Testing Your Design for Recycling® Solution

In this activity, you will prepare to share your Design for Recycling® Solution prototype with others and get their feedback to improve your redesigned product.

Materials:

• A device with internet access (or a mobile device with a data plan)
• Article - Technical Brief: Design for Recycling® - Sections 1 & 2
• Article - Technical Brief Rubric: Design for Recycling® - Sections 1 & 2

Safety Notes:

• Follow all protocols and policies established by your instructor or schools when interacting with community members or mentors. 
• Be sure to wear goggles and use other PPE if you cut materials, heat materials, grind materials, or use power tools to construct your prototypes while 

Procedure:

Part 1: Create a prototype of your redesigned product. 

Using the resources available to you, create a prototype of your solution. It might not match your ideas completely, but it should help bring your ideas to life for your users and allow you to test them relative to Sections 1 & 2 on the Technical Brief.  Your prototype should include at least two of the following models:

• A 3-D model
• A 2-D drawing or map
• A digital representation (e.g., photos)
• A physical model

The one key piece your prototype MUST have is a way for people to interact with it and give you feedback. Remember, you are not building the prototype as a final project to get a grade - you are making your prototype to test it out and see what’s working and what ideas need to be improved or completely discarded and reworked!

• Your prototype doesn’t have to model all parts of your solution, but it must let you test the parts you believe are the most important, the most exciting, and the most different. 
• Document your prototype by taking pictures or a short video. These digital artifacts can easily be inserted into your Article - Technical Brief: Design for Recycling® and will be valuable when you create your Pitch.
• Describe your prototype's critical features (shape/dimensions) on your answer document.
• Capture what you learned through building your prototype and the changes you made along the way in Section 4 of your Technical Brief. 

Part 2: Prepare to Test Your Prototype and Gather Feedback

Using the resources available, test your prototype by showing it to your class and, if possible, to community members or mentors who might use your solution before finalizing your design.  Develop a feedback plan with your team. Your plan should include the following:  

1. Who will introduce your prototype to testers? How will they do it?
2. Describe what you will ask your testers to do with your prototype. Do you want them to look at it, or do you want them to interact with it?
3. List the questions you want them to answer about your prototype.
4. List the prototype testing tasks for each team member on your answer document. Practice your plan before you test your prototype with others.

There is a tremendous opportunity to learn so much from others about your decision, but don’t be surprised if they also ask you some questions about what you have learned along the way. To prepare you for the unexpected, consider how you might answer these questions: 

• I wonder what would happen if you changed.....
• How did working in a team help you with.....
• I noticed that your team included ________. Can you explain your thinking to me?
• What do you know now that you didn't know before you started this challenge?
• What advice would you give to a new team of students doing this challenge?

Part 3: Test Your Prototype according to your team's plan.

Be sure to share your ideas and experiences on social media!  #JASONLearning #ReMA #Designfor Recycling