Blog entry 2(Covers week 4)

 In week 4, we were taught about SCAMPER.

S - SUBSTITUTE

C - COMBINE

A - ADAPT

M - MODIFY

P - PUT TO ANOTHER USE

E - ELIMINATE

R - REVERSE

For SCAMPER, our group thought of substituting the way we can make the fragrance using different methods such as cold pressing, distillation or hydrodiffusion. (Our group original idea was to use solvent extraction.😎) We also tried to eliminate the mechanical dryer and modify the lid of the container.

I find SCAMPER useful as it prompts me to ask myself questions based on the 7 letters. It also sorts of guide me on which direction I can explore when I think for new ideas.

During the idea screening process, we also used the feasibility table to kinda see if our ideas were viable and if it could actually be produced in real life. This table is important as it will tell us which are the idea that is not viable and that we should stop spending time on it. We can also narrow down our ideas once more using the feasibility table.

Below is our group feasibility tables for the five SCAMPER ideas:

Conclusion

Ideas that are feasible according to the feasibility tables are:

1.  Using distillation method to extract the fragrance

2. Adding rubber seals on the lid to make container airtight

3. Eliminating the mechanical drying and sun drying the citrus skin peel

COWS 🐮 Matrix

In terms of using the COWS 🐮 Matrix, we only had difficulties when we had to decide the criteria for what to based our selection on. We also had difficulties trying to decide which are the criteria that should have a heavier percentage and which should have a lower percentage. This is because there are times where we felt that all the criteria are equally important. But luckily after some discussion, we finally managed to settle on a percentage weightage across all the components that we liked.

The table below shows the criteria we have chosen and the weightage we have decided.

After selecting and assigning weightage to all the criteria, we then move on to doing the actual COWS Matrix.

Below is the COWS Table:

Rating scale of 1 to 3, 1 being the poorest and 3 being the best 

Conclusion 

From the decision matrix, we found out that the use of rubber seals is the best idea as it has the highest score among the 3 ideas. Thus, the idea of using rubber seals on the container lid shall be implemented in the product that we are planning to design.