1.0 INTRODUCTION
This age is the age of science because of so many inventions that making the world smaller day by day. Nowadays, each of us tends to finish a certain task in a simple way like as just rely on the materials that have been provided through the internet but this is not going to help us in the long run. For this reason, we have to develop our creativity level which is really very important for the new generation. There are many ways to learn how to be creative but among all of this, we have one strong approach which is design thinking. Design thinking is that kind of process which helps us to understand better while solving problems. With the help of the design thinking method, students can easily do many tasks within the different dimensions and increase the level of their thinking skills. Design thinking produces comprehensive visualizations of future alternatives allowing from interaction and feedback. Furthermore, this can help us by producing the clear vision out of so many problems and it also helps us to learn organizing everything. In addition, it gives us the opportunity to show our knowledge in front of the world by creating the prototype. A prototype is not an easy thing that can show up everywhere. So, we have to boost up our own idea because it is an integral part of our process.
2.0 Detail steps and description, evidence for each phase
4.0 ASSESMENT POINT
In the process of design thinking, the assessment point of the project is a vital piece because we have to evaluate our project whether the system solves the problem or not. The assessment point usually happens during the end of the demonstration and during the transition between design thinking phases. Details of assessment during the transition between design thinking are shown in Figure 1.
FIGURE 1
Throughout the stages of design thinking, we would assess our progress before we forward it to the next stage. This is because we have to ensure that we still stay on the track to solve our problem. The last assessment point was done during the end of the project demonstration which we need to obtain some feedback from our clients so that we can do some improvements to our prototype. After we showed our prototype to our clients, we received some suggestions which they hope that the connection between the Wi-Fi and laptop can be more stable when they are charging the laptop. Hence, the assessment point helps us to have good communication between our group and our clients to make sure that we achieve the requirements.
3.0 Detail description include problem, solution and team working
Problem
In this modern era, everyone is using a laptop regularly for so many purposes such as education, business, etc. The laptop is built in the sense that we can carry it easily everywhere. But many frequent laptop users find one common problem which is the charging issue. For example, sometimes they went outside with their laptop to work for a long time and then suddenly the battery goes down. After that, they have to find a power supply to connect the charger as soon as possible. Though we use laptops more than desktops because the laptop is more convenient when the charging part comes it becomes the worst thing ever because sometimes there is no electric supply for laptops in public places when needed the most. Although, we are using laptops for the easy carrying part which is really user-friendly and it doesn’t need a huge space like a desktop. One of the big problems is, when we are outside we cannot take the whole power supply. On the other hand, there are many laptops which are very light in weight so that we can carry but the charger is always so heavy. Among the majority of the entire interviews, people think that there should be a secondary charging issue for laptops.
Solution
For the charging issue, we come up with a secondary charging idea by taking help from design thinking method. Our solution is, there should be a wireless charging system by using wireless connection which is Wi-Fi. We planned to put our device (LASEC) inside the motherboard of the laptop and also inside the router. The router will work as a sender and the device which will attach with the motherboard will work as a receiver so that the battery can be charged without wire. The user can use this second charging device anytime, especially when the battery is running low and there is no power supply, then they can just charge the battery by connecting with Wi-Fi. In this way, any user doesn’t have to think about carrying the charger everywhere and no need to afraid of the low battery issue. In addition, this secondary charging method is very efficient because of its user-friendly. On the other hand, the truth is, the user will buy that kind of product which can provide more features.
Team working
For this part, we think that design thinking is the best way to learn something new. In every sphere of life, teamwork is the most needed thing but without any knowledge about how to cooperate within the team, it will be hard for anyone to go ahead. So, design thinking method helps us to learn about teamwork properly. In our team, we always worked as a group and we enjoyed ourselves a lot. Our team is very alive because of different cultures and different ways of thinking. While making our whole project, we had a lot of meetings and we faced many things like supporting each other, kidding with each other, etc. Though we have some ups and downs we can say that we are one team at the end of the day.
5.0 DESIGN THINKING EVIDENCE
For the evidence, we include some Questions and Answers section and pictures to boost.
Stage 1: Empathy
We held interviews with several people, who are students in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and also familiar with devices and technology to hear their opinions regarding the problem.
Both diagrams 1.1 and 1.2 shown Abir (person in blue shirt) was interviewing two persons, Shamema Afruza Jouty from Bachelor of Computer Science (left) and Low Wei Chieh from Bachelor of Computer Science (right).
Here is the list of conversations from the interviews:
Q: What are the problems you usually face toward the device and system nowadays?
A: The most common and crucial one I am facing is when my laptop is out of battery and I wanted to recharge it, but I realized that the charger is at home. The assignments that I am working on is a total waste because the laptop shut down and let the assignment I wrote unsaved.
Q: What kind of problems you face regarding the laptop charging issue?
A: As all of us know that we are using laptops because it’s user-friendly in the sense that we can carry a laptop easily, it doesn’t need a huge space like a desktop. One of the big problems is, when we are outside we cannot take the whole power supply. On the other hand, there are many laptops which are very light in weight so that we can carry that easily but the charger is always so heavy! So, I think there should be a secondary charging issue for laptops.
Stage 2: Define
In the second stage, we accumulate the information we collected from the user during the empathy stage in order for the problem to be identified. This process involved us to analyze our observations and define the core problem from synthesizing them. We spent time to hold several meetings to list down one main problem encountered by interviewed laptop users.
Stage 3: Ideate (Brainstorm Process)
To make this stage more efficient, we had been given more time to look for innovative solutions. In the next meeting, we presented our ideas which some of them were truly brilliant included with acceptable concepts. We took consideration of the present process by hearing the ideas before we gave out our assumptions and arguments.
The idea was presented by our group leader, Teng Jia Jing with the highest vote.
Diagram 3.1 shown the design
What is the name of the product? (Name): Laptop Secondary Charger (LASEC)
How does it work? (Function): The laptop will need to connect to Wi-Fi and it will capture Wi-Fi signal to convert into voltage.
Does the product resolve the problems? (Solution):
- “Charger was left at home”
The product is as tiny as a chip and can be installed onto the motherboard. So, you do not have any problems if you left your charger at home since there is a substitute
- “I too heavy to bring”
LASEC is light and portable. It does not have the size and weight like a power bank since it was just a converter from the Wi-Fi signal to the current.
- “The battery is out before I can connect to charger”
LASEC is easy to operate since you just have to turn on to the Wi-Fi that has installed it.
- “No socket at the place”
LASEC does not use socket but it still needs current to flow through it. But it will not be a problem since Wi-Fi and laptops have current flows in them.
Stage 4: Prototype
After the ideate stage, the prototype is the experimental stage where we started to create the product. Here, the stage in which we converted our idea to reality. We started by analyzing the fundamental steps and materials needed before the making.
6.0 Reflection
From the course program, I hope that I can understand clearly the need for network security nowadays. I also wish that I can involve myself in a job that related to my course program so that I can put the knowledge which I learn from my course in the future.
Throughout this design thinking project, I learned that whenever we face a problem, we have to apply critical thinking skills to figure out the best solution. As a leader, I also had to decide the task for every member fairly and clearly to ensure that the progress was running smooth and unhindered. Besides, I realized that communication is one of an important element in a group project because each of us would raise our opinions from different points of view. Other than that, this project also let me know the problem that people facing nowadays which need us to solve it. These experiences that I learned from the design thinking project really give me a great impact to achieve my goals. In order to make myself employable, I will equip myself will knowledge because the trend nowadays keep changing. I will also plan to improve my social skills because every job is not going to work alone, there must be communication between clients or colleagues.