Chapter 8: Testing and Evaluating
1A. The tests we could develop in order to evaluate the success of our design work would be to test if it is water resistant, able to keep pests out, and easily opened by pets. These would be effective ways to test the success of our product because our bowl is said to be relatively indestructible. Along with this, our staple idea is to keep water and ants out from your pets bowl and away from their food.
1B. The kinds of tests engineers use to test product materials for tensile strength, fatigue, and hardness would be, putting the material through a test drop where you test if the product will survive being dropped from certain heights. Another test that engineers do would be putting the product through many crushing experiments where you check to see how much weight the product can handle before breaking.
1C. Product testing typically includes looking at aesthetics, ergonomics, safety, and durability because this is the quality that product buyers are most concerned in. Customers do not wish to buy products that will make their house look ugly and or won't last long making them buy the same product over and over again.
1D. Assessing the way in which we go about our work helps us evaluate our own design work because we can notice if all the tests we practiced would make an efficient product for our customers.
1B. The kinds of tests engineers use to test product materials for tensile strength, fatigue, and hardness would be, putting the material through a test drop where you test if the product will survive being dropped from certain heights. Another test that engineers do would be putting the product through many crushing experiments where you check to see how much weight the product can handle before breaking.
1C. Product testing typically includes looking at aesthetics, ergonomics, safety, and durability because this is the quality that product buyers are most concerned in. Customers do not wish to buy products that will make their house look ugly and or won't last long making them buy the same product over and over again.
1D. Assessing the way in which we go about our work helps us evaluate our own design work because we can notice if all the tests we practiced would make an efficient product for our customers.
2. The materials that will make up our bowl would be stainless steel, the actual dome will be made up of durable plastic, while the weight pad will be made up of rubber.We chose these materials because the stainless steel will last longer under tougher conditions such as being thrown around by your dog. The plastic would be used because any other material would be either to heavy and rough or to light and smooth. Finally rubber would be the most effective when dealing with the weight pad because it will be softer and provide more cushion to the dogs paws. We do believe that the materials we used for our product will be sufficient because it is all overall easy to use and easy for your pet to figure out.
3. Our bowl was made in order to fit the aesthetics already created by the house owner. The reason our bowl will fit the aesthetics already created by the house owner is the fact that our customers have the option of custom making the bowl therefore whatever design they chose will correlate with the colors of the customers home. As a team we decided that when in stores our bowls will have a variety in colors as well. The reasoning behind this is that we are aware that not everyone has internet access but they still deserve the opportunity to chose the color bowl they wish to have in their home.
4. The ergonomics of our bowl involves being the right size for whatever the size of your pet may be. It also involves having the rubber be soft on the the doggies paws. The plastic dome will be easy to fold in itself with ease so it shouldn't be a problem when being handled by people.
5. Our product has the materials that will make extremely durable it will last you many years. The impact our durability has on our prices isn't much because we know that in order to actually make profit we will need to have are bowls be affordable.
6.
-1. The surface does not have sharp edges in order to protect the dog from harm
-2. The weight pad is cushiony and will always be made with rubber
-3. The actual inside of the bowl is thermally insulated meaning that when the dogs food is covered it will neither get hot or cold.
-4. The rubber bad will be soft for the dogs paw and yet durable so that your pets nail don't get stuck to the fabric.
-5. The build up of our bowl will be very simple not to many gimmicks that would make our product look a mess.
-6. Our bowl will be approximately 7 pounds
-7. Our bowl is for both inside and outside
-8. Bowl can sustain enough food to feed two pets
-9. The bowl is easy to understand on its own but instructions will still be provided
-10. The bowl and weight pad are detachable so you will be able to wash both items separately.
-1. The surface does not have sharp edges in order to protect the dog from harm
-2. The weight pad is cushiony and will always be made with rubber
-3. The actual inside of the bowl is thermally insulated meaning that when the dogs food is covered it will neither get hot or cold.
-4. The rubber bad will be soft for the dogs paw and yet durable so that your pets nail don't get stuck to the fabric.
-5. The build up of our bowl will be very simple not to many gimmicks that would make our product look a mess.
-6. Our bowl will be approximately 7 pounds
-7. Our bowl is for both inside and outside
-8. Bowl can sustain enough food to feed two pets
-9. The bowl is easy to understand on its own but instructions will still be provided
-10. The bowl and weight pad are detachable so you will be able to wash both items separately.
Evolution of Design Process
A pet bowl is an every day item, but it does not necessarily mean it is easy to create. Because we are adding a dome to the top of it we had to undergo a long series of trial and error.
Firstly, we wanted to make the dome all one piece. We soon realized that one whole dome piece would simply not work because the durable plastic would not allow for a smooth curving under the bowl.
Then we thought of possibly making the shape into a rectangular box and having an automatic door, but it would interfere with our marketing strategy. Our whole brand revolves around a snow globe feel, and you simply cannot make a box a globe.
Finally we settled upon keeping our original design, but with a twist. We had the dome consist of two sides and to make sure it opens on time we added a weight pad to the bottom of it.
Product Description
Our pet bowl is available in three different sizes to suit the size of your pet. The weight pad of the bowl is made out of rubber. This pad will stick out 5 inches around the whole bowl. This being so that your pet will be able to access their food from anywhere around the bowl.The weight pad will include a three minute timer which will signal the dome to open and close at your pets' leisure. The center of the base (made of plastic) will have an easily accessible battery slot. This will have enough room for two AA batteries. The bowl itself will be made of stainless steel coated in different colors as to best suit your likes. On top of this, there will be two halves that come together to make one dome, again made of plastic. The back side will stay in the same standard position. The front side will be a little shorter and will move back and forth, covering your pets' food.
Quality of Product
As stated above, our three materials that will be used are polystyrene plastic, stainless steel, and silicone rubber. Although these may be a bit pricey, it just goes to show that we are choosing materials that are worth your money. The polystyrene plastic is the same kind they use to make toys, so most consumers will be accustomed to that material and how it works. Stainless steel is another material that our consumers will be comfortable using because it is a very common household item. This material is used to make kitchen supplies, sinks, and more everyday items. Silicone rubber is a strong yet softer type of rubber that will not be too rough on your pets' paws, but is strong enough to withstand hard conditions.
Form and Function
The bowl will already be put together for easy use. The only thing the buyer must do is buy two AA batteries aside from the bowl itself. The dome will already have the timer installed and automatically set to three minutes. The dome will stay open as long as the animal is stepping on the weight pad. Once there is no sense of there being an animal near the bowl, the dome will close within three minutes. Again there are two sides to the dome. The back side will stay in the same position and the front side will move back and forth as needed. These pieces will function together to ensure that your pets' food will stay dry and free from any pests.
Marketing Strategy
Although this will be useful to anyone who owns a pet, our focus will go towards family units with children. This represents a group that spends above the average amount of money on their pets. This will rely on the type of market and advertising techniques we use. By looking at our website now, you can see that we are also selling our product online. This is better than what most of our competitors do, judging by the fact that most only sell their products in stores.
Testing and Evaluating
As seen above, we changed two ideas of our bowl in order to finalize our design. By testing each one we realized that our bowl needed to have multiple dome sections and that it need to stay in a typical bowl shape. Aside from this we tested a five minute timer. This was successful when it wad put up against rain; however ants were still able to enter the bowl. By changing it to a three minute timer, we were able to close the bowl in time so that no rain or ants could enter the bowl and render the food useless.