The best products are not created in isolation — they are shaped by the people they are designed for

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My group is tackling sarcopenia, a condition that affects the strength, mobility, and independence of seniors. Through our initial visit to Sheng Hong AAC, we came up with pebble, a smart and drop safe dumbbell that could be used to gamify the dance-workout classes regularly conducted at AACs in a social & safe way.

We had our first visit to Bu Xin Eldercare at the start of the trip which enabled us to validate our MVP. The seniors seemed to enjoy the product, especially the competitive aspect. Despite technical issues, this validated our initial design while also teaching us how to engage with our target audience and collect constructive feedback.

Seniors seemed to enjoy the product, especially the competitive aspect of the game!

The maker culture in Shenzhen can be summarised in one word: speed. When we burnt an accelerometer, we could order a replacement that arrived the next day. Similarly, after submitting a design for our electronics holder, we received the finished part by the following evening. This rapid turnaround enabled us to iterate quickly and respond to feedback without spending excessive time planning. We also saw this culture reflected in companies such as RPS and Creality, which demonstrated how advanced manufacturing tools can accelerate the prototyping process.

In our 2nd visit to Bu Xin, things went wrong. While we had thought our design was intuitive, the elderly instinctively pinched the fabric cover rather than grabbing onto the container. This allowed them to shake the pebble too violently, causing the container to open, resulting in damage to both the pebble and electronics. However, we were able to adapt. We changed the game to single player mode, but kept the competitive aspect alive by introducing a leaderboard. Because the pebble was too damaged to safely house the electronics, we secretly faked the game progression by shaking the electronics ourselves. This enabled us to still get a sense of the user reception despite the product being non functional.

After the visit, we redesigned the electronics holder to have a tighter grip and prevent accidental opening, and we also modified the shape to discourage the incorrect grip. Next, we added a similarity score metric that ensures points are only attributed for following the dance instructor and hence dissuade violent shaking of the pebble to score more points.

Before arriving in Shenzhen, I thought that creating a product was simply a matter of brainstorming an idea, designing it, and then building it. But through this experience, I realised that innovation is far more iterative than that. Every stage of the journey provided feedback that shaped our design. While we prototyped quickly, Bu Xin taught us that speed alone is not enough. Successful products are built by continuously learning from users, adapting to setbacks, and refining designs based on real-world feedback. The best products are not created in isolation — they are shaped by the people they are designed for.

YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtaFmrh2ah8