Blog
A log of my reflections for this project.
Personal Goals
Communication
While I'm supportive and open to others' visions, I struggle with proposing any vision in my head.
I hope to change that over the course of this project.
Leadership
I really love listening to what others have to stay. However, in doing so, I don't really pitch in a lot of ideas.
I wish to grow less shy from stepping up and proposing ideas and taking on roles.
Collaboration
I can be too independent sometimes. It's mostly because I can get too comfortable with contributing and in doing so I stray away from keeping others in the loop.
Striving to achieve a to balance between contribution and communication is a priority now.
Week 1 &2: Initial Thoughts
Date: 17 Jan 2018
After brainstorming the interview questions in class Abhay, Allen, and I visited Rocketship Mosaic Elementary School in San Jose to visit our point of contact, Jenny. As we walked past the display of college banners leading up to the entrance of the school, Jenny pointed out "we're big on sending them to college." After some research, I realized Rocketship's aim is to close the achievement gap. As I stood watching Jenny deal students groceries from their gardening classes, I saw the impact of Rocketship's mission statement in action. Enrichment classes served as an incentive to become a better and stronger learner.
The visit at Mosaic Elementary was very enlightening. I finally had a panoramic image in my head about who I was creating for, where the design would be placed, what factors would impact our design decisions, who would be accessing and using the library, and when could it be accessed. I also learned that assumptions can distort our thoughts about a product's functionality. We assumed that the school had a library when in reality, it didn't. Realizing our assumption was wrong was important because we would have then built something for the local community and not specifically for the school community.
Based on my research about Rocketship and Mosaic Elementary, I knew the values Mosaic held close to them were responsibility, respect, empathy, persistence, and global citizenship. Observing the school environment gave me a glimpse of these values in action. It was then that I realized that the Little Free Library would enrich their development because they would be responsible for the book they would borrow and learn to respect the abundance of information available at their footsteps. The Little Free Library was more than an idea for an attractive installation; it was a richer learning tool.
Date: 24 Jan 2018
Week 3
Today, we proposed initial design ideas for the Little Free Library. Drawbacks in one of our designs were nicely balanced off by gains in the other designs. In the beginning, we got carried away with how we wanted the library to look like: as close as possible to an actual rocket ship. In that excitement, we condoned that even though that design would be physically appealing, it would not necessarily meet the needs of our client.
We also assessed our individual and team's strengths and weaknesses. I realized that my weaknesses were Abhay's strengths and Allen's weaknesses were mine and Abhay's strengths. So, if we could utilize our strengths to benefit each other, we could possibly come up with a project which somewhat fits our vision and meets all of ROMO's requirements.
Date: 31 Jan 2018
Week 4
This week, we got Maker Lab trained. We glanced around to understand all the tools that could benefit our project. After speaking to Jenny, we realized that re-designing the free little library individually would not be as efficient as designing it together. So, we all contributed the strengths we liked in each design and based on that decided to discuss on a final design next week to move forward with.
I realized how I came up with the initial design: by looking at existing solutions and thought researching more about them could aid in charting an appropriate cost-analysis for our version of the free little library.
Week 5
This week, we got Maker Lab trained for power tools. We built a key holder to learn how to use the tools necessary to build the library. We decided to outline the specific measurements for all parts. We decided to employ these specifications to build the CAD design. While this was primarily to give Jenny a visual, I realized this would further help us understand what we didn't pay attention to.
I decided to analyze statistics about low-income students and the diversity Jenny mentioned when we first met her. I researched databases of California Department of Education to gain specifics about the diversity at ROMO, the areas the students are good at, the areas ROMO is suffering in, and how the Little Free Library would help resolve some of the social injustice ROMO faces. I also decided to review news articles to gain an objective stance on the subject.
Date: 7 Feb 2018
Week 6
This week, I researched on comparative models. There was no prominent research available as such, just blueprints, press release, and blog posts. I discovered documents written by Little Free Library's (LFL) building department co-founder Todd Bol. He has built 25-30 Little Free Libraries and repaired over 100 of them. I believed his advice and construction process would be great to follow for our team. He recommended using Plexiglass instead of glass as it's lighter. I found out that while other glass turns yellow over time with exposure to sunlight, Plexiglass does not and so, this was a material we should consider. He also suggested using screws since nails can be hard and dangerous to work with. In his experience, single doors were more durable and leaked less than single doors. We had discussed during Week 4 that a wide mounting base supported with angular pieces of plywood would give the library maximum support. Bol confirmed that such a mounting post enhances holding power.
I found blueprints of other libraries on the Little Free Library's official website. The blueprint mentioned leaving enough space for the LFL placard. So, Allen and I decided that the bottom of the door frame would serve best as a placeholder for this placard. We concluded the meeting with splitting the cost-analysis.
I then looked up best options for paints, door handles, and glass/acrylic. Bol had mentioned that Sikkens and Cabot products are the best when it comes to paint brands. Stainless steel is the most weatherproof and best suited for an outdoor project like ours. Houzz had cheaper 14" stainless steel handles than Home Depot. Most libraries used PLexiglass but I could not get an exact value for the Plexiglass' price. TAP Plastics website didn't show any Plexiglass sheets, only Polycarbonate and other acrylic sheets. I thought communicating/visiting a Plastics store again would be a good idea to gain a precise estimate of costs for Plexiglass sheets versus Polycarbonate sheets. I added these cost estimates to the 'Cost-Analysis' slides and worked on 'Completed Tasks' and 'Supporting Data' slides for the Status Update.
Date: 14 Feb 2018
Week 7
Date: 21 Feb 2018
Even though our customized design cost less than the libraries available on the market and had features which enhanced usability, it could definitely cost much less if we gave our resources and material research another thought. Worried about the cost, I began looking for materials that didn't traditionally cost a lot on the market such as the door handle. Houzz had pretty reasonably priced materials and so, I asked Allen to have a look and we finalized on the 20" solid stainless steel handle because it met our needs perfectly. I then placed the order for it and would handle all transactions.
As a team, I definitely see improved communication amongst us. We try to share the burden, listen to each other's opinions a lot more, show up with more enthusiasm and preparation, keep each other in the loop, follow up on each other's responsibilities, and communicate to meet deadlines. Previously, we worked individually, but now we have begun to collaborate a lot more. I think this is vital to our team since we are entering the building stage which is hard to accomplish without collaboration and communication and so, we have definitely grown as a team.
Date: 28 Feb 2018
Week 8
Our biggest concern was cost and gathering of materials. This week we took care of that and so, while we definitely had to push harder to achieve our goals, we were back on track with delivering our product. That realization was the greatest news.
This week, I measured and cut the pieces for the bases. I also sanded most pieces. In the beginning, I struggled with figuring the most time-effective method of sanding. So, I simply started with the bigger pieces. When I got to the smaller pieces, I started paying more attention to detail: the texture of the wood, the symmetry, the rough edges, and the size. Sanding got much easier this time and I was able to ensure no pieces had splinters and rigged edges.
Overall, watching our intangible design idea begin to turn into tangible product parts was really thrilling.
Week 9
Date: 7 March 2018
Since we were pressed for time, we decided to employ our strengths and delegate the remaining work. Allen has extensive technical knowledge about the building process. He worked hard on the CAD design and so, engineering drawings and pooling resources are his strengths. Abhay is great at visualizing and designing. His strength is drawing from the positives of design ideas to create visually-appealing features as evident by the design sketches. While research is my main strength, I also tend to focus on the little details which if condoned can topple all progress. Hence, Abhay would focus on exterior designing, I would focus on interior designing and preparing for integration the build, and Allen would integrate the build.
Since we had created the parts, I started to prototype to ensure we were on track with completing our project. However, I realized we over-estimated our measurements and so, had to re-do all our measurements else our solution would not work. As a result, we were pushed behind on our project submission timeline. So, I re-estimated all parts and placeholders. I marked all the spots which needed drilling and screws on all dowels. I drilled and screwed all parts needed for the interior design and Allen attached all these interior parts to the exterior in order to integrate the build.
We decided to work on the presentation based on our strengths. Since research, maintaining communication notes, and interior designing our my strengths, I would talk about the community partner requirements, the societal impact of the final design, qualitative and quantitative project specifications. Abhay would focus on the design process and Allen would emphasize on the resources utilized and analyze the building process.