The Year 8 $20 Boss project was a project which lasted for the first 20 weeks of 2021. It consisted of making a business to then participate in sales in our market on the 16th of June. It was a huge journey, and it showed many obstacles and challenges. The sales market was a successful and enjoyable day for everyone and provided us with the stability for our project.
The Process
It all began, with brainstorming about the Design Thinking Process. We got into temporary groups, which we all thought about how it would impact the future of this project. We then began the design sprint, which would assist us all throughout the semester, by providing us with guidance and ideas for our coming group/company. After this, our groups formed, and we began our business. My group consisted of Matthew Mondello, Jayden Ooi and Kanin Hoar. We later produced the company ‘The Good Wood’ and got started on our products and business as a whole.
Our Products and Capabilities
Our products were wooden coasters, made and produced from the laser cutting machine in the hangar. We had six different designs, and we sold approx. 50 wooden coasters. We also received feedback, with ideas including wall art or placemats, to sell along with our coasters. Our coasters were varnished to become spill-proof and increase the quality of our product. Overall, our products could be varied in many ways, and we can improve for our next market to come.
There were many capabilities we needed in order to succeed in our project. Some of these included creativity and resilience. We had to show our creativity, in designing and rethinking our products. This assisted us in the design and prototyping stages of our project. We also had to show resilience, through the many downfalls of our business. This included varying many different factors, including our original ideas, and protocols.
The Design Thinking Process
The Design Thinking Process is many steps in order to innovate. This process has helped us to guide us through the journey of innovation and creating/funding a business or company. Some of the steps that I can reflect on through the use of it in our project are..
Empathise: We did this, by finding our target audience, and relating this to our ideas.
Define: We defined the question, our products, to further provide and move forward in the project.
Ideate: We ideated by generating many ideas, and narrowing down until we found the right product for us.
Prototype: We prototyped our product to sell, and receive feedback to apply to our designs.
