Mouse Trap
Project time: 1 month
Introduction to Product Design
Brief:
Design, manufacture, and sell an object for a maximum of $7
Development
In teams of two, we had to develop and manufacture a product to sell for $7. The goal was to create at least 10 units and turn a profit.
We wanted to sell to our peers, and one pain point we noticed was computer mice. Mouse pads are cumbersome to carry and computer mice often got damaged in backpacks.
Prototyping
Our product had to work well, use materials efficiently, and be easy to manufacture. We iterated through multiple versions in order to achieve these goals.
Manufacturing
We created an order of operations to ensure that we could make all 17 units in our limited timeframe.
Selling
We sold 17 units for $7
Our revenue was $119
This means our profit was $59.59.
Overall, this project taught us less about physical building skills and more about design philosophy: working together, getting feedback, and overcoming problems along the way were all necessary parts of the process.