IPL-SI: Group Design Project 1
From VMT
Contents |
[edit] Instructions for Koi Resort Design
- Meet as a group in a VMT chat room and discuss the project.
- Come up with a group design for the project that everyone can agree represents your group's submission.
- Summarize your design in the SUMMARY area of the chat room whiteboard.
- Post your group's design below.
Make sure that you are logged in. You can create a timestamp with your individual name by typing ~ ~ ~ ~ (a sequence of 4 tildes, with no spaces).
[edit] This Week's Project
This week your team is supposed to design social networking support for guests at the Koi Resort on a polynesian island. Here is the situation and the rules for your collaborative design session:
- The Koi Island Resort: "An unforgettable experience of leisure and luxury!" It is is located in the remote South Pacific. The resort covers an entire island, with 62 acres of tropical gardens, award-winning dining, world-class shopping and an array of activities such as golf, fishing, a dolfin sanctuary, and much more. The resort has more than 250 guest rooms and serves more than 100,000 visitors a year. There is aggressive competition from the nearby Hawaiian islands, so Koi Resort wants to differentiate itself and offer a unique social experience.
- The Koi Resort wants to market itself as a leader in social networking. People remember their vacations there based on who they got to know there and did things with -- and based on their photos and videos of themselves and their new friends, that remind them of the fun they had. Guests' biggest regret is always that they did not get to do enough of the activities that were available and they did not meet good people for doing the activities with until is was too late. The Koi Resort wants to boast that it will help people to socialize, meet people who match their interests, and do more together socially than any other resort.
- Your design challenge is to design a "device" to fit the resort's marketing strategy. The guests should love to use it. Your task John Roy, Legal Counsel, says, "We need guests to feel safe in the resort and to see that we care for their safety. I am worried that this device could be a legal liability."
- Rob Smith, Chief Technical Officer, says, "We have hardware contractors who can implement your design. But the design needs to integrate with our back-end systems. We need something easy to maintain in-house."
- Earl Tamil, Project Lead, says, "We need to satisfy guests who speak many different languages, come with many different expectations for what they want, and want to get the best for their money. Internally, we have a lot of ideas and opinions about this device, but we need someone to help us pick the best direction. We need a design team to come up with a convincing concept. We need to see who has the best ideas now, so the device can be built and we can start our new approach in three months, in time for high season."
[edit] Your Assignment
You must complete your design process in one online session, lasting no more than one hour. So make sure your whole team is together online in a VMT room ready to go together. Your posting must include the following elements:
- A marketing description or motivation for your design
- A conceptual design for the social networking device. The description of the design must include:
- The name of the device
- A list of its main features
- A description of its use
- A sketch of it (in the VMT room whiteboard)
- Two usage scenarios illustrating how users operate the device under specific conditions and how the user interface works
- A summary of why your team made the design decisions that it did
[edit] Team 1 Statement
[edit] Marketing Description
Koi Island - Fish Finder "There are many fish in the sea ... come join your fellow Koi Islanders for some fun events!"
The Koi Island Fish Finder will help you to find nice people to do stuff with by making all event information on the island readily available at your fingertips!
[edit] Conceptual Design
The name of the device is Koi Island - Fish Finder
Its main features include:
• Waterproof & durable
• Open-source software
• Touch Screen
• Easy to maintain
• Wireless updates
• User Familiarity
The Fish Finder integrates with Koi Island's systems to retrieve a list of all events available on the island. It filters the events based on the mode selected (Family or Single) and allows users to find out more information about an event simply by clicking on it in the calendar. Users also have the ability to go directly to the map from the calendar to find out more information regarding where an event will be occuring.
We would like to utilize a PalmPilot-like device as the groundwork for our software:
Here are some sketches of what screenshots might look like:
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--Baller 11:17, 20 January 2008 (EST)
[edit] Usage Scenarios
Usage Scenario 1: Friedrich, a single 30-year-old male, has just arrived on Koi Island and is looking for something to do. Upon registering for his hotel room, he receives a Fish Finder device, which he promptly turns on and sets the language to German. He moves to the calendar screen, where he finds that there is a Singles night serving dinner and drinks not far from his hotel. Locating the event on the map, he finds out exactly where the event is being held and heads off.
Usage Scenario 2: The Johnsons, a family of 7 from the United States, has been on Koi Island for a week now and have been planning their own events in absence of the Fish Finder. Today, however, they have nothing planned and are curious as to what is going on on the island. Mrs. Johnson and her husband each pick up a Fish Finder from the restaurant that they are eating lunch in, signing it out at the cashier. One of the children grabs the device from Mrs. Johnson and begins to chew on it. Another well-meaning child takes the device away forcefully but it winds up in the restaurant fish tank. Luckily the device is still intact and working properly and no one is hurt. The Johnsons find a Family volleyball game going on at the courts. Having been there before they don't even bother to look at the map, simply signing the devices back in and carting everyone out the door. --Baller 11:31, 20 January 2008 (EST)
[edit] Summary of Design Decisions
We chose to go for a simple approach in designing a device that would provide significant functionality to the user, with minimal time and cost involved, would be easy to learn and remember how to use, would address the different types of users on the island (different nationalities, motives, etc.) and would not pose a security risk in any way. This provides a comprehensive solution to the problem space, which we recognized mostly as a lack of availability of event information to the vacationers.
In order to address the issues posed by having many different nationalities on the island, we have attempted to implement a very graphical system so as to minimize the use of text. For the text that does appear in the interface, we will dynamically populate it based on the language chosen on the main screen. The controls (buttons, text, etc.) are color-coded, which will make it easier for users of all backgrounds to learn and remember how to use.
After a language has been selected, users may also specify the types of events that they wish to view: either the ones related to users who are Single or those targetted at Family audiences. We plan to write this interface in open-source software and to host it on portable durable/waterproof PalmPilot-like devices. Using an existing hardware platforms will dramatically decrease the time we will need to spend developing the system and will still address the in-house requirement. We chose to use a touch-screen interface because we felt that it was something that could be easily understood by all users; they can simply touch their choice.
This product integrates with Koi Island's back-end systems but it does not pull any sensitive information. It simply pulls event information and displays it to the user. This makes the device easier to maintain and it's "generic" nature means that the devices are not tied to any one particular user. This also makes it more versatile for implementation because it can be distributed or simply left at strategic locations for use. The liability is minimal and the functionality delivered is still significant enough to warrant its use.
A map of the island is also provided as a standard feature and integrates directly with the device calendar, making it easy for users to find out where events physically are. The 'map' paradigm has been around for ages and the user familiarity with digital devices of this sort is growing, as more and more people are using navigation/GPS systems in their automobiles or similar online services. We feel that this, and the other choices that we have made will make it possible to offer the user a helpful gadget, make it time and cost effective to Koi Island for development, and prove to be a flexible and worthwhile addition to the island's resources.
--Baller 10:43, 20 January 2008 (EST)
[edit] Team 2 Statement
[edit] Team 3 Statement
ISLAND HOPPER Personal Communicator
MARKETING DESCRIPTION:
The Koi Island Resort is a fantastic destination for singles and families alike to escape and experience the ultimate relaxation and social paradise. The natural beauty and plentiful amenities of the resort provide the relaxation, and a cutting edge new social networking service in the resort facilitates a new way to socialize to get the most out of your days in paradise.
Have you ever gone on a vacation and found yourself spending far too much time planning what to do there? Koi Resort's new Island Hopping system helps you to plan a full itinerary, promoting social interaction like never before.
FEATURES:
Touch Screen Resort Check-in:
- 15" Touch input LCD display - Hard-wire connected to Resort database
Island Hopper Personal Communicator(IHPC):
- Mini QWERTY keyboard - 4" display - 802.11s wireless mesh network - Schedule software pre-uploaded. - Full multi-lingual support
DESCRIPTION OF USE:
The Island Hopping check-in interface is designed to give visitors a simple, user-friendly screen to check in to the hotel. Not only is this a fun technology for a visitor to use, but it is practical in that it mediates large lines. There will be several check-in kiosks in the Resort lobby. Visitors officially check in to the Hotel using this interface. After that step, the visitor is asked to fill out a short rank list of activity preference. The visitors use their fingers to intuitively drag and drop from a list of 10 activities on the screen into rank positions. This gives them a proposed schedule. For the duration of their visit, each individual/family gets an Island Hopper Personal Planner. This can be used to see their schedule, modify their schedule, learn about social events real-time, get directions to the events, and communicate with other IHPC's over the Resort's social mesh framework.
IMAGES:
SAMPLE USAGE SCENARIOS:
Single person: A single individual Mr. Z arrives at the Resort. He touches his finger on the check-in touch interface. He then proceeds to rank his preferred activities that he would most like to participate in while at the Resort islands. Mr. Z lists his top 3 as dancing, seeing the dolphin sanctuary, and golfing. The computer database then momentarily computes an efficient schedule for him to follow(based on the length of his visit) in which he is able to go to our Resort night club, see the dolphins, golf, while still having time to do many of the other things he wanted. Mr. Z then receives his own IHPC for him to use until he checks out of the Resort. From this point, Mr. Z need not waste time planning what to do. He can simply follow the schedule detailed in his IHPC to make best use of his time and to not feel any stress. MR.Z goes dancing at our Koi Club. He meets some interesting people and has a nice time. He would like to meet these people again in other activities during his vacation, so they exchange each other's schedules wirelessly to each person's IHPC. The next day, Mr. Z uses his IHPC to send a text message wirelessly to one of his new friends that he met the previous evening to ask to meet at the Dolphin Sanctuary. He knows his new friend's schedule, so it helps him to plan which activities he can do with his new friend, and also to modify his schedule to his friend's. The IHPC provides a safe and secure terminal for Mr. Z to meet and communicate with others over the Koi Social Mesh Network. Mr. Z has used his IHPC to get the most out of his vacation, while being able to socialize in a whole new and fun way.
Family: A family including a mother, father, and 2 children check in to the Resort using our check-in touch interface. The family then ranks their preferred activities and receives a personalized itinerary for their vacation. The itinerary includes activities that each member of the family wants to do, so that they all have a wonderful time. Each family receives one shared IHPC device. The next morning, the Family refers to their IHPC to see that their first activity of the vacation is miniature golf. The Father is unsure of how exactly to get to that location. The IHPC uses its 802.11 wireless connection standard to triangulate its approximate location using the dozens of network routers positioned throughout each island of the resort. Once the IHPC recognizes its current location, it provides text instructions to the Father directions to the miniature golf center from his approximate position in the resort. At the miniature golf center, the family is having a good time and they meet another family that is also mini-golfing. After talking for some time and getting to know each other, the families decide to exchange their schedules in their IHPC's so that they can meet in more family activities. The next day, the 2 families exchange text messages and arrange to overlap their schedules so they can go to and spend time at the beach together. Both of these families have used the Koi Island Hopping system to plan an efficient itinerary, and to meet other families to spend their time with.
SUMMARY OF DESIGN DECISIONS:
The group established that the problem space in this case was the fact that visitors complain of not getting to see all the island has to offer, and that there is not enough social interaction. The proposal aims to provide a system to solve these issues. The design of the Resort check-in touch interface was agreed upon as a fun and practical means of doing a standard hotel check-in with the additional functionality of planning a personalized itinerary. It was a logical design based off of Airport E-Check-in kiosk success over the years. Touch technology is a new and fun user input type that does not take much instruction to operate it. Touch screens are a good design decision because they offer feedback to the user. When the user gets immediate feedback when he presses buttons on-screen, it adds a sense of accomplishment and adds to the usability of the interface. The interface that will be used will be a conversing type in which the user is asked to input certain information in order to Check in and rank their favorite activities. The idea to have a social itinerary planner in the check-in phase of the vacation as part of our Island Hopper device proposal was because we felt that it would give Koi Resort an advantage over other resorts in that it saves visitors more time that they could be spending socializing. Also, it does serve to keep lines shorter in the Hotel lobby during busy time periods. The focus was on providing guests with a new information systems method for networking with others in order to socialize during their vacation. This was important because visitors typically have a better time when they are able to meet others. The IHPC device design was made with the idea that it should be a small, yet relatively robust handheld with guided functionality. It is not meant to be an all-in-one portable PC, but rather a communications device for our Resort Social Network. The screen is required to display text messages, text schedules, text directions, and lists of names. The QWERTY keyboard provides a familiar user input scheme for users to tell the device changes they want to make to their schedule or notes they wish to add to their friends list, or to send text messages(as a metaphor for calling them in the real world). The 802.11s wireless mesh network is cost-effective and because it uses router technology as opposed to satellite telecommunications, it is easier to setup in a time-efficient manner. The group felt that the combination of check-in and personal communicator innovations will be a sure-fire way to set Koi Resorts apart from all other competitors.
Sat1385 22:08, 16 January 2008 (EST)
[edit] Team 4 Statement
[edit] Marketing Description:
IConn – experience for yourself:
- strike up an acquaintance by the push of a button
- search our database of the island guests
- plan your activities for the whole vacation
- buy discount tickets and make reservations for your favorite shows
- see where your kids are at all times
- never ask for directions
and much more!
It is all now possible with our exclusive handheld system, IConn.
IConn is a connection between you and the rest of the world.
[edit] Description:
We decided that out “device” would be a handheld, which could be described as following:
- Dimension: 3.8” X 3.2” X 1.0” (something like Tom-Tom GPS car system).
- 3.5 inch color LCD touch screen allows easy and intuitive interaction with system.
- Use of symbolic graphics and icons to minimize need of actual words.
- Multi-language support, especially for most frequently world languages (e.g. English, Chinese, Spanish, French).
- All displayed attractions can be rated by the guests to help other guests in their decision making process.
- To provide convenient access to the information when using the device, the information are sorted into several categories, such as:
- Dining
- Shopping
- Sports
- Adventure
- Recreation
- Family
- Meet People
- Nightlife
- Best rated activities
- All information can be displayed by selecting one of the following views:
- By category
- By name
- By age
- By group (e.g. Family, Single, Junior, Senior)
- Rating
Devices are rented for $15 a day (might be different), they require a deposit, very sturdy and hard to break. Wireless connectivity for the device is included in the price. Batteries are proprietary, replaceable and given fully charged. Wall charger is included (or might be already installed in each hotel room).
Features:
Scheduler/Planner – device interface allows for seamless navigation to any activity available on the island to look up hours of operation, beginning of games and other information pertaining to the activity (information which you can probably find in resort’s booklets). People can also make reservations to activities permitting them.
People Search - search for resort visitors like you, by personal information like age or gender, by activities and times people would like to engage in them or by some other criteria. However, we realize that some people might prefer to withhold personal or other information for different reasons, for example, due to personal security concerns. We need to respect this choice and any information entered by the user is optional. After a user has found the person he or she thinks matches the search criteria, it is possible to let this person know that communication is requested (similar to instant message feature).
Proximity Locator – these devices can communicate with each other without the need of central point of coordination within certain distance from each other. Some activities don’t require advanced planning ahead, for example playing tennis. That is why it is possible to locate a person who could be your partner in the game if it requires two or more people. A simple alert comes up on the screen stating that somebody at certain distance matches your criteria of a partner and you can initiate communication request.
Tracking/Navigation Device – users can track other people as well as they can easily navigate throughout the island by the use of an integrated GPS system. These features might be useful for parents who would always want to know where their kids are, people who are not too good in finding places or close friends. Tracking is not possible if a user doesn’t agree to be tracked. We would like to mention that any feature of the device could be disabled if a user does not intend to use it or doesn’t feel comfortable with it.
Camera – low quality built-in camera. It allows users to make snapshots of themselves, which are later added to their profiles. We felt that having full-blown integrated camera would be unnecessary because users would probably have their own cameras and they would need to learn how to transfer pictures from the device, even if it is not difficult it is still an additional task.
[edit] Images:
Example screens for user interface:
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[edit] Sample Usage Scenarios:
Single person: A man in his 30s arrives at the resort to stay for 2 days. He decides to rent IConn handheld system primarily because he hopes to find somebody to hang out with. He heard about it because of our marketing efforts and also was asked if he wanted to rent it at the check-in. He comes to his room and decides to check out what he can actually do with this new gadget he rented. After the welcome screen he picks the language he wants to use for the interface, enters his profile: personal information, activities he is interested in, period of stay (it might be possible that some information like name and period of stay can be prefilled automatically from the check-in data, but it seems unlikely to us) and finally he is asked to make a picture of himself to be added to the profile. Then he is presented with a main menu, where he among other things can come back to his profile and modify it. He checks out Planner feature and decides to make a reservation to see dolphins tomorrow morning and then play golf. Then he searches for people with the help of People Search feature. Tonight he wants to go to the restaurant and thinks it might be fun to use this device to set up something like a blind date, hopefully he can see the picture of the person he is about to dine with. He sends the invitation to communicate and after a positive reply he and his date instant message with each other. Later tonight he sits at the restaurant, his device alerts him that his date in direct proximity from the restaurant and he orders appetizers they agreed on beforehand. Next day on the way to dolphin sanctuary, his device alerts him that there is someone in direct proximity who is interested in playing tennis, which matches his profile activities. He checks this person’s profile, sends a message and makes an arrangement to play tennis today at three o’clock.
A family: A family of two parents in their 30s and two kids, 8 and 11 years old arrive at the island to stay for 4 days. They all get IConn devices because it gives an extra assurance to the parents that their kids would not get lost or get in trouble as well it helps them to make a schedule of activities for four day period. Parents set up their kid’s devices, disable profile, proximity locator and people search features. They also allow for their devices to track their kids (it might be a good idea to make complimentary devices which could be used for just tracking since they probably would be much smaller). When walking in the park, parents get an alert that there is a family (or at least somebody from the family) who would like to socialize and have lunch with another family. They think it is a good idea and start communicating by instant messaging to make plans. Next day they decide to search for other families with People Search feature to do something together.
[edit] Summary Of Design Decisions:
We designed a kiosk like device in our first draft, but decided to change it to the handheld because it is more convenient for users, portable and allows for more attractive and wider array of features. Also, it would be hard to return the investment into kiosks, since they don’t generate any revenue themselves. We included this set of features in our device because it helps in meeting and communicating with people in different ways, adding scheduler and navigation for convenience. Too many features would make it hard to use the device as well as would make it longer to learn how to use. Duplicating the features of other devices, like camera, camcorder, cellphone, picture viewer, etc does not make too much sense to us, it increases costs, make the device bulkier and these features are unlikely to be used since users need to learn how to do it in the first place and rather use the devices they are accustomed to already.
As859 22:39, 17 January 2008 (EST)
[edit] Team 5 Statement
1. A marketing description or motivation for your design.
The Koi-pod is a very handy device for everyone to use. It provides an extra benefit of having touch screen technology, thus giving its customers an easy mechanism of using it. It’s size is: 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46 inches and weight is : 4.8 ounces. This makes it a device having a large screen but still weighing less. The GPS enabled feature helps you track your way to your destination easily. Being a wireless device, it can be used just anywhere like an iPhone. It provides the swipe-able facility of crediting your purchases with the hotel bills rather than using another card while shopping.
2. A conceptual design for the social networking device. The description of the design must include:
1) The name of the device:
The Koi-pod Wireless Device.
2) A list of its main features:
Features for older folks (8 years and above):
1) Interface of device will be "internationalizable" wherein the users will be able to select on their arrival to the resort
the language of their preference for all communications.
2) Signals to people within range that someone is nearby who is interested in / partaking in the same activities that they
enjoy. Also lists a schedule of events set up by the resort.
3) Through the GPS assistance people can search for maps to the places on the resort where they cannot find their way.
4) Design will be based on open-source software and so should easily be able to integrate with the resort's back end systems.
5) Provides a Voice communication to the hotel for a range of things from ordering drinks to requesting assistance.
6) Device is "swipe-able" to charge costs back to the guest's room when they are shopping on the resort, this feature may
encourage them to buy more.
7) Ability to get help on any kind of activities...for example, see on screen how
to improve golf swing or check on your Koi pod how to beat your tennis or badminton partner.
8) Panic or Safety button to address legal concerns.
9) Safety feature for children: Parent's and child's device will buzz if child nears a swimming pool or a fishing area etc.
Features for children (below 8 years of age):
1) Interface of device will be "internationalizable" wherein the users will be able to select on their arrival to the resort
the language of their preference for all communications.
2) Design will be based on open-source software and so should easily be able to integrate with the resort's back end systems.
3) Panic or Safety button to address legal concerns.
4) Safety feature for children: Parent's and child's device will buzz if child nears a swimming pool or a fishing area etc.
3) A description of its use:
The Koi-pod is a very handy device build in both for the adults as well as children below 8 years of age.
Basic usage:
1) Customers list their preferences when they sign up.
2) Preferences include activities and what type of people they want to
meet (singles, families, etc.)
3) Users take device with them and it will alert them (via an audible
chime, vibration and message on the screen) that someone is nearby who is interested in the same activities as they are.
4) A sketch of it (in the VMT room whiteboard)
The Koi-pod model…It's available in 5 colours (Red, White, Black, Pink and Yellow)…Has a large display touch screen……
The Mini Koi-pod for the kids….this is in the shape of a wrist watch as it is convenient for the kids…it is water proof as the kids are prone to make mischief….it is a hard coating metal base and made of unbreakable material so extra protection.
3. Two usage scenarios illustrating how users operate the device under specific conditions and how the user interface works
Scenario 1: A person comes to the island to enjoy a break from his work life. As he enters the hotel he is handed the Koi-pod while checking in. The first instructions on how to use this device are provided by the people who sit near the reception , called Assistant Koi-pod supporters. Once the person enters the hotel he is supposed to select the language of his choice by selecting options from the touch screen Koi-pod. Then the Koi-pod asks him to enter his interest in a selection box. He is provided with a list of details of all the facilities which are available at the resort like swimming, dancing, gambling, fishing etc. He is supposed to drag and drop all the options that he likes into the selection box. Once done, he can move ahead to his room and start taking advantage of the Koi-pod. Say he plans to go out to the tennis court but does not know the way to it, he will not have to call up the reception to ask for the way and then jot it down on a piece of paper. He can just take the advantage of the GPS facility provided by the Koi-pod, enter his source and destination and then the Koi-pod will display the entire route with a detailed map to track the distance. Since the resort provides internal facilities of transportation to distant places on the resort even that will be displayed on the Koi-pod screen. Details regarding where exactly he will have to go in order to board the vehicle taking him to his destination will also be detailed on the Koi-pod screen. Say on reaching the tennis court and after playing tennis for a while he feels thirsty and plans to order a drink, again he just needs to go back to his Koi-pod and press a button saying “Voice Connect”. He will be instantly connected to the food courts at the resort where he can place his order and his drink will be served to him in no time. Now while he is sitting near the tennis court and enjoying his drink he will be prompted on his Koi-pod saying that an XYZ person is in the nearby badminton court who shares quite similar interest as his. If the user wants to be connected to the XYZ person he just needs to touch the prompted message on his Koi-pod screen and he will be voice connected to the XYZ person. This feature can help him make new friends sharing the same interests as him and so more enjoy his time around at the island.
Scenario 2: A family (father, mother and a 6 year old child) enters the resort. While checking into the resort they are handed 3 Koi-pods: 1 Koi-pod for each parent and a scaled down version of the Koi-pod called as “Mini Koi-pod” for the child. The parents select the language of their choice on the touch screen Koi-pod. The parents also do the same for the child on his mini Koi-pod. The family then enters their hobby preferences in their individual Koi-pods by the drag and drop method (if necessary, they can get instructions on this at the help-desk while checking in. Once through the check in process the family moves to their room. During the day’s schedule when the family decides to go to the swimming pool and have a relaxing time with their child, they may first want to check on the facilities provided for the safety of their kid at the pool (like the lifeguards, the depth of the pool, are there floaters available etc.). To do this they just go to the Koi-pod and press the “HELP” button. Then they can follow the options on the screen and get all the information they need about the facilities at the pool and also about the security of their child at the pool. While they make their way to the pool and when they are about to reach it they get a buzzer sounding on all their Koi-pods. They all are quite surprised at this event and look into their Koi-pods to check what is the matter fearing there could be an emergency. But when they look into their Koi-pods they get an alert message saying “your child is near the swimming pool. Please follow this direction to reach him else please press this button to get connected to a life guard to take care of your child by the time you reach him”. The parents are very happy to see this message and get relaxed about the security of their child while they are at the pool. The parents , due to their anxiety, go to the main screen and click the “HELP” button once again. They want to check where else in the island the buzzer goes off, and how close to a danger area does their child have to be before they are alerted. They are surprised to know that the buzzer goes off when their child is at a distance of around 4 meters from either the swimming pool, fishing court, dolphins court etc. For families who do not like this feature and find it too annoying, the Koi-pod gives the facility to disable the buzzer in their sets as well as their child’s set.
4. A summary of why your team made the design decisions that it did We made the decision of calling our device “Koi-pod” as everyone uses an I-pod in today’s world. And so that the users find the name rhyming and fun to use we called it a Koi-pod thus enabling the feature of including the resorts name as well as the I-pods rhyming advantage.
Next we decided to make a Koi-pod for adults and a different one for children in order to add security features for the children to ease parents’ concerns. We added the security feature only to the Mini Koi-pod because we thought they would be the only ones that needed it.. Also we have shaped the kids Mini Koi-pod like a watch so that the kids do not mishandle it and it’s easy for the parents to tie it on their wrist. The decision of making it swipe-able has been taken to enable the guests to enjoy their time while shopping at the resort while not having to carry their debit or credit cards along with them while moving about in the resort. The team has just outlined all the basic and necessary features of the Koi-pod device. Its detailed modeling is still under progress and will take some more time from the team’s part to get it set for building.--Shraddha 12:35, 18 January 2008 (EST)Shraddha Agarwal
