Welcome to Nova – Next Big Thing¶
Welcome to Next Big Thing¶
This Nova Award explores the world of product design, which involves balancing time, cost, and quality to create something new, usually a product that will be sold to consumers or other businesses.
Note
What is product design?
Industrial Designers work to make the objects in our lives more usable. We design for people, solving important problems with unexpected solutions. The very informative site diy.org offers a number of fun activities (of varying difficulties) to learn about product design.
How Product Design can change the world?
Warning
When completing this Award both the youth and involved adult leaders must obey all rules of Safe Scouting. This includes (1) Completing Cyber Chip training prior to starting this activity and (2) ALWAYS involve at least 2 adults in all your communications with a leader, including online. If you send an email to your counselor, always add the address of another adult leader or a parent/guardian. Never reply to a message sent by an adult leader unless another adult has been copied on the email. Report any issue to your parents/guardians!
Instructions¶
Identify a Nova Counselor either within your unit, district, or council.
This site provides you a platform for learning and you can easily follow all requirements using the navigation menu on the left.
Once you have identified a Counselor, you can start working on requirements.
The most important aspect in any scientific endeavor is to properly document progress. This will be done, here, using a google sheet as described in more details below.
Documenting your progress¶
You can use the template below to report completion. To work on this Nova Award, you can also use a detailed worksheet provided by the BSA. Click here to have access. The file below is used to record approval.
A template worksheet can be found here. This is a Google document. You will not be able to modify it until you make your own copy as I will now describe for you.
Once you have opened the file on google doc, go to
File\(\rightarrow\)Make a Copy.Save the file with the following name: Nova_designed_to_crunch_FIRSTNAME_LASTNAME
You will use that file to enter your progress and share with your counselor.
- You can share your own copy of the worksheet with your counselor using the following procedure.
Click on the SHARE button on the top-right.
Click on “get link”.
Send the link to your counselor.
Note
This document provides you a guide to complete the Nova award! All requirements are marked with the following symbol: \(\boxed{\mathbb{REQ}\Large \rightsquigarrow}\). In addition, a number of fun Additional Challenges are provided in boxes for your entertainment.
Requirement #1: Research and Reading¶
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What is a product? Until recently, the term was used only in relation to something material and often found in a retail store. Nowadays, it is coming to mean digital products as well. Apps and websites are modern products. When it comes to building great products, design is the most important “feature.” We’ve moved into the stage where product design dominates — it’s what sets companies apart and gives a real edge over competitors. Whether you’re a designer, developer, product manager, program manager, marketing manager or project manager, it’s essential to understand (and have a reference guide to) the product development process in order to create your best work (This note is inspired by this article).
\(\boxed{\mathbb{REQ}\Large \rightsquigarrow}\) Choose A or B or C and complete ALL the requirements.
Watch not less than three hours total of shows or documentaries that involve the creation of new products. This can include entrepreneurship, innovation, new technology, and/or engineering design. Then do the following:
Make a list of at least five questions or ideas from the shows you watched.
Discuss two of the questions or ideas with your counselor.
Read not less than three hours total about product design. Then do the following:
Make a list of at least five questions or ideas from the articles you read.
Discuss two of the questions or ideas with your counselor.
Do a combination of reading and watching, not less than three hours total. Then do the following:
Make a list of at least five questions or ideas from the articles you read or the shows you watched.
Discuss two of the questions or ideas with your counselor.
Tip
Some examples include - but are not limited to - shows found on PBS (“NOVA”), Discovery Channel, Science Channel, National Geographic Channel, TED Talks (online videos), and the History Channel. You may choose to watch a live performance or movie at a planetarium or science museum instead of watching a media production. You may watch online productions with your counselor’s approval and under your parent’s or guardian’s supervision.
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Here are some suggestions of documents to watch to learn more about Design.
#1: Indoor Skydiving: Human Flight, No Plane Required:7 steps to create a new product
#2: Signs that you have a good idea
#3: The First Step Every Inventor Should Take
#4: How to come up with a good idea
#5 The History of Thomas Edison - a Short Story
#6: Thomas Edison: Father Of Invention
Attention
Once you have completed this requirement, make sure you document it in your worksheet!
Requirement #2: Merit Badge¶
\(\boxed{\mathbb{REQ}\Large \rightsquigarrow}\) Complete ONE merit badge from the following list. (Choose one that you have not already used for another Nova award.) After completion, discuss with your counselor how it relates to fluid dynamics.
American Business
Architecture
Composite Materials
Digital Technology
Drafting
Electronics
Engineering
Inventing
Model Design and Building
Attention
Once you have completed this requirement, make sure you document it in your worksheet!
Requirement #3: Hands-on Activities¶
\(\boxed{\mathbb{REQ}\Large \rightsquigarrow}\) Complete four of the activities below.
Explore product innovation
Examine one product and at least two different versions of that product. Create a list of the differences between the designs. Discuss with your counselor the differences and what you think each difference is trying to solve.
Tip
What is innovation?
Innovation is a new or improved product or process (or a combination thereof) that differs significantly from the unit’s previous products or processes and that has been made available to potential users (product) or brought into use by the unit (process) (according to this site.)
There are different types of innovations (check out the site referenced above for more information):
Organizational innovation: development of a new organizational strategy that will change business practice (for example, the adoption of a 4-day workweek).
Process innovation: implementing a new or improved production or delivery approach (for example, using statistical data to decide on train schedule).
Product innovation: introduction of a new or improved good or service (for example, the first electric vehicles).
Marketing innoation: developing a new marketing strategy that produces changes in the way a product is designed or packed.
Eco-innovation: innovation resulting in significant progress towards the 2030 goals sustainable development established by the United Nations
Research prototyping methods
Find and explain the differences between a “works-like” and “looks-like” prototype. Learn the reasons and applications where one method would be chosen over the other. Research different ways and costs of having a product professionally prototyped. Explore the reasons why one method would be chosen over another. Discuss and explain your findings with your counselor
Tip
What is prototyping?
According to the Interaction Design Foundation, prototyping is an experimental process where design teams implement ideas into tangible forms from paper to digital. Teams build prototypes of varying degrees of fidelity to capture design concepts and test on users. With prototypes, you can refine and validate your designs so your brand can release the right products. Learn more by visiting the site!
Market research
Research and understand the terms: market size, business plan, value proposition, elevator pitch, cost-effective design, and ethnographic research ¬specifically in reference to product design. Discuss with your counselor what these terms mean and why they are important for a product designer to understand, and how they affect the design of a product.
Practice brainstorming
Examine different brainstorming methods. Choose a product you have used or a situation you have experienced. Using one method you found, brainstorm various ways to improve the product or situation. You do not have to brainstorm designs, just ways to improve the design. Present your list to your counselor and discuss.
Tip
What is brainstorming?
Learn about and practice “Painstorming”
Research “painstorming”: what it is and how it is done? Choose a product you have used or a situation you have experienced and “painstorm” for at least 15 minutes. Do not think of designs to solve the pains, just list as many pains as you can. Present your list of pains to your counselor and discuss.
Tip
What is painstorming?
According to this website, painstorming is a method of brainstorming problems and pains in an industry, environment, activity, or within a group of people and then generating business ideas that solve those problems.
Basic process:: think of a specific subject or area, come up with all the things you hate about that subject/activity/etc., and come up with solutions to those pains.
Inventors
Choose a historical or modern inventor who interests you, and research them and their inventions. If possible, learn about the iterations their product went through before it became successful. Discuss with your counselor the researcher and their inventions, as well as why you chose that person.
Tip
Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman who has been described as America’s greatest inventor. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures.
One of the most famous and prolific inventors of all time, Thomas Alva Edison exerted a tremendous influence on modern life, contributing inventions such as the incandescent light bulb, the phonograph, and the motion picture camera, as well as improving the telegraph and telephone. (source: here, check it out for more information)
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Why should you always prototype multiple designs?
As explained on this site, 5,127 is the number of prototypes that James Dyson claims to have created trying to perfect his bagless vacuum cleaner. Five thousand, one hundred and twenty seven. You see designing stuff is a messy business. Some ideas work out, some don’t. It’s only through a certain amount of trial and error (or in James Dyson’s case, a lot of trial and error), that you end up with a great design. This is why it’s so important to always, always prototype and user test multiple designs.
Attention
Once you have completed this requirement, make sure you document it in your worksheet!
Requirement #4: Product Design¶
\(\boxed{\mathbb{REQ}\Large \rightsquigarrow}\) Do ALL of the following requirements.
Using either “painstorming” or brainstorming, design a new product. Create a 3D model of your design with modeling software or sketch your design. Some common CAD programs with free student versions include Autodesk Inventor, Catia, CREO, Google SketchUp, and Solid Works.
Discuss your design and reasons for your choices with your counselor. Explain your 3D model or sketches, and what your next steps would be to make the product a reality.
Hint
Free resources from Creo. OnShape is a pure Cloud based 3D modeling tool that will run on anything - laptop, Chromebook, tablet. Great way for kids and teachers to learn modeling. There is a free version for students and teachers you can find here.
Example of onshape screenshot, image obtained from onshape.com.¶
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What is CAD? CAD stands for Computer Aided Design.
Here is a very quick introduction to what CAD is.
Attention
Once you have completed this requirement, make sure you document it in your worksheet!
Requirement #5: Visit¶
\(\boxed{\mathbb{REQ}\Large \rightsquigarrow}\) Do ALL of the following requirements.
Visit a company/school/institution where new products are being developed.
Talk to someone there about how they use product design in their work. Prepare at least five questions to ask the person you talk to, and discuss their answers with your counselor.
Discuss with your counselor how products are being designed at the destination you
Note
The most amazing innovations of all time: a great 7-minute video presentation!
Attention
Once you have completed this requirement, make sure you document it in your worksheet!
Requirement #6: Product design @ Life¶
\(\boxed{\mathbb{REQ}\Large \rightsquigarrow}\) Reflect on your experiences during the completion of these requirements with your counselor. Discuss with your counselor how product design affects your everyday life, and what you have learned while working on this Nova.
Steps to increase your creativity in everydya life!
Attention
Once you have completed this requirement, make sure you document it in your worksheet!
About the author¶
These pages were written by Vincent Meunier, the Chair of the STEM committee of Twin Rivers Council in New York State.
Vincent Meunier is a Professor of physics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. If you have any questions, feel free to contact him by email.
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Most of the material used here was obtained from a number of external scouting sources, including scouting.org
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Product design describes the process of imagining, creating, and iterating products that solve users’ problems or address specific needs in a given market.
The key to successful product design is an understanding of the end-user customer, the person for whom the product is being created. Product designers attempt to solve real problems for real people by using both empathy and knowledge of their prospective customers’ habits, behaviors, frustrations, needs, and wants (text adapted from this site)
