Blog Entry 2

Welcome back to my blog! This is my second time writing a blog and I will be sharing the things I learned in week 4.

In week 4, we were introduced to SCAMPER 😱. SCAMPER is a quick, easy and direct form of creative brainstorming. You use it by asking questions about existing products, using each of the seven prompts above. These questions help you come up with creative ideas for developing new products, and for improving current ones.

SCAMPER is an acronym that stands for:

S - Substitution

C - Combine

A - Adapt

M - Modify

P - Put to Another Use

E - Eliminate

R - Reverse

My group's SCAMPER progress and outcome

Thanks to the guiding questions given for each letters of SCAMPER, it made it easier for my group to come up with new ideas using SCAMPER. 

My group came up with 4 new ideas using 3 out of the 7 letters in SCAMPER. We used Subsitute, Combine and Reverse.

The 4 ideas we came up with are:

1. Substitute coconut fibre with banana corm
2. Substitute sand with calcite
3. Combine rice husk with coconut fibre
4. Reverse the order of the raw materials used in the water filtration kit

Feasible Analysis

During the idea screening process, my group also used the feasible table to help us check if our ideas are feasible and manageable. By doing so, it also helps us narrow down our ideas and help us achieve the best idea.

Idea : Substitute coconut fibre with banana peels	Yes	No	NA
Budget - less than $2000	✔
Project Timeline- can it be completed within one semester?	✔
Technical feasibility - Evaluate the technical feasibility of the project
Is the project feasible within the limits of current technology?	✔
Does the technology exist at all?	✔
Does the lab have sufficient space to support the project?	✔
Are the required utilities available?	✔
Does the lab have necessary testing and fabrication equipment?	✔
Does it need any computer software and hardware?		✔
Do we possess the necessary technical expertise and skills?	✔
Operational feasibility
Does the project team have sufficient manpower to carry out the project?	✔
Is it legal to operate the project?	✔
Is it safe to operate the project?	✔

Idea : Substitute sand with calcite	Yes	No	NA
Budget - less than $2000	✔
Project Timeline- can it be completed within one semester?	✔
Technical feasibility - Evaluate the technical feasibility of the project
Is the project feasible within the limits of current technology?	✔
Does the technology exist at all?	✔
Does the lab have sufficient space to support the project?	✔
Are the required utilities available?		✔
Does the lab have necessary testing and fabrication equipment?		✔
Does it need any computer software and hardware?		✔
Do we possess the necessary technical expertise and skills?		✔
Operational feasibility
Does the project team have sufficient manpower to carry out the project?	✔
Is it legal to operate the project?	✔
Is it safe to operate the project?	✔

Idea : Combine rice husk with coconut fibres	Yes	No	NA
Budget - less than $2000	✔
Project Timeline- can it be completed within one semester?	✔
Technical feasibility - Evaluate the technical feasibility of the project	✔
Is the project feasible within the limits of current technology?	✔
Does the technology exist at all?	✔
Does the lab have sufficient space to support the project?	✔
Are the required utilities available?	✔
Does the lab have necessary testing and fabrication equipment?	✔
Does it need any computer software and hardware?		✔
Do we possess the necessary technical expertise and skills?	✔
Operational feasibility
Does the project team have sufficient manpower to carry out the project?	✔
Is it legal to operate the project?	✔
Is it safe to operate the project?	✔

Idea : Reverse the order of the raw materials used in the water filtration kit	Yes	No	NA
Budget - less than $2000	✔
Project Timeline- can it be completed within one semester?	✔
Technical feasibility - Evaluate the technical feasibility of the project
Is the project feasible within the limits of current technology?	✔
Does the technology exist at all?	✔
Does the lab have sufficient space to support the project?	✔
Are the required utilities available?		✔
Does the lab have necessary testing and fabrication   equipment?		✔
Does it need any computer software and hardware?		✔
Do we possess the necessary technical expertise and skills?	✔
Operational feasibility
.Does the project team have sufficient manpower to carry out the project?	✔
Is it legal to operate the project?	✔
Is it safe to operate the project?	✔

COWS Matrix

Lastly, my group used COWS matrix on all 4 of our ideas to find out which is the best idea with the help of 5 criterions. They are weight, cost, durability, ease of maintenance and availability of materials. After comparing and calculating, my group has come to a conclusion that the 2nd idea is the best which is combining risk husk with coconut fibre.

Criteria	Weightage	Options
		Idea #1 : Substitute coconut fibre with banana corm		Idea #2: Combine rice husk with coconut fibre		Idea #3 : Substitute sand with calcite		Idea #4 : Reverse the order of the raw materials used in the water filtration kit
		Raw score	Weighted  score	Raw score	Weighted score	Raw score	Weighted score	Raw score	Weighted score
Cost Effectiveness	25	2	50	3	75	3	75	3	75
Availability of materials	20	1	20	2	40	3	60	3	60
Ease of maintenance	15	2	30	3	45	2	30	3	45
Durability	15	2	30	3	45	3	45	1	15
Weight	25	3	75	3	75	1	25	3	75
Scores:	100%	205		280		235		270

 

Reflection 

• Personally, I find SCAMPER useful as it helps us come up with more ideas and it also helps us to improve on our existing ideas. 

• When doing the idea screening process, it was very beneficial to my group as it helped us to narrow down our ideas so that we can achieve the best idea. 

• For COWS Matrix, I generally do not think my group faced much difficulties. However, two of my groupmates were in a disagreement on one of the weightage of a criteria for an idea which slowed down our progress.