Social Media Design Process

Hey guys,

We all know that the design process is needed to build stuff and finish projects, but what if you can’t remember the design process?

If you can remember these social media sites, you should be able to remember the design because, believe it or not, they are related in some way or another.

Tumblr. is like the imagine step in the design process because it is directed to young adults with creative minds.

Craigslist is like the tool-up step in the design process because, on craigslist, you are looking at stuff that you want to get.

Pinterest is like the make step in the design process because it gives DIY, (do it yourself) projects.

And Youtube is like the improve step in the design process because they have instructions on how to make things better and they give answers.

Instagram is like the share step in the design process because it involves showing what is done and created.

Don’t forget to build and improve, Regina, Bunmi, Effy

The Makerspace

Who we are.

The Ann Richards School is a very different school. First of all, we are an all girls school with required uniforms. We are known for all of our classes related to STEM. Instead of art class, we have STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) In sixth grade we have STEM, in seventh grade we have PLTW (project lead the way), and in eighth grade we have GTT (gateway to technology). Because we specialize in these objectives and skills, a lot of organizations and groups know who we are and support us in any way they can.

How the Makerspace came to be!

Thanks to the organization Impact Austin, we received a $100,000 grant to make a makerspace at our school. We were chosen to receive the money because their team of women believe we have a strongly educated and impressive school. Intel gave us $25,000 so we could buy furniture and decorations for the space.

Our classroom.

The makerspace is a very different type of classroom. There are two sections of it. The first section is the “clean lab” as we call it. The chairs aren’t simply blue, hard and plastic like the average classrooms. There is a complete couch area and a lot of furniture that is pleasing to the eye. This room’s bright orange walls against white modern furniture

brightens everyone’s day when they enter. The makers space design is really, as Chloe would say, “Fun and Fresh!” The space is organized and easy to get around. 15 Mac desktop computers line the walls available for anyone’s use. One of the coolest parts of our room is the 3d printer that we bought with part of our 100,000 dollars.

The other section of the space is the “dirty lab.” Although that section is not completely finished we know what it is going to be in the end. There are going to be different types of saws and the basic “toolbox tools” alongwith sewing machines and other various machines and tools. One of the eighth grade students told us, “I am really excited to be able to use the sewing machines.” We are all excited to be able to use this wonderful space that has been given to us!

How it affects us.

The makerspace has had a very positive effect on our learning. As Nicole earlier mentioned the room has a very happy feel to it. The colors are very bright and there are a lot of windows to let natural light in. The overall look of the room really creates a fun learning environment. The room doesn’t feel like every other classroom which allows me to think outside of the box. Many students agree that the space has been a wonderful addition to our school.

By: Chloe, Macy, Tori, Nicole

New and Improved

What it is— Over the summer the Ann Richards School received a $100,000 grant from Impact Austin and a grant from Intel. With that money, we created a makers space and filled it with new and modern furniture/ technology. We have two parts to the makers space- One is where we can design and do research for our projects. The other is where we can actually build our projects. The mission of the makers space is to create a welcoming and helping enviroment where you can build your dreams into a reality.

Improvements— The maker space now has enough Mac computers for the wholeclass, and we have an amazing and very useful 3-D printer. There are also two large, glass windows in the room that the eighth grade sisters have decorated with colorful drawings, inspirational quotes, and random doodles. We got brand new furniture, including a couch and white board. The maker space also got a new coat of orange paint in one room, and turquoise in the other. Soon to come are Arduinos, and we already have our very own Makey Makeys, both fun and engaging project starters. The new makers space is a great place for ideas to flow and become more than just thoughts.

What we think–We think that the Makers space’s mission is superb, and it serves a good purpose with materials at the ready. “This idea is something I have personally always dreamed of,” said Zoe Taulli, an eighth grader taking full advantage of the maker’s space and working on projects outside of class. Here you can let your creativity flow without too many limitations. However, there are some things that could use a change. For instance, we need more chairs and there are some parts, like the garage, are in the process of being finished.

-Cloa Glass, Zoë Magee, Izabella Matheson, Zoe Taulli

Period 8

Simple Steps That Lead To Design Success

Hi! Its Patty A. and Sammie S. We attend the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders. At the beginning of the semester in Project Lead The Way (PLTW), we were given a challenge. Our teachers were having a “dance party” and they needed a way to make their iPhone speakers louder so everyone would be able to hear the music, not just people a few feet from the phone. This challenge was meant to get us used to, or re-used to the design process. The design process consists of some steps. First you need to define the problem. Then, you need to generate concepts, like constraints such as rules, materials, timing, etc. Next, you need to develop a valid solution, which should solve your original problem. Then you need to create a prototype. You need to make sure your solution solves your problem. Finally, you can present your solution!

Understanding the design process might be easy enough, but putting it into action is a bit harder. When we got our challenge, we first made a design brief. The design brief basically is when you detect the problem, who’s it going to help, what materials are required, how much time do you have (constraints), and what is the final product going to do/how its going to solve our problem. We came up with a few ideas, which led to our design matrix.

The design matrix is a chart in which we evaluate each idea to see which one fits the standards best. We had a lot of ideas, but with the design matrix, we came down to two, then our final idea.

Once when came up with our main idea we continued on with our technical drawing. A technical drawing is a final drawing of your idea with measurements, description of each part and what each part does.

Once we completed our technical drawing, we did a testing report. A testing report is when you test out your product and record your results and observe the quality of its performance. With our product, we measured the sound in decibels (dBA). We did 3 trials. 3 with the speakers and 3 without them. With the 3 trials with the speakers, our results were all 80 dBA. Without them, we got a range of 60-65 dBA. From the results, we can clearly tell our amplifier improved the sound of the iPhone speakers.

Our solution was to put two plastic cups together. The cup within the other cup would have holes around the circumference of the middle. With this, the sound would escape through the holes, but hit the hard layer of the other cup. The harder the surface, the harder the vibration, and it would make the sound louder. We met our clients requirements by increasing the sound of the iPhone speakers by a noticeable amount.

Throughout this process, we had a few conflicts, and it took a while to get used to the process, but it really helped us narrow down our ideas. This process works for anything, which is amazing. Can’t wait to get even more done! 🙂