Design Technology Investigation

1) It must be small enough to fit into a pocket and be easily handled. 2) It must have some area on it where you can attach a keychain or string for holding and practicality. 3) It must be appropriately aesthetically designed according to the desired audience/customer. 4) It must be sturdy and not easily broken if it is dropped or a little roughly handled for example.

5) It has to be water resistant (but not necessarily water-proof) so that it can still function if exposed to a humid environment. 6) It must be easy to insert and eject from the computer- only some force must be required.7) When inserted it should stay plugged in to the computer and only manage to be plugged out if it is pulled or a certain amount of force is applied to it. This way if someone walks with the computer and tilts it for example or simply repositions the computer the USB will not fall out and no work will be lost.

8) It should have some form of physical protection or cap to apply when not in use avoid the insertion of particles of dust or water into the USB that could compromise its way of functioning. 9) It should have a USB plug at the end of it so i can be plugged into the computer easily- every computer has at least one.So additional cable should be necessary for functioning of this device. 10) It should be an appropriate price considering its size in Gigabytes. Price somewhat guarantees quality in general. 11) It should come at a size appropriate for the target audience; you would not sell a device that can only store 2gb and that has a childishly colourful design on it if your target audience is business men who usually need a lot more disk space than that to save their files as well as a more simple and classy professional look to their USB.

12) If it has a cap it should somehow be attached to the main device so that when using it you don't lose the cap and etc... especially if the design is for children who tend to be forgetful and not always the most responsible- therefore more likely to lose a tiny cap meant to protect their USB Device.

13) It should not be big enough to swallow (for small kids) because this is a simple security measurement but at the same time it might be difficult to apply this because the device needs to be small enough to be easily handled.14) It should have a cover along the body if the device so the somewhat sharp electrical panels are not accessible to us. (this is also a small security precaution) TEST OF SPECIFICATIONS: SPECIFICATION NUMBER TEST OF SPECIFICATION 1 The test for this is going to be very simple - all i have to do is see if it fits into a pocket and if the size of it permits it to be easily handled- so can i hold it in my hand, is it too big to hold, is it too small/uncomfortable to handle? Can i pick it up off a table easily? Is it easy to take off the cap if it has one?You have to look the device over and simply note whether during its design they thought of piercing a small whole to which a string could be attached. Usually for USB devices the hole won't be big enough to attach a keychain ring but it will be plausible to attach the ring to a string which can be attached to the device. 3 In order to determine who the target audience was we must look at the storage content of the device- how many gigs is it? What does it look like? Is this for more of a childish target customer or for older mature adults who will need larger storage capacity?4 First- i need to check whether the device works in the first place when i plug it into the computer- is it recognised and can it save and open files? Once this is done i need to drop it from about 1m because that is usually the height at which it is held in someone's hand and can therefore be dropped from.

Once dropped i need to see if it physically looks okay and then check, whether it was physically damaged/dented or not, the inside components were affected along with its functioning.This will simply be done by once again trying to insert it into the computer and see if it can open and save files. 5 I will leave it on the window sill of a humid bathroom overnight and will also sprinkle a couple droplets of water directly on the device and then check if the device still works in a computer. If not it means the casing is not water resistant enough to make sure the device 'survives' in a normal person's daily routine.There's really only one way to test this specification- can I, along with at least 3 other randomly chosen people, insert the device and extract it in a way we consider to be with little force? 7 I will just plug in the device for this specification and reposition my laptop a few times as well as walk around the room a few times with the laptop to see if the device stays plugged in or if it falls.

8 This specification is quite vague and just says some form of casing must cover the entire surface of the inner components of the device when it isn't in use.So i will check if the it has a cap of if it is retractable. 9 This test will be another simple one where it is plainly visible if there is a USB plug present or not at the end and i will verify that this plug has been appropriately made by inserting it and extracting i from the computer and seeing if the computer recognises the device or not. 10 There is never really a fixed price for anything, especially not USBs.

The price will vary according to brand, quality, storage capacity, design and etc.But, in Ukraine, the prices generally range from 100 to 300 UAH depending on the above factors. A suitable price for a 4gb USB here would probably be around 200 UAH unless it had some form of extravagant design in which case it would probably be more expensive, and if not the quality would most likely be poor! Baring this in mind i will try and decide whether the price allocated to my USB device for this project is an appropriate one or not. But overall this test comes down to both common sense and personal opinion which is why i will ask several people.11 This test will probably also come down to personal opinion and common sense. As i said before, you would not sell a device that can only store 2gb and that has a childishly colourful design on it if your target audience is business men who usually need a lot more disk space than that to save their files as well as a more simple and classy professional look to their USB.

Therefore, i will take into account the design and storage capacity of the device and judge whether it becomes obvious who the target customer was.If it doesn't the maker of this USB was either poorly informed on who wants what in a USB or it is appropriate for more than one kind of person which could technically still satisfy the specification. 12 This is only applicable if the device actually has a cap, so if it does i will just look and see whether the cap is attached to the main body of the device. 13 USB's usually have some form of string or keychain attached to them which would make it extremely difficult to swallow the device but it could still be attempted by small children which means, whether it has anything attached to it or not the USB should not be small enough to swallow.Perhaps it will be small enough to put in a child's mouth though which could also present a health hazard.

I will of course not test this specification literally because if it happened not to be fulfilled i would have someone choking on my hands! Therefore i will jsut look at the size of the USB and compare that to the size of my mouth and judge whether it is big enough to swallow or not. 14 I will test this by simply inspecting the device closely and noticing whether any of the inside components are sticking out or accessible to us.OFFICIAL TEST OF SPECIFICATIONS: SPECIFICATION NUMBER and PASS or FAIL: PHOTOGRAPH OF TESTING (If applicable) Description: 1 - PASS As you can see by the image the device really easily fits into a pocket, it measures about 5x2x0. 5cm and this therefore makes it easy to pick up if it is on a desk, easy to hold- not too small and not so big it is alost unmanageable with your hands/fingers. The surface is smooth but there is a good grip to it so it doesn't slip out of the hand easily.

This test was definitely successful.On the end of the device there is a slit between the plastic in which a string has been inserted and then a chord which fits around your wrist or neck. His makes it even more easy to handle and the slit here is actually big enough to insert almost any keychain ring so that could be done to eprsonalise it if wanted. This was another successful test. 3 - PASS Judging by the design, storage capacity and entirety of the product this USB could be used by many people, from business men to high school students who want to save their essays.It is a 4GB USB which is a significantly large storage capacity, probably large enough for certain business people but not necessarily all.

It has a simple and classic design which could suit both males and females; it looks professional and simple at the same time. This is why the USB could suit almost any audience and the test is successful. Nothing to do with the design or storage capacity limits the target audience too much. 4 - PASSThis picture was actually taken after i droppe the USB whilst walking, as you can see there was no denting or physical damage to it. I then proceeded to insert it into the computer without any problems and the USB was recognised.

You can see this with the second picture which is the window that automatically pops up asking you what you would like to do with the inserted flash drive. 5 - PASS I left the USB next to the shower for 24 hours, during which the shower was used making the air humid and meaning a few droplets of water were inevitably dropped onto the USB.After this i plugged it into the computer and the same pop up window appeared than in the previous scenario meaning the USB was detected and functioning. I then tried to save files to it and open some of the existing ones on the flash drive and those worked perfectly well. Hence we can say that the casing of this USB is at least water resistant and a little humidity will not impair its function. 6 - PASS As is seen here the device fits perfectly well into the USB plug of the computer and not much force was necessary to insert it.

The only difficulty i came across was the fact the charger needs to be plugged in right next to the usb which makes it a little difficult to manage sometimes if the charger get sin the way. However, this isn't because the USB is to wide, it is just because of the designing of the computer and in no way impairs the USB's functioning. 7 - PASS I had no problems with this test, i could move the laptop about all i wanted and the USB never unplugged itself or fell out, the grip was good and the only way it could fall out was if there was a sudden rough movement and I hit it for example. Test successful.

8 - PASS This USB doesn't have a cap really however it is retractable in a sense that there is a sliding switch on the side of the device that you can move so that the Plug area of the USB is inside the casing and protected or so that it is outside of the casing and ready for use. This does mean however that the USB isn't as well protected as it could be with a cap to cover it however this is evidently not necessary as even after being exposed to a very humid environment the USB functioned just as well. 9 - PASS --> As can be seen in the any of the images in this folder, the device clearly has a USB plug.