Let’s Tool It Up!: Deanna Watson

So far in the journey of this project we picked a topic, learned about it, changed it, and now we are going to be able to physically design it! The M.O.M team is finishing up the design deliverable, and the imagining phase will transition into the tool up phase. The design deliverable is finalizing the final product of the breast pump design. During this process, each of the team members got the chance to design a innovative product and share it with the group to pick a design that will be our product produced.

As in the blog before this one, it was said that the team has finalized a product that will be comfortable with minimal visibility, affordable and hand-free with a good size of milk storage. By putting together what the customers want in a breast pump from the consumer interviews, the design will be equipped to withstand any on the go mom.

The design deliverable is the tracker of what this project has become. It lets the team reflect on how far we have come, from picking a topic to dissect into, to what is now the final step in the brainstorming stage. It shows the problem what we are trying to solve (which is to give a product to women who are becoming mothers but are also involved in the workforce), to the technical background behind the breast pump, and other areas that will be integrated with our designed breast pump. It also shows the design overview, that tells the story of the process of concept selection, and how we arrived to the featured design for our product. Product Design by Mike Baxter, is a book that explains this stage in our brainstorming process. It goes into detail of the concept selection matrix used, and the steps in product design and production.

In the makings of the deliverable, the team had the opportunity to be able to be creative and provide insight in what they felt that the product should look like, and what should be incorporated in with the product. This was something people disagreed on. By this I mean, what someone thought that should be in the design, someone else felt like it should not be. Some thought a concept of a built in breast pump in a bra, that could be separated, was a important feature. Another deciding factor was how the milk should be stored, and how the temperature should be controlled. Many of the concerns was addressed in the makings of the deliverable. At the end, the team made compromises, and came up with a innovative design that was satisfying to every team member.