This week, we needed to elaborate a list of materials and requirements that will be used in the future. In order to do that, we conducted an interview with a project manager at Mecwide SA.
We presented the problem we committed ourselves to solve, and our proposal for a solution was considered “definitely a viable option”. During the conversation, we started a deep dive into our proposal, and he seemed uncertain about the need for multiple stages/angles for the lateral slats, forcing us to rethink, as a collective, the need for said stages. As a group, we were also uncertain as to what material we should use in the prototype. The engineer advised us to use PVC, since it is resistant and much cheaper when compared to other options, such as aluminium for example. When talking about the different sensors we were thinking of adding in the product, he alerted us to a concern we, as product developers, had not thought about. The addition of more sensors implies that more maintenance will be required, so we should only implement sensors that are crucial to the product. This forced us to rethink the use for each of the sensors and how crucial they are. Although it is not the main aim of this project, he suggested that as product inventors/sellers we provide said maintenance as it would create a dependency to us, making our product and our services linked and creating more revenue in the long run.
When talking about a possible solution for values of temperature and humidity beyond a certain threshold (to be determined experimentally), he suggested we implement a auxiliary app for monitoring the entire process, and when said thresholds were surpassed the user would receive a notification that would inform them that the current extreme climatic conditions make our product somewhat obsolete and advise the user accordingly. We have decided as a group to move forward with this idea as, we think, would add value to our product.
Finally, he advised for our next steps in the development of the prototype:
This conversation was crucial for our product development as it gave a deep inside on everything we did right and everything we can still improve. The engineer has offered to continue to give his valuable advice and insights for the remainder of the development of our prototype and product.