Fall - 2020

Plant Project: Dinner Plate Aralia - Karen Bechmann

Fysisk Prototyping IDG1006

INTRODUCTION

In todays society we are becoming more and more technological. We are literally carrying around a little computer in our pocket at all time. In this little computer, the mobile phone, we have access to more information that we have never. The world is changing more and more quickly everyday with the technology we have. We even have self-driven cars, which is a success., more or less We also have smart homes, where you can just talk to a program which will turn on your lights or turn on the fan. Even our homes are getting smarter. In this project that is what we will be doing, taking care of this plant the best and less interactive way. When we are finished with this plant, it will have a independent life. Meaning it will water itself, and whoever that might take over the plant or find this plant randomly will know exactly how to take care of it without any type of communication. Being a part of the new future were smart homes are the new normal. In this diary I will be writing about each week in this project. Documenting everything I do in this report as well as giving an update on how the plant is doing. The goal of this project is making a self-watering system for our plant, as well as making the plant independent. We are also going to learn about the whole process from sketching to the finished product. Being a part of the whole process from the thoughts in our heads, until our last result. We are also going to learn about 3D printing and laser cutting through this project. Creating things that makes a wholeness with the plant.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

34

Receiving our plant

We were assigned each and one of us a different plant, or it was at least three of the same plant type but randomly given to us in class. So each one of us in the cohort nr. 2 got a different plant. cohort 2 was a group of tree, with me, Isabel and Amalie. We made a group chat in messenger, figuring out it was easier to communicate there when we where having questions, thoughts, ideas or other things that might be of interest to chare with the rest of the cohort. We received dirt and “leika-kuler” so we could plant the plant in bigger pots. Our first task was finding out what the plant type is and its needs. At the beginning I was ,struggling with figuring out what kind of plant I got, of course I started right away with googling and searching around. Me and Isabel decided to go to “Plantasjen” and ask if they knew since thats where I thought they might have bought it. When we asked the staff there, they knew the name of Isabels plant and type, but they didnt knew about mine since there were no other plant left of my type. I also bought a bigger pot at “Plantasjen”, so my plant got a bit bigger space, and the pot was also kind of cool. Isabel and I worked together a lot this day to actually figure our plants out. So, I went to “Mester Grønn”, and they could not figure it out either. As I was searching around the web, hoping to find something, I remembered that one of my friends is overly obsessed with flowers and plants, so I asked her. She also actually works at a flower store, figuring out this was my best shot at figuring out what plant it was.

35

Finding out what plant it is

I texted my friend and explained that we had a school project with a plant, at the same time I joined a facebook group for people who is very interested in plants. I also posted a picture of the plant there, asking is they knew what the plant is and if/or they had some tips for taking care of it. After a while my friend texted me back and she had the answer! I also got it confirmed by several members of the facebook group. It was a Polyscias Balfouriana, but the common name for it is Dinner Plate Aralia. This is because of the size of it, it can be up to 1" - 2" , like a dinner plate. And can grow up to 20 meters tall, but is often only growing up to 50 cm. The plant is native to Africa, Asia and Australia parts of North and Central America, and South America. The thing is that this plant is not the best plant for new beginners, since you can easily over water it and drown it. But I don’t think that will be a problem for me since my problem before when taking care of plants is remembering to water them at all. The plant is not supposed to be in direct sunlight either so I found a good place for the plant beside the window, but not to close for it to dry out for the sun, since the plant prefers the shadow but a little sun. A little warning to keep in mind is that the plant is poisonous and should be kept away from pets and children. I had to have this in mind since I have a cat at my mom’s place, where I originally had the plant, so I had to place it kind of out of reach for the cat. Not risking to poison the cat.

The I was ready to begin this diary, making a log of the how the plant is going to develop. Signing up in Research Catalogue and making this Exposition, I started making one Exposition for each week, but I figured this was more time consuming and less practical. I merged them all into this one. It took me some time to get used to using RC, I found it a bit frustrating at the beginning to get to know a whole new program, and I think it has a lot of potential. After a while I slightly got used to the different settings and how thing worked in RC. I also struggled a bit with making my exposition public, but I figured it out with a little help from Amalie and asked Anders-Petter Anderson for help.

36

Brainstorming and sketching

We were assigned to draw 10-15 sketches for our plant. I started with drawing a little and scribbling and mostly just brainstorming. Using the sketch technique, we learned from “Grafiske Verktøy, Prinsipper og Metoder”. Where you just set a timer for about 20 minutes, putting some music on, and just scribbling. Making it seem like a Think-aloud session, but it’s on a paper. I just started drawing the plant and the pot, and things that could be fitting for the plant. I was a bit unsure what to have, because reading about the plant growing up to 2 meters I had to take this into consideration that it could grow a bit bigger than planned. I wanted the sign to be visible, but not taking attention from the plant. Important that I got the most important of information of the plant, but trying to shorten it so the user don’t get an overflow of information leading to error in the using. I drew about 12 sketches before I was empty for ideas. I also liked a lot of my sketches, but I think I have to kill some of my darlings. The sign has to include Positioning for the plant/Light it needs, water, important info and nutrition included in the sign. I had to make something creative and readable for the user to look at. In the kohort we discussed that symbols would be a great idea to combine with the plant sign, this makes it easier for the user to understand the plant’s needs. Taking inspiration from the user manuals on clothes you wash, with easy symbols that are recognizable for everyone. A global language called symbols, that most people recognize and will remember what is at first glance. I will be working on some small signs with symbols on, and sketch some further with some ideas. And maybe in a while a QR code so the user can get more usable information, not the most import of information, as we also discussed in guidance from the teacher.

I also completed the Trainor Online Safety Course this week, but I was struggling to log in and/or create a user account. But after a dialogue with Alf Dalby we figured it out and found a solution, leading me to finally complete the course. I found the course easy to go through since I have had a similar course in my past job, but I liked it and I think for beginners it was a good way of learning about HMS and security in a workshop/lab.

37

Picking out the best ideas

I had 12 sketches to choose from and I had to choose 4 of them to continue developing and working on. When I looked at all my sketches, I had to imagine how easy they would be to conduct, the time it would take to perform and if I had the right things to make it. I did not want to overdo myself and be too eager with this project. So I picked the four sketches that I liked and knew was not too complicated to create. This of course led me to let go of some of my best ideas, but I knew this would be complicated and not knowing if it actually would turn out okay. Knowing I had never done anything like this before, only some in arts and crafts in elementary school. So choosing the signs was essential for my further work. I found it a bit difficult to choose only four because I did not have any idea of what I wanted to end up with, it would have been nice to see some examples of what we could end up with when we were done. Maybe a couple of reference photos or someone’s previous work. Just to have a clue of what we are ending up with. I also talked to the others in my cohort just to get a reference of their thoughts and what they think we might end up with. We all knew that we would end up with a plant with a self-watering system and with a sign with the plants need, or a QR-code that shows what the plant needs. I created a full scale of paper prototypes of the four I liked the best, and made a fitting by the plant to see which one of them suited best with the plant. I also asked my mom if she had any preferences, but she actually liked all four of them pretty good. Not grabbing to much attention but enough for the user to see and recognize and maybe thing “this is some important information that I might need to take care of the plant”. I wanted to make a Problem Statement for my plant based on my previous experiences with plants. I came with the conclusion on my statement being that people often tend to buy plastic plants because they forget to water their plants and thinks it’s a lot of work. So I figured out my goal is making my plant as easy to have as possible, not much for the user to actually do but finding a good place for the plant to be.

My Problem Statement: “How can I make people have a real plant rather that a plastic plant?” I landed on this problem statement, because it is fitting for the whole project. Creating a self-watering system so the user will do less – till nothing as for taking care of the plant.

In the cohort gathering we were handed out hand-tools such as scissor, paper knife, glue, glue gun and two cardboards each. This is in the phase we were going to start and think about our low fi prototypes.

38

User testing – Low Fi

As an introduction to this week I would like to start by talking about last week (37). In this week I continued sketching and developing some ideas further, and I made paper prototypes as mentioned last week where I picked out four of my 12 sketches. I had to cut of some ideas that I really liked but was a bit complicated to make. I had some extra time on my hand, so I decided to jump a little further in my schedule. Because I got a little eager as I said, and that’s one of my weaknesses. As soon as we got our cardboards I started thinking way ahead. I started cutting and drawing into the carboard a bit early. In this user testing, it will be a combined. I went through with my mom once with the paper prototypes and then with the cardboard prototypes. I could probably have waited a bit more before beginning with the cardboard prototypes because I was not certain that these few ideas would work. So I got a little ahead on that, but I got to test some of my sketches in real life, and I don’t think it matter that much. Since I probably would have made these carboard prototypes of my four sketches sooner of later anyways. I also wanted to visualize the way the sign would look in the plant a bit more. Beginning with the user testing I had to do a little research on how to implement the test. So I read in the “Uderstanding your users” which is a book we use in a different subject, Introduction to User Centered Design. Started reading about how to deduct user test, In the book they talk about focus groups, interviews and card sorting. The reason I pointed out these three types of user testing is because they seemed the most relevant for this type of test. My problem was that I was limited to only have one person to test on, finding it a bit difficult at this time to gather a group of people for each and every one to perform a test for my signs because of the corona virus. I decided that I will only test on my mom.

So starting my usability testing on my mom, my mom is:

Thinking that using my mom who has a lot of experience with plants might help me get a few tips and improvements for the sign. Since she had some experience in the past with plants. Laying out the paper prototypes first so she could get a look at my plans on how I wanted the sign to become. Then I showed her the cardboard low-fi prototypes, I placed each of the signs in the pot with the plant s she could see how it was when properly placed. I then asked her these following questions:

What do you think when you see the sign? How do you think this plant likes to live? Where do you think you can find more information about the plant? Do you think you would be able to take care of this plant if I gave it to you now?

I placed the different cardboard signs in the pot one after one, and asking these questions to her. She wanted a little picture on the sign with the plant on, so she makes sure it hasn’t been switched up somewhere. She would like a spec on when it last was watered, a thermometer, a moistures meter or an alert on when she should water it. A warning sign, since the plant it poisonous, a clear warning. More specs in the QR-code. More of the important information on the sign. In the QR link it should be specified if it should perhaps have a bigger flowerpot. I some of the things she said in the usability testing. Taking all this feedback I got from her I had to rethink a lot of things, after deducting this usability testing, she gave me some tips that I had never thought of. Like when she mentioned a sign saying when it was last watered. This gave me some new factors to take in consideration for further development on the plant. So I once again started to sketch to figure out if I could fit all this information on the sign. One challenge I had was that I was unsure on how I could fit so much information on a sign, even if I shortened it down. I knew I had to have the warning sign, but I though the sign where I have information about when it was last watered was a bit unnecessary since it will eventually water is self. But at this point I did not know that, so I had to work my way around it. I also concluded that I might use the micro:bit an code text saying when it was last watered, as well as a warning. So performing this user testing it gave me some new aspects on how others might vision the plant, since I already knew a lot of this plant. That it needs watering once a week, etc. I found it very useful and I gained a lot of insights.

39

Cardboard Prototype – High Fi

A High-Fi prototype is a more developed and advanced prototype used to perform a more through user test so we can get a hold on the last changes. This high-fi prototype is supposed to be as similar to the final product. Since I already had made some carboard prototypes I figured I could sketch more to develop the feedback I got from my mom in the usability testing. At this point my mind was kind of blank for ideas. I tried to figure out what suits best, and what makes the important information stand out. I will go after the saying “Less is more”. I will explain why I am using this saying in this case, because in this project we are creating a self-watering plant. And I do not think that I should overflow the user with information, learning that to much information can create noise in the communication between sender and receiver. This can lead for the receiver to not get the message, the information about the plant in this scenario. Especially in this case, because I think the plant itself is a lot, and don’t want it to take the attention away from it. But I also want the user to see the sign, and understand it needs. I tried some of the things I sketched that I thought was the best. I had an idea with the “cat” sign, but the arms kept falling off so I quickly left that idea behind, this was my attempt to make my target group a little younger than I imagined. But I kind of liked the way the sign looked in the pot, so I made it a bi simpler by cutting its arms and ears of. It became a bit simpler, and I had to set a new target group to be a little older. When I saw how it became with the plant. I really liked the sign with air around the title, and with the QR- code on the back side, I believe I could manage to place some instructions on the back side about the nutrition, water and light. With some symbols showing this. The sign grabs attention and is not taking a lot of attention from the plant itself. But I don’t know what kind of material I will be using on the sign. I will probably figure this out later. I also purchased micro:bit this week and is looking forward to learning more about it.

A disclaimer, I have now understood the changes I could have done earlier. I could have been using a bit more time on developing the low-fi prototype on paper. Rather than jumping over to cardboard prototype right away. But that is the point of this whole project, learning about the process and how we are starting from scratch and ending up with a final product.

40

Learning About Micro:Bit

A Micro:bit is a little computer that shows you how software and hardware work together. Making this a LED display with buttons sensors and many input/output features that you can program as you want, and interact with. In this project we were assigned a micro:bit to make a self watering system to my plant. So the first I did was to play around with the system and just get familiar with the different settings and things you could do on the programming. The website I used for programming the chip is the https://makecode.microbit.org/ . This is the page that was included with the instructions. I used this because I felt more safe using a website that was in the instructions. I also did watch some youtube videos for inspiration and for teaching myself how to do thing and was at once very impressed over all the things this little chip could do.

In the beginning I plugged the micro:bit to my computer using a portable micro usb. I startet playing round and made a melody for it to play when it first starts up, I also added a rolling text with the plant name “Dinner Plate Aralia” scrolling over the page for the user to read. Also when you shake the chip it gets an angry face, and when you lift it up it gets a heart. Then press A and it smiles. I did this because I wanted the chip to have emotions, making the plant feel more alive.

Lately its been kind of difficult to meet the group and discuss, we have been using our messenger chat on and off. We mostly discuss where we are in the process to each other, and show what we have so far. We are all in a different phase I think, and its kind of hard to co-operate when we are in such different stages. Its also a challenge that we cannot meet to work together sometimes, because of Covid 19. But it is fun to see what others have, and what their thoughts are when it comes to the finished product. Looking back now it seemed kind of unrealistic that I would learn about making a chip that would water my plant for me, but here we are. So I made a couple sketches for the sign and this times, with the micro bit. So when I started sketching the ideas for the sign I had no idea how the micro:bit looked and had no long term plan on how I could fit this in my sign. When I created this sign I did not have in mind that I could have a led screen showing information, or having a smiley face etc. So I had to come up with a plan to make the micro:bit fit into the sign. I looked for some inspiration on pinterest to see if there were some tips and tricks, and I was a bit afraid that I had to make my sign all over again. This was a bit difficult for me, slipping away an idea that I was so determined for it to be my result. Having this thought in my head with the sign in the pot, I had already visualized the final product. So for me to let go of this darling, was kind of hard. So I didn’t. I didn’t want to create something new, so I just tried to make it better. The idea I went for was fitting the micro:bit board, with the red led lamps at the top of the sign. It looks like it has a face, kind of what I was looking for at the beginning. As you can se at the photo of my sketching I also draw the micro:bit sign so I had the measurements for it, for it to fit into the little rectangle at the top of my sign that I would eventually cut.

41

Developing Micro:Bit

So starting to code a self watering system I simple just searched on Youtube for a tutorial feeling a bit lost with the instructions following with the micro:bit box. Much easier to follow along with a video explaining what to do, and how to do it correctly. So the first thing I did was connect the micro:bit to the sensor:bit. Then I connected the jumper wire to the soil moisture sensor, so it can detect when to water the plant or/if the soil is to dry. Then connecting it to the P1 sensor bit. After that connecting a jumper wire to the relay, witch goes in to the P2 sensor:bit. Then the ground of the submersible connecting the pump to the G pin at P16 of the sensor:bit. After that I took the VCC (the sinle wire) connecting it to the Normally Open terminal of the relay. Then another jumper wire into the V pin at the P16 of the sensor:bit. I also but the tube from a glass of water and with the pump into the glass. And after all of this I connected it to my computer using my USB port, with the mini USB wire.

In makeacode.microbit I made the code you can see down below in the photo. I adjusted the moisture to be 30 instead because I dont want to drown the plant since it only need water once a week. I also deleted the “shake-then-angry” thing because I didn’t wanted to overflood the micro:bit with code so it doesn’t crash. Since a lot of people had been experienced this, I wanted it to be simplified. “Less is more”. But I kept the scrolling over the led plate, so when you first turn on the portable battery pack it makes a tone and scrolls the name of the plant over the screen. I am very satisfied with the result and I really think this was a fun project to do. Making this makes it much easier for a potential future owner of this plant. I came across a challenge where feeding the code to much information and instructions, it would simply stop. Because I tried to plug in the OLED screen to the micro:bit, but when I coded the things over to the chip it just froze after scrolling the text, and then showing a sad face. I took it as a “I cant handle this” from the code.

Creating a MVP (Minimum Viable Product) of the electric sign, I decided to no use the feedback I got from my mom, I felt the user testing was a bit diffuse, and if I were to use any of the feedback, I probably had to do more user testing. Not being able to do this, I just went with my own gut. Knowing that this might have been a less efficient idea – but well see. I was going to create the MVP, making it the most rudimentary bare-bones foundation of the solution as possible, but sufficient enough for early adopters, in this scenario, the user. And int has to have something tangible customers can touch and feel. This is the part where I would sell in my product to my investors.

The important thing to think about in an MVP is that its focus is on functionality, but it also must have focus on reliability, usability and of course design. The tester/investor is more likely to go with something if it includes all these things. A common mistake in the industry in having to much focus on the functionality but creating a product like this I have to keep all the factors in mind. For example leaving the plant with a micro:bit, a sign and all the components. This will not look good, because the wires will be everywhere. It was a bit difficult to figure out a way to work through this, with all the wire to the micro:bit. Like how should I place it? How can I hide it? How can I make the design clean, but keep the MVP functional?

42

User Testing MVP

Lately a lot has been going on in my private life, I have been moving two times. So just to clarify two things, the first user test I did was with my mom since I lived with her when I did the user test, the second MVP test is now with my cohabitant (boyfriend). We did not test on eachother in our kohort because at the time we are in now as explained before it is a bit difficult to test on them, so therefore my boyfriend became the user in this scenario. I figured it could be useful to have insights from another perspective. Since my boyfriend is a much younger than my mother, I saw this as an opportunity to get more data. Since my boyfriend has less to no experience on taking care of plants this was perfect for me to get into the mindset of a person who don’t now what to do at all. I used some of the questions I also asked my mom in the first usability testing, since it will answer me if there is something that I did not solve. I did consider using the 5 whys to find out the problem, but I concluded that I got the answer that I needed out of these 4 quick questions. Leading to a shot interview, I did get the answer I needed.

Do you know how to turn it on? How do you think this plant likes to live? Where do you think you can find more information about the plant? Do you think you would be able to take care of this plant if I gave it to you now?

He found the turn on button on the battery pack after looking around for a bit, and a quick beep noise came out. He quickly understood the scrolling letters across the screen “Dinner Plate Aralia”. He assumed the plant liked the shadow since its place on our kitchen bench and not in the window, but this was not signified on the plant or sign. So this was something I could take in consideration. When looking for more information about the plant he scanned the QR-code, and could read more about it needs and everything important about it. When you scan the QR-code you get directly to the first page of this report, where is contains how much sunlight, sun, moisture, nutrition it needs - and if its poisonous. He quickly knew more about what it needed. He did like that the sign was this simple, and he quickly understood that he needed to scan the QR-code. I was wondering if I even needed more information on the sign. In the end he mentioned that if he were to take care of this plant he would probably have no problem in doing so. Since the plant do take care of it self more or less, only remembering to give the plant nutrition now and then. But in a day to day basis it will water itself once a week. If I gave this to him he would be able to handle it. I found it a bit confusing combining the feedback from my mom and the feedback from my boyfriend. Since they where at two different stages, and I wasn’t able to user test my product on my mom. I found it more useful using this data for further development since I had the self watering system this time and a real QR-code, making this a more complete user testing. Also using the terms from the UCD book, about acknowledgement tokens so the user is feeling safer during the user testing helped me out, and the user (my boyfriend) a lot. Taking it with me further that I have learned some need methods on user testing and conducting an interview.

43

3D Printing Course

This week we are going though the 3D printing course that is online. This was a online based course were we went through some video tutorials, it was easy to go through and fun to learn about. I have always been curious about the way 3D printers work and found it very fascinating and cool to learn. This was something I was looking forward to in a long time. In the 3D printing course we were given a task at the end for us to make some adjustments in the program Prusa slicer. Prusa Slicer is a feature-rich, updated tool that can export your file for it to be ready to print. But the design itself is in another program software, in this case we used Tinkercad.com. Which is a free online software for 3D design, electronics and coding. You can basically design everything.

In the online course we were given the task to crop down the moose to 80%, and add infill, we also had to add fundament so it would be able to stand on itself when printing. We could adjust this the way we wanted but were given recommendations.

44

3D Printing

So what is 3D printing? And how could I use this with my plant? 3D Printing is a process of making a three-dimensional figure or object form a digital file. In this case as a test we had to make a moose, but for my plant project I simply just made a simple sign. I didnt had any other ideas in my mind, and when I used Thinkercard my mind went blank, so I figured why not make a simple sign telling the plants name. I made the measurements from the pot and sketched in my book, and I wrote them in the program so I knew exactly what size the sign would be. I had to have a line beneath the letters, so they could be placed in the pot without me placing one and one letter.

I made it 15 cm wide and 2 cm high. I wanted a color matching the pot for the plant, so I made it in silver, with the filament. On the moose I chose a filament that was slightly black with sparkles in it. When I first started printing the letters, I forgot to put a brim on so the object kept letting go of the bed, but as soon as I got the brim on another problem occurred. I forgot to put the right printer. I had managed to put the PLA Mini printer on. But after these two minor mistakes the printing went very well. I really liked the outcome of both, finding the moose very cute. I believe the sign will be a perfect fit with the pot. The sign did become a bit “hairy” but I actually found it suiting for the plant, making it more natural rather than harsh.

45

Improvements

Continuing to develop my project an making some tiny adjustments. In week 42 I talked about keeping it simple, because of the feedback I got in the user testing had me thinking it is better for me and the user. So I will stick with this idea till the end since Ive come this far in the process. I feel like its to late to make any “big” changes now. The micro:bit is still working and is watering, although I don’t feel like the plant is growing bigger, and that might be because I haven’t fed it with some nutrition yet, so I will try to do that and give more precise update on that later on. I have also improved this whole report, starting used text based in Research Catalouge I went for the graphical instead to try this out. Ending up using the text based one again, but I felt it was much easier to code the style in the CSS sheet given in the text based RC document. Using RC has really been a journey, learning a whole new program. At first I will admit that I didn’t really like it because everything was so difficult to preform, but after a while of using it I gradually learned more about how to do different things. Even though its still hard for me to figure out some things. The function where you place all the photos are also a bit difficult for me. Experiencing that when expanding a text box it jumps down to the bottom of the page, which is a bit annoying.

46

Laser Cutting course and preparation

This week I started going trough the PDF in Bb about laser cutting. There were many pages to read and a lot of information, I would rather like it to be a video or something like that. But eventually I got through it , learning things about laser cutting that I didn’t know from before. Like that you have to be careful what kind of product you have your laser cutter cut into. When laser cutting you have to be carful with heat conductivity, this means that the material it is cutting into might be easily overheated and can cause fire in some cases. You might also look out for radiation exposure, but this is if you cut brass with laser. Unless you have protective equipment that can safeguard you from this reflected radiation. So its important to read the instructions clearly on beforehand.

When designing the product, I watched a couple of youtube videos first to get a hold on how I do it, so I don’t mess it up. For inspiration I went on pinterest and Instagram looking for something cool to make, and if I found something useful for my plant. After scrolling though social media for inspiration I have seen that you can make a lot of things, like you could laser cut a watch, decorations, earrings and a more.

47

Laser Cutting

Laser cutting is a method used to separate materials and cut into objects. So in this project I wanted to create a sign or something to hold the micro:bit so it had a wholeness. At first, I was 100% sure I was going to print out my favorite plant sign, but then I changed my opinion. Looking at the inspirational work in Bb, I decided I wanted something more, and a tiny bit challenging. So I figured out I wanted to print a tiny chair for the microbit to “sit” in. And with a QR code at the back support on the chair. I felt that this could also appeal more to younger people, making my user group bigger. So making it fun, easy and a great opportunity to learn more about how to take care of plants. So I am pretty sure that after I have put all the things Ive made together I will user test my plant again on my mom (59), my niese (4) and my brother (31). These are three different people, in three different ages, making it perfect to cover all the user groups. In that way i can figure out what I might be missing, or what I could be doing better - or what they liked. On the picture to the left I have made a chair with a QR Code, its a bit difficult to see the lines of the chair, and the QR code is really standing out. The QR code is going to this website, so the user can actully read this! This is a way for the user to feel more included in my project, so if they were to take over the plant full time, they would get the history behind the plant and the gadgets following along with the plant.

For this to be cut by the laser it needs to have a line stroke of 0.0025mm. Everything over this measure will be carved and not cutted. So the plan is for the QR code to be carved, than the pattern in the chair is going to be cutted. Since the laser cutting has been delayed for a week Ive been getting more second thoughts on my chair. I have a feeling it might be to big for the pot and then will just be standing aside of the plant. So I feel like I might cut something else, or make the sign from the cardboard prototypes that I liked the best, then just make a sign with the QR code, but I am still unsure. Because I aslo had in mind to make something special for myself since this is not necessary for the plant. Just for us to get to know how a Laser cutting machine works. I changed my mind in the laser cutting process. So I went back and forward with this idea that my sign would be my micro:bit sitting in my chair. I figured out that this could be a bit complicated and the chair was a bit to big. I also concluded with that I wanted the sign, that I talked about. My paper prototype that I liked the best. So I did so changes to the sign where I wanted some “air” in the bottom of the sign, where it’s going in to the soil. So the soil can malfunction properly, without my sign blocking the roots. I also wanted the QR code as the only information at the moment on the plant, because Its easy to follow and will lead you directly to the page on this site where you find information on how to take care of the dinner plate aralia. So the idea here si that the LED light is going to peak trough the hole at the top, so it looks like it has a face at the top. Because I coded the face to be happy when its satisfied with the moist in the dirt, so the user are capable of seeing what type of condition the plant are in, even though the plant do water it self.

48

Putting it all together

So now I have the micro:bit, my 3D printed “Dinner Plate Aralia” – sign, and my laser cutted sign. Now I have to fix it up all together somehow. My first mission was to attach the micro:bit with the self-watering system to the laser-cutted sign, and all the measurement that I had been taken it was fitting perfectly, but I did not had in mind that the wires at the front would look so bulky. So they are kind of everywhere. I had to make some adjustment to think of something clever to hide the wires in a way, but still be functional to work. The laser cutted sign did not have the QR-code on it, and I don’t know why. When I picked it up at school, it was supposed to have the QR code beneath the name of the plant. It was a bit of a bummer, and I found it a bit strange since I saw others in my class have the QR-code on it. I decided I print out the QR-code and glue it on instead since my QR-code was not included in the carving. Another problem occurred when I tried to scan the QR-code that I had creating trough this website, since you had to pay a monthly sum for the code to still stay active it had been deactivated. But I did actually liked the paper version better, since the phone could apparently not read the QR code that was laser cutted into the surface. But at least now it is readable, its just not activated.

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The finished product

When I first started this project, I was not sure about what I would end up as a product. If I was able to code my own self watering system or create a sign that is user friendly and understandable. When we were given our cohorts, I thought we would co-operate more than we did, but in these times that was difficult. Documenting every week of this process has been challenging, and I felt independent during the whole process with minimal of tutoring and guidance. Not using the cohort (Bravo 2) that much, an making a lot of the decisions myself because of the corona virus which limited the options on user testing. Finding it interesting to be a part of this whole process. From just a simple plant, to now; a plant that water itself, has a name, a QR code with all the information on (including the link to this page, so the user can read the whole diary). I started writing this diary in English because I also wanted to take the opportunity to become better at writing English, we also have other subjects that are in English so I decided it would be better for my own learning ( a lot of the terms are in English).

As you might see on the photo I have now a bit bigger plant, I have the 3D-printed sign (which I decided to cut into three parts, which I am still unsure if I need in the pot), a laser cutted stand the micro:bit is inside with a self watering system that waters once a week. If the plant is try it has a sad face, and if the plant is pleased with moisture it has a happy face. A detail, when starting the micro:bit, turning on the battery package, it will have a short bleep an scroll the plant name across the screen. I might take the 3D printed sign away for now, it can be a bit repetitive. The laser cutted sign I am unfortunately not as pleased as I thought I might had been. I had some different visions in my head, but this failing was because I did not carboard prototype this type, I did not prototype it to hold the micro:bit. I did just prototype it do be a sign, and thinking the measurements would do. Ive learned that I always prototype, even tough I did prototype the first time I shouldve prototyped this part as well.

There is of course a lot of different ways to do things, and specially when it comes to a project like this that is over such a long time. You have to figure out how to do things on your own as well, since there were limited with instruction and tutoring. I felt that I have learned a lot looking back, but being in the heat of the moment making these things I was kind of blind in my own project. I will say that I missed a little more that we in the cohort met a bit more and worked more together. That is something I will take with me further, and now I know till next time. So using the resources I have is something I could get better at. Thinking more as a team and less as an individual, even though it was an individual project we still could have communicated more. We actually talked about this in the cohort, and everyone did agree that we should’ve used each other a bit more that we actually did. We eventually worked together a couple of us in the cohort since we both felt the need to. I could also have spent more time in the design process, and by that, I mean sketching even more, taking more measures and again making more prototypes.

Through this semester I have learned a lot about the whole process from beginning with an idea to having the finished product. All the stages in between, and all the phases. Connecting the subject to other subjects I got this semester and being able to use what I have learned in practice. I now know how to make a prototype and conduct a correct user testing process. I have also learned about the difference between additive and subtractive prototyping, in the way that we 3D printed (additive) and laser cutting (subtractive). Also, that producing these things we are still sustainable in the way that we are trying to use materials that are in less harm to the environment. I have also learned were to put the focus when making a prototype, a minimum viable product. I used a lot of focus on making the design look good, with colors and thinking how the product will look like. Rather than having focus on usability and functionality, which I should’ve had more focus on. I have also learned about the different methods used in user testing, and conduct a properly user testing were I decided to use the method think-aloud and interview based user testing.

You can see that the plant have grown a little bit bigger, but I talked to another one in the class having the same plant talking about a “prison-pot” at the roots of the plant to prevent it from growing. I did not take this off, and just left it with the plant. This “prison-pot” is preventing it from growing to its fullest. As you can see on the photo down below you have the whole finished product. You can also notice that the wires is kind of everywhere and this is something I didn’t have in mind earlier when working with the prototypes and micro:bit. But when I putted it together with my laser cutted sign I discovered this, and then it was a bit to late. You can also see the QR code I glued on and works perfectly well, just isn’t activated since it was a cost to keep it activated. After analyzing and combining the feedback I got through user testing this is what I ended up with.

“Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it.”

Sources:

https://www.mashrita.com/product/buy-aralia-dinner-plate-plant-online/

https://microbit.org/

https://www.researchcatalogue.net/portal/faq

https://www.scribbr.com/research-process/problem-statement/