WEEK 3

In week 3, we continued on the second phase of ideation to generate even more ideas through the use of SCAMPER for our problem that we hope to solve. We also learn how to use the COWS decision matrix to help us filter out and selecting ideas that are feasible.

💬 What is SCAMPER?

SCAMPER is an acronym that provides a structured way for people to think out of the box and generate new ideas. In ICPD, this acronym helps us build upon the current ideas we have and continue branching them out before deciding on those that are feasible. This opens up more possibilities and breaks past the limits of our own imagination by providing a standardized way of thinking. 

SCAMPER is an acronym formed from:

- Substitute

- Combine

- Adapt

- Modify

- Put to another use

- Eliminate 

- Reverse

💭 What the various acronym means?

Substitute 🔀

Substituting part of the problem/product/process for something else.

Some of the ideas we generated are:

• We thought of how we can change the preservation process into a vacuum style preservation instead of using light emitting diodes as it is another way of preservation many have used and it is common nowadays.

• Instead of using a power outlet source, we thought of using solar panels to power the system as food is usually preserved and kept overnight, thus we believe that this will be good system to implement.

• Instead of using an electrical outlet to power the system, we could use batteries to keep the system wireless and the consumers will not be troubled with all of the loose wires.

Combine ✖

Combining two or more parts of your probortunity (merging of the word “problem” and “opportunity”) to achieve a different product/process or to enhance synergy. 

Some of the ideas we generated are:

• We pondered on how we can utilize the lights we used for the machine for other uses. We thought of using the light emitting diodes to provide a warming effect and light for an individual during nighttime.

• Another idea we thought of is to make use the best of both worlds and combine both vacuum and light to preserve food instead of just a beaming emission of light.

Adapt 💪

Which parts of the problem/product/process could be adapted to remove the probortunity or think how you could change the nature of it. 

Some of the ideas we generated are:

• Instead of using immovable shelves in the column to store food, we can use detachable shelves to make it more portable for the user and it can be placed back into the column whenever needed.

• We could use rechargeable batteries for our system to limit the waste of batteries and cost for consumers. Thus, keeping it wireless yet eco-friendly.

• All the machine to be controlled remotely via Bluetooth instead of controllers which are a hassle.

Modify 🔨

Changing part or all of the current situation, or to distort it in an unusual way.

Some of the ideas we generated are:

• To optimize and utilize the light emission, we can use a reflective metal inside the column instead to maximize it.

• We also thought of using dark tinted glass as the sight glass for the column to trap in light while still having a place to view the contents.

Put to another use 💱

How you might be able to put your current solution/ product/process to other purposes, or think of what you could reuse from somewhere else in order to solve your own probortunity.

Some of the ideas we generated are:

• We thought of instead of preserving cooked food, we can preserve other stuff like organs and medical related items to broaden the use of the product.

Eliminate ❌

What might happen if you eliminated various parts of the product/process/probortunity.

Reverse 🔙

Think of what you would do if part of your probortunity / product / process worked in reverse or done in a different order.

After more brainstorming 💭

During the brainstorming of more ideas using the SCAMPER acronym, we decided to combine the small individual ideas together that we have generated mention above.

We plan on combining:

• Dark tinted glass as the sight glass for the column to trap in light while still having a place to view the contents.

• Reflective metal inside the column to maximize light emission.

• Light emitting diodes can provided warming effect and light for an individual.

Thus, we will combine all of them and we planned to name this combination, design optimization of materials.

Feasibility analysis 🔬

After all the ideation, we have generated a lot of ideas including some that are extremely groundbreaking and others that are not feasible at all. So in order to sieve out the best ideas quickly, we will be looking at each idea and analyzing them on their

• Budget (whether if it will exceed $2000)

• Project Timeline (if it can be done within one semester)

• Technical Feasibility (the difficulty of creating such a product)

• Operational Feasibility 

First and foremost, all ideas that are going to be used MUST be within the budget range of lower or equal to $2000 and the project Timeline must not exceed one semester. those ideas that cannot meet those two requirements will not be considered.

Our analysis are done as such below:

These ideas highlighted in:

• Red - Ideas that are not feasible and are not going to be used.

• Yellow - Ideas that could be feasible but are not going to be used.

• Green - Ideas that are feasible and are going to be used.

Design Decision Matrix 📋

From the Feasibility Analysis Chart, we managed to sieve out 4 good ideas that are feasible to achieve in the time frame, able to keep within budget and also that it is not too difficult for students like us to design and build. All 4 ideas are great however we need to decide on one that we plan on implementing. So to help us decide, we used the decision matrix (COWS) to help us decide on the best idea. After considering, we decided that our criteria for the best idea will be practicability of the product, ease to implement, scalability of the product, benefits to the function of the product and the ease of maintenance, taking on a weightage of 20%, 25%, 10%, 20% and 15% respectively.

From the decision matrix, we found out that the use of batteries is the best idea as it has the highest score among the 4 ideas. Thus, the idea of using batteries instead of a wire shall be implemented in the product that we are planning to design.