Future Ready Tech Challenge
+400 Points
$10,000
Today’s industries are seeking creative ways of improving career readiness. They’re witnessing more students leave high school without knowing what is next, or how to navigate college or training. Many students have access to immersive tech, and industries are invested in using it to help them navigate their career. In this Challenge, you’ll address the question:
How can high school students use cutting-edge tech (e.g., AR,VR, XR & AI) to explore and choose their best fit career and/or training path (college or technical program)?
This Challenge is open from October 2 - November 3, 2023
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Skills you'll develop
- Problem Solving
- Social Awareness
- Communication
Create
You're ready to CREATE a prototype of your idea. This is what you'll use to explain your brilliant idea to people -- and the judges! Follow the suggestions for the type of solution you're creating: an immersive learning technology product for underserved, underrepresented and/or disabled students OR a marketing campaign to convince teacher or administrators at your school to leverage the power of immersive technologies in one or more subject areas.
Create a Product
It's time to get creative and CREATE a prototype of your idea. This is what you'll use to explain your awesome solution! By the end of the Create phase, you should be able to:
Show your Design Brief
Explain how you created your prototype(s)
Share your feedback and demonstrate how you revised your prototype(s)
Be ready to create your video pitch
Understand the Create Phase for a Product
⏱️Time: 4-5 Hours (Week 3 of Challenge)
✏️Use the optional KNOtebook to record your ideas
💼 Mentor: Get feedback from a mentor, and others, on your prototype
🎯 Future Ready Skills: Problem-Solving, Collaboration
Product Design
In this phase, you'll create a concept for a new or improved product. Perhaps an app? A game? An everyday item?
Meet a Product Professional
Yay! You’re Yay! You’re going to create a new product! First, let’s meet someone who creates new products.
A Great Product
Consider what makes a product great. Explore the Five Levels of the Product Pyramid to understand some of the characteristics.
Product Planning: A Design Brief
Before you start designing, it's helpful to do a bit of planning. A Design Brief helps you know where you’re headed. See what you need to know about your product.
You may wish to use this Google Doc Design Brief, which is also in your KNOtebook.
Prototyping
Prototyping Example
Prototyping is a process of developing a new product through the physical representation of an idea. Prototypes come in all sizes and shapes, and the type of prototype you create will depend on what you’re trying to learn about your idea and what stage you are in of the process.
Prototyping is an iterative process and involves the following:
Types of Prototypes
With a general plan in hand, you’re ready to make your ideas tangible with a prototype! Designing a new product involves an iterative process, so don’t get too attached to your ideas - they may change - several times!
There are a lot of ways to prototype. Here are some you might consider.
Paper Prototype
Paper Prototype
Paper prototypes might be sketches and diagrams drawn quickly on a napkin or using a ruler and pen, but you don’t need to be an artist! A paper prototype is useful at the beginning of the process of conceptualizing a new product, enabling you to create multiple versions of your idea quickly.
Storyboard/Wireframe
Storyboard/Wireframe
Storyboards can communicate a concept by visualizing user interactions and telling a story. A wireframe is a storyboard for an app or website, and is useful for developing the navigation, structure, and placement of content. Wireframes can also be clickable, linking several static wireframes.
Role Play
Role Play
Role plays are useful for certain ideas, like you saw in the example video. Some designers are now also using virtual or augmented reality to prototype their ideas as a “walk through” experience.
Digital Prototype
Digital Prototype
Digital prototypes are computer-aided creations of a design, used to simulate and communicate designs. Digital prototypes have the benefit of the ability to be modified in real-time.
Physical Model
Physical Model
A prototype model can be made with anything from Legos to clay to wood to craft paper to a 3D-printed model. It doesn't need to have working parts—it just gives a rough idea of the design. Models work well for creating scaled concepts before producing something on a large-scale.
Working Model
Working Model
A working model prototype allows you to test the idea of a product to see if it actually functions the way you intended. This is useful for mechanized inventions or other designs with features that need to move or fit a certain way.Prototyping Tools
Using your Design Brief as a guide and your selected materials, determine which part of your product you’d like to prototype first and how you’d like to prototype, then start creating! Consider using any of the following tools:
Building materials: Great for prototyping processes, infrastructures, and work flows and just fun for everyone
Recyclables: Take something apart and use the parts for your prototype or dig into your recycling bin and see what you can use.
Video: A short and scrappy video can go a long way to communicate anything
Paper, cardboard: Sketching, drawing, diagramming, building
Digital Prototoyping Tools
Testing & Feedback
Now that you have your first prototype, it's time to share it and get feedback so that you can improve it.
Take a look at an example of creating a testing plan to get feedback.
Testing Suggestions
Getting Feedback
Consider using any of the following methods to structure and organize your feedback-gathering process.
Iterative Process
Iterating
After you get feedback, it’s time to make changes to your prototype or prototype another part of your product. Remember, the goal is not for your prototypes to be universally loved. The goal is to get as much feedback as you can to help you make your concept better. Continue to prototype, test, and iterate as much as you can, until you are satisfied with your prototype. This may be a multi-day process and is not to be rushed.
Mentor Moment
Get feedback from a professional who will be judging your project!
Consider how you will test and get feedback from a mentor who may be reviewing your prototype online and giving written feedback. Depending on what you create as prototypes, you could scan, take a photo, or capture video to share and get feedback. You may want to use the “I Like, I Wish, What If...” or the grid method.
Get feedback on your prototype now!
PRO Criteria
Continue to prototype, test, and iterate, as time allows and you feel happy with your final prototype.
Make sure your prototype demonstrates that your idea is:
Purposeful: Addresses the problem
Results: Will have an impact
Original: Is unique from everything that already exists or builds on something in a new way
Next Steps
Ready to Move On?
Do you feel prepared to create your video pitch? Can you show and explain the following. If so, great for you! The hard part is over now you get to share your idea!
Prototype Plan
Prototype Plan
How did you plan your prototype? Share and explain your plan with someone. Did you use it to guide your process? Did you change it?
Prototype Creation
Prototype Creation
How did you create your prototype? What materials did you use? What was challenging? How did you overcome those challenges? Show the different prototypes that you created.
