On day 1 of being in Amsterdam I looked over what the final blog assignment would be and thought to myself wow I’ve got plenty of time before I’ll have to do that. I knew no one coming into the program and I was nervous about making friends but now we’re having debrief conversations till 2 am and constantly laughing. Long story short time flew by and I’ve had so much fun running around with my fellow Rice students.
-During the design challenge it was interesting to hear everyone’s ideas for the same problem. All the ideas were very different even though the foundation of the issue was the same.Some things that worked was hearing everyone’s ideas and then starting to combine ideas or take things away from ideas based on what everyone liked. What didn’t work was trying to do much more research in the short time that we had and starting without having a for sure plan. -Some key takeaways about noticing sensing and experiment is that they all take time. You may have an idea in your head for a problem you want to solve but you can’t just jump into it. You need to see if there’s a market for it, then you have to write all possible ideas down see if they’re feasible and if people would want them. You can’t just go straight to prototyping your idea, people might not even want your idea or think the problem you solved wasn’t a big deal. This was similar to engineering design because you have to do much more research before you commit to doing something.
-Something I learned while doing the design challenge is the way people think in another country. My group and I stood outside a train station trying to get people to talk to us and get their thoughts about the product we had just prototyped. In America it would have been easy to stop someone on the street and get their help after we explained we were students. However, in the Netherlands that was not the case. We went up to so many people and they either straight up ignored us or they said they didn’t speak English (in English). Most of them said “no they didn’t have time”. Without being in Amsterdam and doing this challenge I would have never been able to experience what the “dutch rude” is like. They wanted absolutely nothing to do with a couple Americans. In the end we were able to get some kind people to test out our product and although from a different country they really liked the game, the same way we did. Which means yes we are different but we can still like similar things.
-Some questions that still remain unanswered in my design challenge were what would be the ideal age group to purchase this game. If I were to start over now-If we had more time and could do more interviews- I would interview many people and ask them to rate how fun the game would be at their current age and what age do they think would be perfect to play this game at. With this data I would be able to tell if my target audience and the consumers target audiences are the same. Then I would change my product design and marketing to appeal to those ages.
-Some opportunities that I see if this project were to go forward is a very fun way to make new friends. I think this product would thrive in a college environment. Being able to combine what teenagers love to do for fun with questions that provoke answers to get to know each-other more would lead to many friendships. I think I’ll actually make this a game when I get back to school and see how well it does.
– Where I think I thrived in the brainstorming and creating process. I feel I performed the best when physically creating things. Throughout highschool I loved coding and creating robots to compete in Vex challenges. I was good at it and won state titles and advanced to the world championship every year. In my free time I liked watching videos of building cars with my dad so being able to experience hands on learning is when I feel I perform the best. I love creating things and that’s why I’m studying to be an engineer.
-I think I struggle the most when it comes to the data side of things. I don’t enjoy speaking to people on the street and collecting data to see if there’s even a market for the product. I like just jumping from an idea to a prototype and then figuring out if people even want it. I think that is because I enjoy creating more than I enjoy the business and insights of the project. However, I’m thinking about possibly pursing a business minor so this class is a nice way for me to tell if I would want to pursue something similar again.
-The highlight of the activities was meeting Dutch students. It was nice to get a new perspective from someone our age and to freak out about how different our countries are, especially the college parts. The fact that these students get to retake finals is amazing, definitely helps stabilize their mental health and shows a respect for human health. Not everyday do you feel 100% so having the chance to retake a test is very special.
– While the course was amazing, my favorite part of the Amsterdam experience outside of class was meeting new people and going on adventures together. I had so much fun laughing with the group when we would miss our train or get on the wrong ferry. Hesam was super caring and fun to be around. Going bike riding at Gazelle with the group and Hesam is a core memory for me. The workers were so kind and genuine, I felt like they really took the time to get to know us all. We were all laughing very much that day and the scenery was so pretty.
-Advice: First off, if you’re debating on joining iSEED…DO IT!! I had never been to Europe before but this program was so much fun! You’re going to meet so many new people and go on countless adventures. Everyday is exciting and filled with things I probably wouldn’t have ever done before. Money will come back eventually but you’ll never be 19 biking in the Netherlands again. Hesam makes the environment very fun and you end up learning a lot about the engineering design process and about yourself. P.S. just be prepared for the culture shock because there’s A lot. Our whole group couldn’t get past the fact you don’t get free water at restaurants and have to PAY per sauce that you want lol. XD
Song of the day:https://youtu.be/oTwVce9eWb4?si=49RqTiwQ2TjFmBIN