The Design Process has Begun – Nelly Contreras (LYNG Bath)

LynG Bath is now taking the steps to start creating the “safe” bathtub. First we need to finish our OSHA classes that we started last week. In order to start creating the bathtub we need to be certified. This week we had to take a small quiz about the rules of the Maker Space. The Maker Space at Ann Richards is a place were we could start design and start doing the construction of our bathtub. My group and I also had a team meeting this week. After getting some feedback from our Design Proposal by our teacher Ms. Miesner we had to re-think a few things for our “safe” bathtub. The first thing we had to really think about is, are we really creating a whole new bathtub? If so, how much money are we going to use to create a whole new design? We started to discussed and we realize that maybe we shouldn’t create a whole new bathtub perhaps we can add to an existing bathtub things that could make it safe. What we wanted to include in our bathtub was the handles, an entrance door to step into the bathtub, the curtain, and the material to prevent slipping. For the curtain we thought that we should add magnets for it could be easier for our customers to use. What we were thinking is adding magnets at different heights just in case someone gets tired of pulling they can take a break and pull the rest of the curtain down to the bathtub. For the material to prevent slipping we are going to use Adobe. Yuvia concern on this was that Adobe was already made and we could be potentially be taking their material and try to make it of our own. We thought about that concern but we realize that adobe is used for house and flooring in South Texas and Mexico, we were using the material a different way so we don’t think we will be taking the idea of their material away. We want to plan to create our own adobe. My father works in construction and he has used adobe before so he is planning on teaching on how to make adobe at home. Ms. Miesner had a concern about how perhaps our customers won’t find adobe really appealing and we know that adobe isn’t the best color but it really works. What we thought we should do is make adding adobe to the bathtub a choice for our customers. If our customer would like to have adobe in their bathtub we are planning on adding the adobe by pouring a thin or thick layer inside the bathtub. Adobe is like cement so it will dry and then it could be put to use. Our ideas keep growing because we have to think outside the box but I believe that we can create a safe bathtub and make affordable for our customers and for us.