger. Eventually Rachel agreed with our idea after a vote, but when we actually played the game we regretted the fact that our hole had to be bigger. In conclusion, even though Rachel did not agree with some ideas, her thoughts were right and we would like to apologize (LOL).
The doubts we had during the project was how to make sturdier legs to support the weight of the arcade. After we made the prototype, we decided to use Pringle cans for the legs, which were thick and strong. However, we forgot to bring the materials for the build-the-arcade-day (Callie, eh-hem) so we could not use Pringle cans for the legs. We had to use books from the primary school classroom because we were not able to build the legs. Even though our legs were not expectantly awesome, the books in the classroom made pretty good legs. The stack of books supported the weight, and it didn't make the arcade fall off, and it supported the ramp, too.
The person who played "devil's advocate" was (and we ALL agreed) me, because I kept having doubts whether this idea would work out or not, and even though I believed in my team mates, I suggested on other ideas, like making prizes or making a catchy design and making more holes even though we were short of time. It helped the process because we were thinking while we were building: what would be a better solution? If we put this tape, would there be a stronger structure? Will it attract more kids if we had a better design? Even though they didn't agree with my ideas (we were short of time) we thought more on how to make a better arcade.
I learned that teamwork is extremely important because it is very hard to build this arcade individually. Rachel and Callie had to leave me for 5 minutes to get some materials, and I was left alone. I tried to build some legs and cut some cardboard, but it turned out very hard to think if it would work out. I needed other people's opinions and advice when I was actually building the arcade, but without their help, it turned out worse than building it altogether. Also, building it with all three people would save up more time on building the arcade. If I built it on my own, it would have take more that 3 hours. Also, since everybody has their strong advantage, for example, Callie is good at making and building the structure, and making the arcade stronger, and Rachel is good at decorating and making the arcade prettier, and she was also good at thinking in other people's perspectives. Rachel stood in the perspective of primary school children and thought of the difficulty and the size. I was good at making ideas on how to build the structure. I kept suggesting ideas on how to make the game more fun, and I hoped my contribution helped to make a better product. While I was making the product, I could discover my advantage and what I am strong at. I really liked my group because all three people did the same amount of work, without any major conflicts. No one rested and was lazy while the others were working-we all contributed and helped each other to make a good arcade. I learned that every product, even though it is very popular, has disadvantages that could be fixed. Even though you have a perfect, popular product you should stand on other people's perspectives and put yourself on their shoes. You have to think about the children, the elderly, the businessmen, the students and more to make a successful product. You should always make improvements and come up with new ideas that would make the product better.