What is the Internet of Things?

A growing trend in computing is the “Internet of Things” (abbreviated as: IoT) – devices connected to the internet (and/or to other devices) which interact with the physical world by gathering, processing, and sharing data. IoT devices are also referred to as connected devices or as smart devices.

IoT Electronics Kit

This project is tailored for an IoT electronics kit called the SparkFun Inventor's Kit for Photon. SparkFun also sells a variety of other sensors and components that can be used with the Photon kit. For example, it is highly recommended to add an ultrasonic sensor to the kit for more design possibilities.

However, you may use another IoT electronics kit of your choice for this project. If the IoT kit is programmed using Arduino or Wiring, you may be able to use (or modify) the tutorials and references in the accompanying IoT Code Guidebook (depending on the particular components and capabilities of your IoT electronics kit).

Examples of IoT Devices

Many different IoT devices are becoming developed for consumers, businesses, industry, agriculture, healthcare, and the public sector. A few examples include:

• Wearable devices that monitor people’s health and fitness

• Smart thermostats that keep homes comfortable while also saving energy

• Connected street lights that adjust based on time of day, season, and weather conditions

• Smart farming systems that monitor precise weather, soil, and crop conditions

• etc.

Characteristics of IoT Devices

Similar to robotic devices, IoT devices follow a "sense-think-act" cycle to interact with the physical world. IoT devices also "communicate" through an internet or network connection.

• SENSE: IoT devices typically have one or more physical inputs (such as sensors, etc.) that gather data from the physical environment.

• THINK: IoT devices are programmed to analyze data from their inputs to make decisions and respond to certain conditions by acting through their outputs.

• ACT: IoT devices typically have one or more physical outputs (such as motors, etc.) that can do something in the physical environment.

• COMMUNICATE: IoT devices send and/or receive data by communicating with other apps, databases, or other devices through an internet or network connection (which is often a wireless signal such as cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc.). This data communication can serve as a digital input ("sense") or as a digital output ("act").

What made IoT possible?

The “Internet of Things” is the result of advances in technology and manufacturing that have made it feasible to incorporate computing and networking features into almost any device:

1. Computing parts (such as processors, sensors, batteries, etc.) have become much smaller, more powerful, more energy-efficient, and more affordable.

2. Wireless networking (such as cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc.) has become much faster, more energy-efficient, and more widespread. While IoT devices can use a wired network connection (such as Ethernet), a wireless connection makes it much easier for devices to connect to the internet or another network.

In this project, students will collaborate in small teams to design, develop, and evaluate their own technology solutions to an authentic challenge. Teams will follow a user-centered design approach which focuses on understanding the goals, needs, expectations, and experiences of the people that will use their technology solution. Evaluation and testing of ideas and prototypes is integrated throughout the design and development process.

This project is designed to follow the research-based “Gold Standard” model of Project Based Learning (PBL) developed by the Buck Institute of Education.

This project is intended to be completed throughout a semester-long high school CS course. Here are the estimated times required to complete each project phase:

Assignment Templates

Some of the project assignments include links to Google Drive templates (document, spreadsheet, slide presentation, drawing, etc.). All the templates are shared as "View Only." Students must create a copy of the template in order to modify it. (Students should not request edit access, as the file is a master template for all students.)

This project reflects authentic principles and practices currently used in the technology industry. This project emphasizes design thinking, computational thinking, and 21st century success skills (such as creative thinking, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration).

It is recommended that each student also complete one or more research reports in parallel to this project. These research reports should be shared with the class (and beyond).

Each team must design and build an IoT device (aka "smart device") that performs a useful task within a specific context (such as home, school, business, etc.). Your team must also design and code a companion web app that interacts with your smart device by sending and receiving data over the internet.

Smart Device Built Using IoT Electronics Kit

Your team will build a functional prototype of your smart device using an IoT electronics kit, which contains a microcomputer with Wi-Fi capability, along with various physical inputs and outputs that can be connected. Your smart device will need to use at least one physical input (such as sensor, button, etc.) and at least one physical output (such as motor, LED light, etc.).

The provided IoT kit has a limited number of parts, so here are some recommendations:

• Creative thinking and innovation will be required to identify possible ways to use each part, as well as possible ways to combine parts. For example, how many different ways can you think of to use a light sensor? What other inputs or outputs could be combined with a light sensor to perform some kind of task?

• Your smart device prototype might have to be a smaller-scale model or a limited version of your intended product. For example, a smart security system prototype would most likely be a smaller-scale model of what would actually be installed in a home or building and might feature a limited number of sensors.

• If necessary, you can simulate certain parts or actions as long as the main task of your device can still be demonstrated. For example, a smart thermostat prototype could use red and blue LED lights to simulate heating and cooling systems that are turned on and off by the device based on readings from its temperature sensor.

• If necessary, you can construct parts (using cardboard, 3D-printing, etc.). The constructed parts could provide functional value by helping the device perform its task and/or provide aesthetic value by adding to the device's appearance for demonstration purposes.

Device App and Web App

Your team will need to design and program two apps that interact with each other: an app that runs on the smart device and a web app that runs in a browser.

The device app will gather and process data from the device’s inputs and respond automatically through the device’s outputs based on certain conditions.

The web app will interact with the device app by sending and receiving data through the internet. For example, the web app could be used to:

• display data from the smart device

• receive a notification from the smart device

• change the smart device’s settings

• send a command to the smart device

• turn the smart device on or off

• etc.

Website, Video, Poster, and Presentation

Each team will create a product marketing website for their smart device. The website should include a product demo video.

At the end of the semester, all teams will demonstrate and explain their smart devices and apps at a public poster presentation.

Each phase of the project has a set of team deliverables, but they lead to these final deliverables from each team:

• Smart Device built and programmed to be a functional prototype of your solution design

• Web App that interacts with smart device by sending and/or receiving data through internet

• Product Website that explains your solution and includes a product demo video

• Project Poster that shows how your solution was created and highlights key features

• Public Presentation that demonstrates your solution and explains how it was created

Each team's smart device prototype must meet these design criteria:

• Innovative: your solution should be unique (or an improvement over existing solutions)

• Feasible: your solution should be possible to prototype with the given materials/resources

• Useful: your solution should fulfill a need, solve a problem, or improve an existing situation

• Usable: your solution should be easy to understand and efficient to use

• Valuable: your solution should be desirable and valuable to users/stakeholders

Each team's smart device prototype is subject to these constraints:

• Smart device prototype must use at least one physical input (sensor, button, etc.) and at least one physical output (motor, LED light, etc.) from provided IoT electronics kit.

• Smart device prototype may have to be a smaller-scale model of actual product.

• Smart device prototype may have to simulate certain parts or actions (e.g., smart thermostat could control red and blue LEDs that represent heating and cooling systems).

• Smart device prototype can include constructed parts (e.g., cardboard, 3D-printed, etc.) that provide functional and/or aesthetic value.

Each team will have 2-4 members that serve in one or more of these roles:

• Design Lead: leads interaction design and evaluation of product

• Development Lead: leads building and programming of product

• Business Lead: leads business analysis and marketing of product

• Project Manager: leads team to ensure project completed successfully

Teams of 2 need to designate one person as the Design Lead and the other person as the Development Lead. The Design Lead will also serve as the Business Lead, while the Development Lead will also serve as the Project Manager.

Teams of 3 need to designate different people as the Design Lead, the Development Lead, and the Business Lead. One person will also need to serve as the Project Manager.

Teams of 4 need to designate different people for each role.

It is highly recommended that each team agree to a set of team rules at the beginning of the project. Here is a possible project team agreement that could be used.

Research existing products (IoT and non-IoT) that perform similar tasks as your team’s smart device concept. Summarize the features of 3-4 competing products, and analyze the competing products to identify opportunities to make your team’s smart device innovative compared to the competition.

Gather information to summarize the following for each competing product:

• What is the product's name and its specific context of use? (include product image)

• What are the key functions and features of the product?

• What are the key parts (inputs, outputs, etc.) that the product uses to perform its tasks?

• Does the product use an internet or network connection to send or receive data with apps, databases, or other devices? If so, what functions or features does this provide?

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the product?

• What information sources were used in your research? (include links to sources)

❏ Deliverable

Submit a document or presentation that summarizes each competing product and identifies opportunities for your team’s smart device to be innovative compared to the competition.

Conduct internet research to find an example IoT product or system for each of these contexts:

1. Consumer Context: home or personal use

2. Business Context: business, industry, agriculture, etc.

3. Public Context: government services, public infrastructure, healthcare, environment, etc.

Gather information to summarize the following for each IoT product:

• What is the IoT product’s name, purpose, and specific context of use? (include product image)

• What value does the IoT product provide? (e.g., is it more convenient, is it more efficient, is it more cost-effective, is it safer, does it perform a task not possible otherwise, etc.)

• What physical inputs (such as: sensors, etc.) does the IoT product have? What data does it gather from its physical environment using these inputs?

• What physical outputs (such as: motors, etc.) does the IoT product have? What actions does it perform in its physical environment using these outputs?

• What type of internet or network connection (such as: cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc.) does the IoT product have? What data does it send or receive with apps, databases, or other devices through this connection?

• What information sources were used in your research? (include links to sources)

❏ Deliverable

Submit a slide presentation containing your research findings

Each team will complete the to develop a firm understanding of the technical opportunities and constraints your team will have when designing your own smart device with the provided IoT electronics kit.

❏ Deliverable

Demonstrate that you have completed the tutorials and can discuss how the IoT electronics kit and code work together.

Your team will generate possible ideas for a smart device that performs a useful and valuable task. After evaluating the ideas, your team will select one concept for your team’s project.

1. Each team member should independently generate and record at least 10 possible ideas for tasks that could be performed using one or more parts in the IoT electronics kit. If helpful, create quick sketches to help illustrate ideas.

2. As a team, discuss and refine your ideas to form a combined numbered list of possible tasks for smart devices. For each idea, discuss these questions and make any refinements:

   1. Does the smart device perform a useful task in an innovative way?

   2. What inputs and outputs from the IoT kit would be used to help perform the task? (The smart device must use at least one input and at least one output from the IoT kit.)

   3. Are there certain parts or actions of the smart device that would need to be simulated? If so, can you still create a prototype device that performs the main task?

   4. What are some possible ways that the smart device could interact with a web app?

3. Construct a decision matrix to help evaluate your team’s list of ideas by ranking the relative weight (from Low to High) of each smart device idea on these two criteria (and then plotting a numbered point on the matrix to represent each concept):

   1. User Value (how desirable and valuable would this product likely be to users)

   2. Team Interest (how much interest do you have in pursuing this as your project)

4. Use the decision matrix to select one idea to pursue for your team’s project. Ideally, your selected idea will have high user value and high team interest.

❏ Deliverable

Submit each team member’s initial list of ideas, your team’s combined numbered list of ideas, your team’s decision matrix, and identify which idea was selected for your team's project.

Conduct user research by interviewing potential users (or other stakeholders) for your smart device and web app. Analyze your interview data to create a persona and scenario of a typical user, which will help inform and guide your design process.

Persona Template

❏ Deliverable

Submit your team's interview questions, interview data, and persona.

Discuss and create a value proposition for your team’s smart device concept using this format:

• For [describe target users] who [describe problem or need], [name of product] is a [describe type of product] that [describe benefit or value].

Your team's value proposition is an “elevator pitch” that quickly communicates your smart device concept to outside people and helps provide focus to your team as you design, build, and evaluate your smart device.

❏ Deliverable

Submit a document with your team's value proposition for your smart device concept.

VALUE PROPOSITION: For homeowners who want an easier way to control their house's climate, EcoStat is a smart thermostat that learns your home routine and automatically adjusts your house's temperature settings to provide ideal comfort, energy efficiency, and cost savings.

Create a slide presentation that summarizes your team’s proposal for a smart device and web app. Practice your presentation before delivering it to your class. This will be an opportunity for other project teams to ask questions and provide constructive feedback to help your team clarify and improve its project concept.

Your team's presentation should include the following (in this order):

1. Project Team: product name, team name, team members & their roles

2. Value Proposition: Be sure the value proposition for your project concept is clear and compelling.

3. Competitive Analysis: Briefly describe the examples of competing products & highlight their key strengths and weaknesses. Explain the opportunities your team identified to design a product that is unique or better compared to the competitors.

4. User Research: Identify how many people were interviewed and how they were selected. Highlight key aspects of the persona that was created from the interview data, and describe the scenario for the persona.

5. Design Requirements: Highlight key requirements for the smart device and web app, and briefly explain how these were influenced by your competitive analysis and user research. In addition, explain the physical input(s) and output(s) from the IoT kit that will be used to help fulfill the functional requirements for your smart device.

6. Interaction Storyboard: Identify the selected task, briefly explain how a user interacts with the web app to complete the task, and identify how the web app will interact with the smart device through the internet.

The presentation should have 6-12 slides and take 5-10 minutes to deliver.

❏ Deliverable

Submit your team’s slide presentation

Discuss and establish a list of design requirements that your team’s smart device and web app will have to meet. Your team's design requirements should list a minimum of:

• 3 Functional Requirements

• 3 Usability Requirements

• 3 User Experience (UX) Requirements

• 1 Other Requirement

Design Requirements Template

❏ Deliverable

Submit a document with your team's design requirements

Your team needs to build and program a functional prototype of your smart device using the provided IoT electronics kit. You'll need to code the device app that controls the smart device, as well as the web app that interacts with the smart device.

• Build your smart device using the Photon kit

• Code the Photon device app that controls your smart device

• Code the web app that interacts with your smart device

• Verify that your smart device and its apps work together correctly

Build Smart Device

Your team must build a functional prototype of your smart device that can be demonstrated to the public. If necessary, you can simulate certain parts or actions as long as the main task of your smart device can still be demonstrated.

The project challenge requires that you use at least one physical input (sensor, button, etc.) and at least one physical output (motor, LED light, etc.) from the provided IoT electronics kit:

• The IoT Code Guidebook has references showing how to connect the and to your Photon circuit board.

• If necessary, refer back to the in the IoT Code Guidebook to understand how to create electronic circuits by connecting components to the Photon circuit board.

If desired, you can construct certain parts for your smart device using cardboard, 3D-printing, etc. The constructed parts could provide functional value by helping the device perform its task and/or aesthetic value by adding to the device's appearance for demonstration purposes.

• For example, if your smart device uses a magnetic switch to detect when a door is open or closed, you could construct a small-scale door and attach the magnetic switch to it.

Code Device App

Your team will use the online code editor to create the Photon device app that controls your smart device. You'll "flash" (download) the app to your smart device over Wi-Fi.

The IoT Code Guidebook has a reference explaining the different parts of a .

The IoT Code Guidebook has references explaining how to write code in your device app to:

Code Web App

Your team will create a web app that interacts with your Photon device over the internet through Particle Cloud. The web app will consist of an HTML file, a CSS file, and a JavaScript file.

The IoT Code Guidebook has templates with starter code for your web app, depending on whether you need just a single screen app or multiple screens:

Verify Device and Apps Work Together

Throughout coding, be sure to test each new feature as you add it to your device app or web app. Make sure the new feature works correctly, and be sure all the existing features still work. Troubleshoot and fix any bugs or issues that you discover.

❏ Deliverables

• Submit a photo of your completed smart device

• Download and submit your Photon device app file (.ino)

• Submit your web app files (.html, .css, .js) – or a link to the web app files

Create an with a sequence of 3-6 sketched screen mockups to show how a user would interact with your smart device’s web app to perform a task. Be sure to select a primary task that is central to the purpose of your product.

❏ Deliverable

Submit an image (photo, scan, etc.) of your team's interaction storyboard.

Your team will create a one-page product marketing website for your smart device solution, which will include a product demo video that your team will create. This website will be made public to allow more people to learn about your smart device project.

1. Gather and/or create the content (text, images, video, etc.) for your team’s product marketing website. As necessary, tailor the content to your target users, as represented by your team's persona. Be sure the content is clear, concise, engaging, and professional. Your website should include the following (but you can add other content if helpful):

   • Product Name

   • Product Description (can use value proposition as starting point)

   • Product Video (demonstrate how smart device solution works)

   • Features (list tasks that smart device solution can perform)

   • Tech Specs (list device's inputs, outputs, connectivity, etc.)

   • Photo(s) of completed smart device (if necessary, add captions to explain)

   • Screenshot(s) of completed web app (if necessary, add captions to explain)

2. Create a visual design for your team's website that will be engaging, professional, and reinforce your product concept. As necessary, tailor the design to your target users.

   • Sketch possible ideas for the overall layout of the content on the webpage.

   • Determine the final layout and its overall style (such as: colors, fonts, etc.)

3. Build the website using a tool such as Google Sites (available within Google Drive, see guide to Get Started with Sites) – or code the website directly using HTML and CSS.

   • Include temporary placeholders for the product demo video and product images (smart device & web app) until they are ready to add to the website.

In the next phase of the project, you'll test the website with people outside your team to determine how effective the website is at explaining and marketing your team's solution.

❏ Deliverable

Submit a link to your team's product marketing website for its smart device solution.

Here's a real-life example of a product webpage: Fitbit Charge 3 fitness tracker

Similar to robotic devices, IoT devices follow a "Sense-Think-Act" cycle to interact with the physical world. IoT devices also "communicate" through an internet or network connection.

• SENSE: IoT devices typically have one or more physical inputs (such as sensors, etc.) that gather data from the physical environment.

• THINK: IoT devices are programmed to analyze data from their inputs to make decisions and respond to certain conditions by acting through their outputs.

• ACT: IoT devices typically have one or more physical outputs (such as motors, etc.) that can do something in the physical environment.

• COMMUNICATE: IoT devices send and/or receive data by communicating with other apps, databases, or other devices through an internet or network connection (which is often a wireless signal such as cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc.). This data communication can serve as a digital input ("sense") or as a digital output ("act").

Your team will create a system model of your smart device and web app to show how the different parts of your solution will work together to "Sense-Think-Act-Communicate". This system model will help your team better understand how to build your smart device and program its apps.

Make a copy of this system model template, and then modify it:

1. Identify the name of each physical input (sensor, push button, etc.) that your smart device will use, and describe how each input will be used.

2. Identify the name of each physical output (motor, LED light, etc.) that your smart device will use, and describe how each output will be used.

3. Describe each task or feature of the web app that interacts with your smart device.

NOTE: Although this system model won't directly list the "Think" steps performed by your smart device's apps, these "Think" steps should be clearly implied by your descriptions for the inputs, outputs, and web app.

❏ Deliverable

Submit your team's system model for your smart device solution.

Your team will create an interactive prototype of the web app for your smart device. However, this prototype will not be coded (yet). Instead, you will first take your interaction storyboard sketches and use them to help create an interactive prototype of screen images.

1. Review your interaction storyboard sketches, and determine if there are any changes that should be made to your smart device's web app (screen layout, tasks, etc.). The web app should have at least one primary task that it performs. Determine if any additional tasks or features should be included in the web app that your team will create.

2. Use an online prototyping tool (such as Marvel, InVision, etc.) to create a sequence of screen images for the web app that will demonstrate/simulate how someone would interact with the web app to complete tasks. You can either import images of your sketched screens, or you can create high-fidelity screen layouts directly in the prototyping tool (which will also allow you to easily copy and modify screens).

3. Add one or more clickable "hotspots" to each screen where a user could click a button, link, icon, etc. to perform an action or navigate to another screen. Then link each hotspot to another screen image that shows the result of the interaction.

In the next assignment, you'll test the interactive prototype of your web app with people outside your team to make sure the design of the web app is easy to understand and use. After you've identified possible improvements to web app design, you'll begin to code a functional version of the web app using HTML, CSS, and JS.

❏ Deliverable

Submit a link to the interactive prototype for your team's smart device web app.

Click on the interactive prototype shown below to start interacting with it. Once you "arm" the security system, it will simulate a "motion" event after 5 seconds. A second simulated motion event will occur after several more seconds.

This prototype demonstrates/simulates the following tasks and features:

• Monitor security system's current mode ("armed" or "disarmed")

• Can remotely toggle system between "armed" or "disarmed" mode

• Receive and display event notification if system detects motion when “armed”

• Display date and time of last motion event

This interactive prototype was created using a sequence of 9 screen images. Each new screen was created from a copy of a previous screen. Each copied screen was then modified to show the differences in the new screen image.

Your team will create a product demo video that will briefly demonstrate and explain your working smart device prototype and its web app. You'll include the video in your team's .

1. Create a script and for your team's product demo video, which should be about 1-2 minutes in length. As necessary, tailor the video content to your target users, as represented by your team's persona. Be sure the video will be clear, concise, engaging, and professional.

   • For the script, be sure you'll show and explain what the smart device and web app do, as well as the value they provide to users.

   • For the storyboard, decide which will be most effective for the different parts or scenes in the video. When necessary, be sure to capture close-up shots of the smart device or web app to show important details.

2. Use your script and storyboard to practice the video.

   • The person(s) that will act and/or narrate should practice what they will do and/or say.

   • The camera person should practice capturing the camera shots using different camera movements (tilting up or down, panning left or right, zooming in or out, etc.).

   • If your team can record the final video (and its audio) in one continuous take, you'll avoid or minimize the need to edit the video.

3. Record and finalize the video.

   • If necessary, record additional takes.

   • If necessary, edit the video to finalize it (cut and splice scenes, add titles or captions, add narration or background music, etc.).

   • Upload the final video to a site (such as: Google Drive, YouTube, etc.) that will allow you to embed (or link to) the video in your team’s product marketing website.

❏ Deliverable

Submit a link to your team's product demo video for its smart device solution.

Here's a real-life example of a product video:

Because your team's device is a first version prototype, your video will be more of a demonstration, rather than a polished commercial for a finished product.

Your team will test your smart device prototype and product marketing website with people outside your team to evaluate whether the smart device and product website are useful, easy to use, and effective. Receiving constructive feedback will allow you to improve them before the public presentation.

You’ll need to recruit a total of 6-10 participants for this user testing:

• You need 3-5 participants to individually evaluate the smart device and web app.

• You need a different set of 3-5 participants to individually evaluate the product website.

As a reminder, here are .

You’ll also ask each participant to respond to a brief online survey after the user testing session. The surveys for the smart device and product website will be slightly different. These two surveys have already been created as Google Forms:

1. Create a new folder called “Solution Evaluations” in your team’s Google Drive folder.

2. Save one copy of each survey in that new folder. (Links to both surveys are below.)

3. When you’re ready to administer a survey to a participant, open the specific survey, and click the preview icon in the upper right, which will allow the participant to respond.

EVALUATION OF SMART DEVICE PROTOTYPE

The user testing of the smart device prototype will require each participant to complete 1-3 tasks by interacting with the smart device and its web app. Determine what these tasks will be based on what your functioning prototype can do.

You’ll need to start each testing session by briefly introducing the smart device (without giving away clues to the task steps). Depending on your specific device, you may need to trigger certain conditions for the participant (e.g., activating a motion sensor, opening a magnetic switch, etc.) to help simulate the context for the tasks.

• Evaluation Findings: Use to summarize your findings from the user testing.

• Post-Testing Survey: Have the participant respond to after the user testing.

EVALUATION OF PRODUCT WEBSITE

The user testing of the product website will require each participant to find answers to specific content questions. Use these questions as the tasks for the product website:

1. What the does the product do?

2. Who is the product designed for?

3. What benefits does the product provide?

ANALYZE SURVEY DATA

After all the participant evaluations are completed, you’ll analyze the data from each survey.

Open one of the surveys in your team’s Google Drive folder. At the top of the survey form, click on the "Responses" tab, which should default to showing the summary data for all responses.

For each survey question, the summary data will display a histogram (similar to bar chart) of the response distribution:

• Responses categorized as 4 or 5 are positive because they indicate the participant either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement.

• Responses categorized as 3 are neutral because they indicate the participant neither agreed or disagreed with the statement.

• Responses categorized as 1 or 2 are negative because they indicate the participant either disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement.

After each chart, you’ll see the written responses submitted by the participants to explain their ratings. You can compare these explanations against your team’s findings from the user testing to see if the survey responses revealed any new issues that might need to be addressed. If so, add these new issues to your evaluation findings document.

Create a summary document for each survey that shows the histogram charts (in order) of your team’s survey data. If you hover over the upper right corner of a chart, you can click a copy icon, and then paste that chart into the document.

In the next assignment, you’ll use the evaluation results to make refinements to your smart device solution and product marketing website before the public presentation event.

❏ Deliverables

Submit all of the following:

• Evaluation findings for smart device prototype

• Evaluation findings for product marketing website

• Summary of survey data for smart device prototype

• Summary of survey data for product marketing website

Your team needs to create a project schedule to help ensure that you'll complete all the necessary tasks involved to design and develop your team's smart device solution. This phase of the project will require about 4-6 weeks to complete. Your teacher will identify the specific deadline(s) for this project phase.

This flowchart shows the major tasks that your team must complete during this project phase:

In the first task, your team will work together to create a system model of your smart device and web app. This will give your team a shared vision of what your smart device solution will do.

Then your team members will start to work in parallel on different tasks, depending on their team role. Some of the tasks must be completed in a certain order. When necessary, you might have multiple team members working together on certain tasks.

Your team will finish this project phase by presenting your working smart device solution to the class. (In the next project phase, your team will evaluate your solution with people outside your team, in order to refine the solution before the final public presentation.)

1. Identify the sequence of tasks to be completed (which might require dividing major tasks into subtasks)

2. Assign one or more team members to lead or perform each task

3. Estimate the amount of time to complete each task

4. Develop a draft schedule with specific dates for working on the tasks

5. Finalize the schedule by making any necessary adjustments (task sequence, assigned resources, durations, dates, etc.) to ensure the project deadline(s) will be met

6. Use the schedule to monitor the team's progress on a regular basis, and make any necessary adjustments to keep the project on track

Your teacher might assign a specific format or template for your team's project schedule.

❏ Deliverables

• Submit your team's project schedule

• Provide weekly updates on your team's progress

Here's an example of a project schedule that breaks down the major task into weeks.

NOTE: Your project schedule might use a different format that has more detailed information (such as: subtasks, estimated durations for tasks, start & end dates for tasks, etc.).

Your team will create a poster that helps explain and show how your team researched, designed, prototyped, and evaluated your smart device solution for your targeted problem.

The poster will be a visual reference to supplement the explanation and demonstration that your team gives during the public presentation event. Even though a poster won't explain or show everything about your team's project, a person should be able to understand the key aspects of your team's project just by reviewing your poster.

The goal is for the poster to be clear, concise, engaging, and professional in terms of its content and visual design.

The standard size for a large poster is 36 inches wide by 24 inches tall (your teacher will clarify if a different poster size will be used). Print-quality materials typically use a resolution of 300 pixels per inch. Your teacher will have the posters printed prior to the public presentation.

1. Determine the content to be included on the poster. Gather text and images from your team's previous project deliverables. You may need to modify certain content to make it more suitable for a poster (e.g., text might need to be summarized or simplified, images might require labels or captions, etc.).

2. Determine the layout of the content by sketching a small-scale poster mockup on a regular sheet of paper. Be sure the layout will be easy to understand and follow.

3. Create a full-scale digital version of the poster using a drawing/illustration tool, such as Google Drawing, Pixlr Editor, Adobe Illustrator, etc. Be sure the visual design of the poster reinforces the concept behind your team's smart device solution.

4. Save or download the final poster as a PDF file that your teacher will have printed.

POSTER TEMPLATE

• You can use this Google Drawing template which is set to 36 inches wide by 24 inches tall. Zoom in or out as needed to add text, images, etc. – but do not change the canvas size. (Be sure you're logged in to your Google Account. From the File menu, select Make a copy. Save the copied file to your shared team folder in Google Drive.)

• If you use a different drawing/illustration tool, set the canvas size to 36 inches wide by 24 inches tall at 300 pixels per inch (10800 pixels wide by 7200 pixels tall).

• If your teacher has specified a different size for the poster, use that instead.

❏ Deliverable

Submit a PDF of your team's poster for printing

This shows a generic layout for the typical content that would be included in a project poster. However, you can modify the layout and appearance as necessary.

Create a slide presentation that summarizes the evaluation and refinement of your team’s smart device solution and product marketing website. Practice your presentation before delivering it to your class. This will be an opportunity for other project teams to ask questions and provide constructive feedback to help your team prepare for the public presentation.

Your team's presentation should include the following (in this order):

• Project Team: product name, team name, team members & their roles

• Value Proposition: Be sure the value proposition is clear and compelling.

• Persona: Be sure the persona is useful for understanding the target users that the solution was designed for.

• Solution Evaluation: Briefly describe the participants (number, gender, age, etc.) involved in the user testing of the smart device solution and product marketing website. Briefly summarize the evaluation findings, including the survey results.

• Solution Refinements: Briefly describe the refinements that were made to the smart device, web app, product marketing website, and/or product demo video. If helpful, you can include “before” and “after” images to better show certain types of changes.

• Project Poster: Show a preview of the team’s project poster, and briefly explain what information is included on the poster.

The presentation should have 6-10 slides and take 5-10 minutes to deliver.

❏ Deliverable

Submit your team’s slide presentation

Create a slide presentation that explains and demonstrates the smart device and web app that your team designed and developed as your project solution. Practice your presentation before delivering it to your class. This will be an opportunity for other project teams to ask questions and provide constructive feedback to help your team improve its solution.

Your team's presentation should include the following (in this order):

1. Project Team: product name, team name, team members & their roles

2. Value Proposition: If necessary, revise your team's value proposition to better match your solution. Be sure the value proposition is clear and compelling.

3. Persona: If necessary, revise your team's persona to better match the target users for your solution. Be sure the persona is useful for understanding the target users that the solution was designed for.

4. System Model: If necessary, revise your team's system model to better match your solution. Briefly explain the system model for your smart device and web app.

5. Interactive Prototype: Briefly demonstrate at least one task using your team's original interactive prototype of the web app (the version used during user testing).

6. Prototype Evaluation: Briefly describe the participants (number, gender, age, etc.) involved in the user testing of the interactive prototype of the web app, and briefly summarize the evaluation findings.

7. Product Website: Use your team's product marketing website to briefly describe the features and tech specs of your smart device solution. Be sure to show the photo(s) of your completed smart device.

8. Product Demonstration: Either do a live demo of your team's smart device (while projecting the completed web app) – or play your team's product demo video.

The presentation should have 8-10 slides and take 5-10 minutes to deliver.

❏ Deliverable

Submit your team’s slide presentation

Your team will test the interactive prototype of your web app with people outside your team to evaluate whether the web app's design is easy to understand and use. Receiving constructive feedback will allow you to make improvements in the design before coding the web app.

Follow these instructions to conduct user testing of your team's interactive prototype. User testing consists of four major steps:

1. Create Task Scenarios

2. Recruit Participants

3. Facilitate Testing Sessions

4. Summarize Findings

Use this template to summarize your team's evaluation findings.

Based on the evaluation findings, make any necessary changes in the design of your web app before your team starts coding it. Create new sketches or mockups to show the revised interface design for the web app prototype.

IMPORTANT: Be sure to keep a copy of your original interactive prototype.

❏ Deliverable

Submit your team's evaluation findings & revised web app design

Your team will explain and demonstrate your project solution to a public audience, which might include professionals from industry, college, and your school – as well as parents and fellow students. Some audience members might be acting as judges reviewing the team projects. Many audience members may be learning about the project for the first time.

Your team's presentation needs to tell a complete story (with a beginning, middle, and end) in just a few minutes. The presentation should be clear, concise, engaging, and professional.

• Plan and practice your team’s presentation and demonstration

• When helpful, refer to your poster and product website during the presentation

• Be sure to allow the audience to examine and interact with your project solution

• Be prepared to answer questions from the audience

• Be prepared to adapt if a technical issue occurs during the demonstration

❏ Deliverable

Participate in your team's presentation and demonstration at the public event

As an individual, respond to these .

Your teacher might also have you participate in group reflections: your team could reflect on its performance, and the entire class could reflect on the project.

❏ Deliverable

Submit your project reflection responses

An important part of celebrating the completion of a project is expressing gratitude and appreciation towards people for their help and work on the project.

Create a list of people that you want to recognize:

• Thank people who provided help to you or your team

• Recognize exceptional work done by someone on your team or another team

Your list could include any people inside or outside the class that helped during the project. Be specific when describing the help or work done by the other person.

During your class celebration, share some of the recognitions publicly.

❏ Deliverable

Submit your list of recognitions

Your team will use your evaluation findings to implement refinements to your smart device solution and product marketing website. Focus on the highest priority design changes first. Implement as many refinements as possible depending on the available time and resources prior to the public presentation.

If possible, test your solution or website again with new participants to verify whether the refinements resolved the issues.

❏ Deliverable

Submit a list briefly describing each refinement that your team implemented