The Pawsitive Pack: Managing Sensory Overload
My management and leadership skills were put to the test over the course of this project. I often found myself and my teammates had to lead at various points of the project and be able to share information in a concise manner to keep the team working at an efficient pace. This is a key set of skills to exemplify in my ePortfolio as it shows my value as a team member, which is key for strategy consulting. Looking at the design aspect of the project, it involved a lot of liaising between teammates and reiterations before we arrived to the pictured design.
The goal of this project was to create a tool to help neurodivergent children aged 4-7 years old lessen their sensory overload whilst teaching them techniques that they can use as they get older to continue to manage this sensory overload of theirs.
Our team, Don't QUEST With Us, created the Pawsitive Pack, a reasonably priced backpack with a likeness to children's favorite animals; a research-backed weighted component of five pounds that mimics a weighted blanket; noise-cancelling headphones and their compartment; tactile accessories in the form of Velcro strips; and a fastening mechanism that reinforces the weighted component of the bag and mimics the effect of a hugging machine.
To create the Pawsitive Pack, our team used the design thinking approach. We started off by empathizing with stakeholders by interviewing parents of neurodivergent children neurodivergent people, and experts to get a better understanding as to how sensory overload affects their lives. Continuing the route of design thinking, our team began to think of various solutions to our problem, coming up with two product ideas, the Pawsitive Pack and a weighted stuffed animal. We prototyped at this stage of the process and tested as well by having users try out a weighted stuffed animal at first, leading us to initially completing a round of the design thinking process. We ended up going with the Pawsitive Pack because of the novelty and auditory and tactile features it provides and continued to iterate upon it based on feedback we received.
Other than practicing the design thinking process and prototyping outlined above, our team had to exercise creativity/innovation when it came to new product design with the Pawsitive Pack. Our inspiration for the bag comes from the idea of sensory rooms, which are rooms in schools that contain white noise, sandboxes, weighted blankets, and other features meant to help reduce sensory overload. Our team thought we could innovate upon this idea by basically creating a sensory room on-the-go with our product.
Teamwork and professionalism were exemplified throughout the project. There were many instances where an interview would be conducted with multiple team members where one would ask questions and the other would jot down notes to make for a better interview. Our team also delegated tasks evenly and based on strengths (i.e., having Carter Austin, our mechanical engineer, create a CAD model).
The team also practiced design evaluation when it came to the process of prototyping. For instance, in designing a prototype of the bag, we did not include the cam buckle at first. After evaluating this prototype, we recognized the importance of having a strong enough buckle that will mimic the sensation felt by a hugging machine.
When it comes to technical skills, I used Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint towards the latter stages of the project. Excel was used to conduct the financial analysis required (break-even analysis, NPV, etc.) and to measure our market size and penetration. PowerPoint was used to present the product in such a way that investors could see the attractiveness of it.
My management and leadership skills were put to the test over the course of this project. I often found myself and teammates having to lead at various points of the project and be able to share information in a concise manner to keep the team working at an efficient pace. This is a key set of skills to exemplify in my ePortfolio as it shows my value as a team member, which is key for strategy consulting.
The goal of this project was to create a tool to help neurodivergent children aged 4-7 years old lessen their sensory overload whilst teaching them techniques that they can use as they get older to continue to manage this sensory overload of theirs.
Our team, Don't QUEST With Us, created the Pawsitive Pack, a reasonably priced backpack with a likeness to children's favorite animals; a research-backed weighted component of five pounds that mimics a weighted blanket; noise-cancelling headphones and their compartment; tactile accessories in the form of Velcro strips; and a fastening mechanism that reinforces the weighted component of the bag and mimics the effect of a hugging machine.
To create the Pawsitive Pack, our team used the design thinking approach. We started off by empathizing with stakeholders by interviewing parents of neurodivergent children neurodivergent people, and experts to get a better understanding as to how sensory overload affects their lives. Continuing the route of design thinking, our team began to think of various solutions to our problem, coming up with two product ideas, the Pawsitive Pack and a weighted stuffed animal. We prototyped at this stage of the process and tested as well by having users try out a weighted stuffed animal at first, leading us to initially completing a round of the design thinking process. We ended up going with the Pawsitive Pack because of the novelty and auditory and tactile features it provides and continued to iterate upon it based on feedback we received.
Other than practicing the design thinking process and prototyping outlined above, our team had to exercise creativity/innovation when it came to new product design with the Pawsitive Pack. Our inspiration for the bag comes from the idea of sensory rooms, which are rooms in schools that contain white noise, sandboxes, weighted blankets, and other features meant to help reduce sensory overload. Our team thought we could innovate upon this idea by basically creating a sensory room on-the-go with our product.
Teamwork and professionalism were exemplified throughout the project. There were many instances where an interview would be conducted with multiple team members where one would ask questions and the other would jot down notes to make for a better interview. Our team also delegated tasks evenly and based on strengths (i.e., having Carter Austin, our mechanical engineer, create a CAD model).
The team also practiced design evaluation when it came to the process of prototyping. For instance, in designing a prototype of the bag, we did not include the cam buckle at first. After evaluating this prototype, we recognized the importance of having a strong enough buckle that will mimic the sensation felt by a hugging machine.
When it comes to technical skills, I used Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint towards the latter stages of the project. Excel was used to conduct the financial analysis required (break-even analysis, NPV, etc.) and to measure our market size and penetration. PowerPoint was used to present the product in such a way that investors could see the attractiveness of it.
My management and leadership skills were put to the test over the course of this project. I often found myself and teammates having to lead at various points of the project and be able to share information in a concise manner to keep the team working at an efficient pace. This is a key set of skills to exemplify in my ePortfolio as it shows my value as a team member, which is key for strategy consulting.
Information Systems
at
University of Maryland, College Park
2 Teammates
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