One skill that I was able to develop extensively during the course of the DT Project was researching. My product type wasn’t an easy one to find information on, as it is something that is usually manufactured by large corporations and not an IGCSE student.

Inspiration was a valuable piece of research for the development of my product. In the early stages of my planning process, I would look up existing products and note features that I thought could work with what I had in mind. They were often manufactured out of material I couldn’t get my hands on in a DT workshop and had crazy technical specifications, not to mention how too much inspiration can be plagiarism. But overall, the research I found helped teach me more about a product that I had little knowledge on beforehand.

I also had to make sure I had credible information on the types of material I could potentially use for my product. I needed to ensure that they worked with my specifications. In particular, I need to be sure that the material the product would be constructed out of would be non-toxic, as the product could not pose any threat to the safety of my sister. Research also proved to be useful for understanding the workshop processes for putting together my product.

After my product was completed, I made sure to evaluate it to see what was good about it and what could be improved. I mainly used my specifications and client feedback to do this, as well as adding my own judgement.

When evaluating, one has to make sure that they are able to point out positive aspects of their work, even if they are disappointed with the outcome, as well as being able to assess it critically if they are happy with the way it looks. I leaned towards the latter, as I liked the way it turned out. I thought it looked very similar to my original vision and had improved upon it in some aspects. However, there are many things about it that I wish I could have changed and there were parts that didn’t meet my specification points. One of these was how it was too big to be stored as the stem was longer than intended. I came to this conclusion by testing it in its intended storage area.

Testing the product in its intended environment.

Something else I would have liked to change was the brightness of the LEDs. When I tested the product in its intended environment, as shown, I felt that the lights were too bright and could potentially be a disturbance. I plan to change this in the future by changing the battery to one of a lower voltage.

Testing helped me to decide whether the final product met certain criteria, for example, if it weighed the desired weight. I was able to test this on the weighing scale. Much of testing also relied on how it appeared visually and twisting or turning certain parts, for example, the looseness of the microphone component.

Drawing has never been a strong point of mine. So when I was informed that I would have to put pencil (and coloured pencils) to paper for several ideas of designs for my final product, I wasn’t too thrilled about it. However, I would say that the experience has helped me improve in the areas I was once weak in.

Coming up with ideas largely required the use of creativity. I had to come up with ideas that were child-friendly, had no edges or sharp corners and suitable for the function of my product. I had a lot of inspiration, particularly from existing products. I also paid attention to the things my client had an interest in. Her interest in gardening is mostly the reason the product is the shape of a flower.

Some parts of my drawing process required the use of stencils. I used them mainly to draw circles and ellipses as drawing those shapes by hand would not result in smooth enough lines. Measurement also had to be detailed and reasonable (I found myself using rulers to measure thin air to try and see what measurements would work). This part of the project also taught me how to render and colour my drawings properly, which would have been useful for the exam and is helpful for many future designing opportunities.

In my last post, I focused on the skills of CAD/CAM and what they contributed to my DT coursework. However, the project required the use of several skills to make an eligible final product.

The skill I would like to highlight in this post is prototyping. For the C4 section of my coursework, I was required to make prototypes of what I envisioned my product to look like. Mine were made out of cardboard. These helped me to understand what aspects of my chosen design were compatible with my product requirements and what parts I needed to change. I realised that the head was aesthetically pleasing to look at and required little change. However, the base of my product needed to change drastically in order to fit my circuit. I also picked up the idea of having a bending stem, similar to that of a flower.

This part of the coursework in particular taught me about flexibility and adaptability of design. I learned not to be afraid to change my ideas and to polish my ideas so that they were the best they could possibly be. It also taught me to perhaps think ahead while envisioning designs, taking into account the product’s function and what’s it’s supposed to achieve.

Throughout the two years of the IGCSE course, my DT project was arguably the one piece of coursework I spent the most time and effort on. Although unforeseeable circumstances will likely affect how (or if) it is graded, I have moved past my initial disappointment to recognise the value of the skills I acquired from the project.

I believe one of the most important and difficult skills I picked up was learning CAD, or Computer Aided Design. The bulk of this was done on Autodesk Fusion 360, which I had only used minimally before. Hence, most of my time throughout my coursework was spent trying to present technical skills through 3D renders of my product. I would often spend hours trying to get the right dimensions, downloading the right components from 3dcontentcentral (a real life saver!) and designing other parts correctly.

In the end, I was able to do it and I’m quite proud of the way it turned out. I think that it represents a solution to the problem in a suitable design. It also shows my technical skills through my ability to represent a solution before the physical product was constructed, as well as my ability to render photos.