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Innovation 101 E4: Prototyping & Testing - Physical Products

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    You've got an idea, and you want
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    to see what people think of it.
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    You need to make a prototype
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    because you need to test that idea and see
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    if it's actually a good idea or if you
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    need to go back to the drawing board.
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    To make a physical prototype,
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    you need to start with a sketch.
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    You need to take that idea from your head
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    down into pencil and paper.
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    It doesn't matter if you can't draw.
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    I can't personally.
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    But you need to get that idea
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    out and onto something tangible.
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    Then you're ready to start making a 3D
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    model to make your physical prototype.
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    If you can't 3D model, that's actually
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    not really a problem these days.
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    You can find someone who can team up
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    with them and get a basic model out.
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    But don't spend too long on it because you
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    need to get to the next stage fast,
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    and that is making the actual prototype.
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    You can take a 3D model and convert it
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    into a file for 3D printing very easily,
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    leave it overnight, and come back to an
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    actual 3D print, which you can then test.
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    This is the most important part.
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    You need to test it quickly and thoroughly
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    and then go back and iterate on your
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    design and repeat this process
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    till you're happy with it.
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    But if you get further down the process
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    and find out you need to change something,
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    it's a lot more difficult.
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    So, don't be afraid of failure early on.
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    You want to test things as much as
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    possible and then iterate on that idea
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    till you're happy with it.
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    I'm an industrial designer,
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    and as an industrial designer,
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    we're very interested in testing
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    prototypes for a number
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    of different reasons.
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    I've got some examples here of how
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    we've run through a project.
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    This is a pair of glasses we designed,
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    and the first prototype is a low-quality
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    FDM print, which is
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    formed deposition modeling.
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    We've done this to check the physical
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    appearance and the scale of the design.
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    Once we're happy with that, we'll move to
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    an SLS. This is a selective laser sintering.
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    It's made of nylon.
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    In this instance,
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    people are actually wearing the glasses,
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    so we're interested in how they flex and
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    feel and how the lenses snap in and out.
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    It's more expensive, but a higher quality.
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    We then want to check some
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    of the mechanical function.
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    In this instance, we've gone to a SLA,
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    a resin process with SLS hinges,
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    and we're checking the tolerance
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    in between the parts and to make sure
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    that the mechanical functions right.
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    We've then moved to a low-quality
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    prototype tool where we've injected actual
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    polymers into the mold to check how
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    the material affects the design.
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    Finally, these are the final production
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    glasses, which is, again,
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    injection molded, but in a high-quality
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    production tool and brings all
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    the elements that were designed together.
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    Really, when you're testing a prototype,
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    you really want to test it to failure.
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    You want to know where your design or
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    idea doesn't work and not where it works.
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    Often, I'll see people test
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    a prototype and say, Isn't it great?
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    It does all these things,
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    but they're ignoring and the inherent
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    floor, which will bring you undone
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    if you don't expose it early.
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    In the boating scenario,
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    that's making a boat and testing it
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    until it fails,
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    working out how many people can you put
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    in it before it capsizes,
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    trying to drop test and break them.
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    For us, we build these things,
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    which are smart helmets.
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    We destroyed heaps of them.
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    These are made 3D printing and CNC
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    milling, and we just got them out there,
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    test the user interfaces,
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    and destroyed them.
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    Often, we miss the user
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    experience of our products.
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    A great way to get that out there is just
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    to give your product as a prototype
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    to lots of just regular people.
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    They'll give you honest feedback,
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    whether it all makes sense or not.
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    Often when you're beginning your idea,
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    you want to put all the greatest functions
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    into it, but it's really about
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    time and getting to market fast.
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    What you need to do is draw all
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    the functions and features that you have
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    in your product, put red lines through
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    the ones that don't have to be there
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    in the first one,
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    and make it finished, not perfect.
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    There's a first time for everything,
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    and we're still testing this series.
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    If you could leave some comments
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    and suggestions, it'd be really
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    helpful for us to improve the program..
Title:
Innovation 101 E4: Prototyping & Testing - Physical Products
Description:

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Video Language:
English
Team:
BYU Continuing Education
Project:
GSCI-031(BYUIS)
Duration:
04:02

English subtitles

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