Project:
Everyone interviewed one person (my person was actually DJ, he was our first trial run to see how we should phrase the questions. He was able to give us some feedback on which questions he thought were better and which were unnecessary.) and afterwards we all tried to devise ideas on our own to figure how to deal with certain problems we thought were important to address.
After our interviews, on saturday, we all got together to write the essay. First we found out that some of the problems overlapped, so we had different ideas for solutions to those problems. Unfortunately the paper was limited to only 5 pages, so we made sure to be concise about which two problems we had to address.
Writing the paper was actually evenly distributed amongst all of us. We had two laptops and we divided pieces of the points we had to address in the paper. When one of us ran out of ideas to write, the other would take over, and vice versa. When we reached the 5 page mark in the end, we merged the points for the paper and each person took a turn reading through it, editing, and making sure the paper flowed together.
All in all, I thought it was a pretty good group effort, there wasn't one person that was forced to type the whole time and when someone was stuck, someone else was able to take over, so the paper was written quite efficiently. Everyone was agreeable with someone else editing their own information, so we didn't lead to any conflicts. I suppose, from a computer scientist point of view, you could say that we were 'extreme programming', but with an essay instead of a program.
~~~~
lecture comment:
I really thought the soap idea was terrific and I sent it around to my nerd friends up in the bay area, I think we're going to make a couple of them over winter break for our own amusement.
On the other hand, while the chumby is an interesting idea, I'm not so sure how marketable it is at the moment because everyone is leaning towards portable phones/applications and embedded devices that you can carry around in your pocket. Though the chumby is a good idea, it's very possible that if you could write the same sort of application for your iphone and just put your iphone on your desk instead. (well if not the iphone, then certainly the gphone can do this since it has an entire operating system on it).
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Sunday, November 11, 2007
first interviewee - Daniel J. Watson
DJ interview notes:
Getting on bike: left foot then right swing
Riding long distances (right foot on pedal, left pushes off of ground)
riding long distances and then getting on (left step, right step, left foot on pedal, right swing
Difficult to fix:
-difficult to adjust breaks (need special tools)
-if re-angling is required (should be done by a professional)
-spokes (loose), you can fix, but it's very hard if you manage to break them
-The frame bends easily if your spokes are broken
wheels are made out of aluminum or carbon-fiber if you buy a more expensive bike
best place to store things: behind back wheel (not the front, unbalanced)
The chain falls off easily if you have a bike with multiple gears, if you don't adjust them, they'll fall off at least once a day
knowing what to do with the gearshift -counter-intuitive, but the auto-gear shift bikes are expensive and poorly made
lock issue: takes forever to lock up bikes + you have to look for someplace suitable to lock them up
-is it possible to make a bike you can fold and carry with you?
seat: uncomfortable,numbing (esp. for guys)
seat is usually adjusted in the wrong place (located at the same place when the user first buys it, even though you're supposed to adjust it to fit you.
quick release: seat and front wheel (easy to steal)
standing while biking instead of sitting-biking: you only do this for short bursts -going up hills or changing gears
C shaped handles for racing
T shaped handles for general use (difficult to bike if you have food/drinks that you can't put in a bag)
Mis-use of bikes: sitting on front - easy to unbalance, topple over, difficult to bike with too (blocks view)
-standing on pegs in the back (dangerous if they're unsteady and you suddenly make a turn, they can get caught on your back wheel
-biking very fast and then mashing on the brakes (can cause the cyclist to flip over the front wheel (if they brake the front wheel before the back wheel))
~~~~~
When asked: out of all the things he talked, what would he like to change/correct the most?
He said that locking up his bike has always been a big issue because when you go to lock up your bike you have to detour to where the bike racks are and spend forever unraveling, properly adjusting your lock so that you can lock up both the front and back wheels of your bike (and of course that doesn't prevent thieves from stealing the seat because most bikes these days have quick release seats). So perhaps one thing to deeply consider is how to make sure bikes are secure or how to remove the incentive of stealing the bicycle. (i.e. take away an important component that makes it impossible to ride).
We did sort of consider making a portable bike that folds together, but seeing how many companies have done it in the past and the usual critique of issues with 'too small' tires and still too heavy to carry around, folding up your bike will still be a problem.
However, two ideas that were considered were: what if you could 'accordion' the bike's frame and the other idea was, what if you built the lock into the bike or made it so that if you broke the lock, the bike would be un-ride-able.
~~~~~
The other main point that was brought up, was the bike's seat. Which is particularly uncomfortable for guys. When we asked why they couldn't try using a rectangular shake instead of the usual triangle shape for the bicycle, he said it made pedaling too difficult if there wasn't a center divide between the legs.
Unfortunately, because the shape of the seat is integral with the efficiency of the cyclist, we were so far unable to come up with a solution so far. However, we do recognize it as a serious problem for the male gender. Especially since more than one claims that after riding the bike for a while, they tend to go numb in the areas in which they use to sit on the bike.
~~~~~~
However, there are a few features we can handle, for example, the carrying food issue. Because we usually want to watch and make sure our food doesn't spill/tip over and since food doesn't weigh very much, a light, collapse-able food holder on the front bars of the bike might be beneficial to a lot of cyclists.
Whereas, the heavier loads (like books and notebooks) can be attached in a container behind the back seat, behind the back wheel (but narrow enough that it would not cause additional air resistance (which could hinder the biker).
~~~~~
And finally, there was the problem with flipping over the front of the bike, while it is possible to create a sort of device that will stop the bicycle from completely flipping over the front wheel. The problem still remains that you cannot stop the cyclist's own forward momentum. So even if you kept the bike stable on the ground, the cyclist themselves would still flip over the front bars. Unfortunately, anything short of strapping the cyclist to the seat wouldn't really help in this sort of situation because the cyclist has too much forward momentum when they try to abruptly stop.
~~~~~
While interviewing, we also realized that there were too many different kinds of bikes to consider from special terrain bikes used for extreme sports cyclists to racing bikes to very simple bikes with no gear shifts.
We realized that would have to narrow our scope to bikes that people typically use. So for our report, we'll mostly stick to bikes that are generally used for transportation (not racing or sports) and can gear shift (since the bikes that don't gear shift are usually used by younger bikers).
Getting on bike: left foot then right swing
Riding long distances (right foot on pedal, left pushes off of ground)
riding long distances and then getting on (left step, right step, left foot on pedal, right swing
Difficult to fix:
-difficult to adjust breaks (need special tools)
-if re-angling is required (should be done by a professional)
-spokes (loose), you can fix, but it's very hard if you manage to break them
-The frame bends easily if your spokes are broken
wheels are made out of aluminum or carbon-fiber if you buy a more expensive bike
best place to store things: behind back wheel (not the front, unbalanced)
The chain falls off easily if you have a bike with multiple gears, if you don't adjust them, they'll fall off at least once a day
knowing what to do with the gearshift -counter-intuitive, but the auto-gear shift bikes are expensive and poorly made
lock issue: takes forever to lock up bikes + you have to look for someplace suitable to lock them up
-is it possible to make a bike you can fold and carry with you?
seat: uncomfortable,numbing (esp. for guys)
seat is usually adjusted in the wrong place (located at the same place when the user first buys it, even though you're supposed to adjust it to fit you.
quick release: seat and front wheel (easy to steal)
standing while biking instead of sitting-biking: you only do this for short bursts -going up hills or changing gears
C shaped handles for racing
T shaped handles for general use (difficult to bike if you have food/drinks that you can't put in a bag)
Mis-use of bikes: sitting on front - easy to unbalance, topple over, difficult to bike with too (blocks view)
-standing on pegs in the back (dangerous if they're unsteady and you suddenly make a turn, they can get caught on your back wheel
-biking very fast and then mashing on the brakes (can cause the cyclist to flip over the front wheel (if they brake the front wheel before the back wheel))
~~~~~
When asked: out of all the things he talked, what would he like to change/correct the most?
He said that locking up his bike has always been a big issue because when you go to lock up your bike you have to detour to where the bike racks are and spend forever unraveling, properly adjusting your lock so that you can lock up both the front and back wheels of your bike (and of course that doesn't prevent thieves from stealing the seat because most bikes these days have quick release seats). So perhaps one thing to deeply consider is how to make sure bikes are secure or how to remove the incentive of stealing the bicycle. (i.e. take away an important component that makes it impossible to ride).
We did sort of consider making a portable bike that folds together, but seeing how many companies have done it in the past and the usual critique of issues with 'too small' tires and still too heavy to carry around, folding up your bike will still be a problem.
However, two ideas that were considered were: what if you could 'accordion' the bike's frame and the other idea was, what if you built the lock into the bike or made it so that if you broke the lock, the bike would be un-ride-able.
~~~~~
The other main point that was brought up, was the bike's seat. Which is particularly uncomfortable for guys. When we asked why they couldn't try using a rectangular shake instead of the usual triangle shape for the bicycle, he said it made pedaling too difficult if there wasn't a center divide between the legs.
Unfortunately, because the shape of the seat is integral with the efficiency of the cyclist, we were so far unable to come up with a solution so far. However, we do recognize it as a serious problem for the male gender. Especially since more than one claims that after riding the bike for a while, they tend to go numb in the areas in which they use to sit on the bike.
~~~~~~
However, there are a few features we can handle, for example, the carrying food issue. Because we usually want to watch and make sure our food doesn't spill/tip over and since food doesn't weigh very much, a light, collapse-able food holder on the front bars of the bike might be beneficial to a lot of cyclists.
Whereas, the heavier loads (like books and notebooks) can be attached in a container behind the back seat, behind the back wheel (but narrow enough that it would not cause additional air resistance (which could hinder the biker).
~~~~~
And finally, there was the problem with flipping over the front of the bike, while it is possible to create a sort of device that will stop the bicycle from completely flipping over the front wheel. The problem still remains that you cannot stop the cyclist's own forward momentum. So even if you kept the bike stable on the ground, the cyclist themselves would still flip over the front bars. Unfortunately, anything short of strapping the cyclist to the seat wouldn't really help in this sort of situation because the cyclist has too much forward momentum when they try to abruptly stop.
~~~~~
While interviewing, we also realized that there were too many different kinds of bikes to consider from special terrain bikes used for extreme sports cyclists to racing bikes to very simple bikes with no gear shifts.
We realized that would have to narrow our scope to bikes that people typically use. So for our report, we'll mostly stick to bikes that are generally used for transportation (not racing or sports) and can gear shift (since the bikes that don't gear shift are usually used by younger bikers).
Sunday, November 4, 2007
week 5 (4?) things and proj2
Mostly this week, all of us were preparing/reviewing/taking the midterm. I really wish I didn't just take 3 midterms on Thursday though, I'm sure I did poorly on one of them. At the moment, I'm in a state of denial so I'm trying not to to think too hard about whatever trivial question I messed up on. Because really, that's what tests are all about... *sigh* how I missed the Montessori system.
~~~
Project 2
Had a bit of difficulty thinking about what object to center our project on. While backpack wasn't a terrible idea. It wasn't a very interesting one either. We jumped around ideas from chairs to toothbrushes to laptops and finally we settled on the bicycle. If you think about it, the structure of a bicycle hasn't changed too much over the past few decades. Sure the materials for it have gotten better, made it sturdier. So, whatever issues people had with it's structure, it certainly still exists today. In addition, it is still a complex and specialized enough machine that it is fairly difficult for the common person to repair.
Here are some observations I've had from just watching people on bicycles:
Difficulty getting on - I've noticed that the old fashioned way bicycles were made, they were easier to get on because there was no middle bar and you could swing your leg over the front-center of the bicycle. While the middle bar does contribute to making the bicycle sturdier, is it necessary for the amateur cyclist?
Hard to store - as we have all seen, there will always be problems with storing the bicycle, it's always too large, you have to tie it up outside. Even if you had a central collapsible frame, you still have two big wheels to deal with.
Theft - theft of bicycles is prevalent on campus, which is why the school makes a lot of people register their bikes (for a fee). A lot of people don't want to pay to register their bikes with the school, so the school takes the bikes away? (sounds kind of like a mafia protection system to me -register your bike or else we take it away anyways?).
Maintenance - I have friends who have a tendency to treat their bicycles pretty harshly, like: hopping several flights of stairs. They're constantly changing the spokes on their tires, is there a better way to design the tire?
Storage - from water bottles to attachments on the back, people like tying things to their bicycles, but as many have discovered, this tends to impede movement if the object is too bulky, in the wrong place, or off balance, is there a better place to put your things so that you don't knock them around so often?
These are some of the ideas, our group (Vivien, Kim, Brian, Diana) will meet again next week to discuss this further and interview 4-6 people for our report.
~~~
Project 2
Had a bit of difficulty thinking about what object to center our project on. While backpack wasn't a terrible idea. It wasn't a very interesting one either. We jumped around ideas from chairs to toothbrushes to laptops and finally we settled on the bicycle. If you think about it, the structure of a bicycle hasn't changed too much over the past few decades. Sure the materials for it have gotten better, made it sturdier. So, whatever issues people had with it's structure, it certainly still exists today. In addition, it is still a complex and specialized enough machine that it is fairly difficult for the common person to repair.
Here are some observations I've had from just watching people on bicycles:
Difficulty getting on - I've noticed that the old fashioned way bicycles were made, they were easier to get on because there was no middle bar and you could swing your leg over the front-center of the bicycle. While the middle bar does contribute to making the bicycle sturdier, is it necessary for the amateur cyclist?
Hard to store - as we have all seen, there will always be problems with storing the bicycle, it's always too large, you have to tie it up outside. Even if you had a central collapsible frame, you still have two big wheels to deal with.
Theft - theft of bicycles is prevalent on campus, which is why the school makes a lot of people register their bikes (for a fee). A lot of people don't want to pay to register their bikes with the school, so the school takes the bikes away? (sounds kind of like a mafia protection system to me -register your bike or else we take it away anyways?).
Maintenance - I have friends who have a tendency to treat their bicycles pretty harshly, like: hopping several flights of stairs. They're constantly changing the spokes on their tires, is there a better way to design the tire?
Storage - from water bottles to attachments on the back, people like tying things to their bicycles, but as many have discovered, this tends to impede movement if the object is too bulky, in the wrong place, or off balance, is there a better place to put your things so that you don't knock them around so often?
These are some of the ideas, our group (Vivien, Kim, Brian, Diana) will meet again next week to discuss this further and interview 4-6 people for our report.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)