Christos I's thoughts of Achileas and Christos's prototypes/ideas

I think that Christos’s design has all the necessary functions that one would expect from such a product. I like how simple it is and how everything works with just one button. I think this is how it should be, because the simpler the functionality, the more children will understand and use the productPublish. On the other hand, the pen looks too serious and may not attract many children. I may be mistaken however as it may look more attractive when it’s coloured and decorated with images. One other thing I would like to point out is the position of the gyroscope. It is positioned a bit higher of where I was expecting it to be. In that position it may not pick up the actual movements of the tip of the pen, but the movements of the upper part which may vary from the real movement of the tip.

Achilleas pointed out another way of handwriting detection. The ballpoint tracking sounds more accurate for our purpose. It picks the exact movements from the tip and can easily map them. The tracking mechanism however may be fragile and more prone to mechanical problems than gyroscopes. But if I had to choose between the two, I would go for the ballpoint tracking as it is less prone to errors.

I also agree with Achilleas about the power source. A rechargeable battery is the best way to go, as it provides more power than normal batteries and you can find one in any shape you want. So the shape of the battery would not limit the design of the pen in any way.

The button operation is very important as it’s one of the two ways the user can interact with the pen. I find Christos’s idea of single button operation very interesting. It keeps things simple and easy to understand. The only thing that may pose some difficulties is the position of the button. It may be ideal for turning the pen on and off, but when the user wants to turn on the speech recognition process, the position is a bit far off from the ideal. I was thinking that the button’s position should be close to the tip so that you don’t have to move your hand or use the other hand to turn on the button. A button placed near the tip will help the user operate the pen with minimal effort. I also liked Achilleas’s idea of having two modes. This however may be a bit difficult for children to understand how to operate. It will also add to the complexity. This mode can be turned on by the parents when synchronising the pen with the PC.

Initial Requirements

The pen must be designed around the target audience; children. The first thing that children in the age of 4-6 notice is how appealing an object is to them. So the first thing that must be taken into consideration is the physical design of the object. It must be as attractive to the children as possible. This means the use of bright colours, funny images and attractive design. If the object fails to get their attention from the first time they see it, they may neglect it and possibly never use it.

The final product must also be as user friendly as possible. It must not be difficult to use, as children will not have the patience and/or ability to lean how complicated products work. It must have as few buttons as possible as children may not remember what button is for, even if it’s labelled with descriptive labels and signs. The ideal number of buttons for this product must be just one. Also most of the communication must be done using voice recognition and speech synthesis, since children of that age group will find it difficult to read instructions from displays.

An LCD screen might also be used to display currently used words and/or display the letters that must be written down at any instance. The screen must act as a supplementary means of communication and not the primary one.

The motion sensing capabilities of the product must also be designed so as to distinguish between ambiguous motions. This is crucial as children that just start to learn how to write, have difficulties writing their first letters and even getting used to holding a pen or pencil.

The shape of the pen must also be designed around small hands. It must be as comfortable as possible for small children to hold and use. It must not be designed however around only left handers or right handers. Both types of users must be able to use the same product. This is one very important feature that must be taken into consideration before the actual design process takes place. Also it must feature a non-slip surface so that children with sweaty hands will not have any difficulties using it.

Safety issues must also be addressed before the design stage. The product must not in any way be dangerous to children. It must not feature any sharp edges that might hurt them. The tip of the pen can be made retractable, so it will be safe when it’s not used. Also no electrical parts must be exposed, to prevent short-circuits.