Reflections

I believe that if you want to create something, you can probably figure out how to create it online. To actually create that "something", you need to find and put in the time to do so. Putting in the time is the hardest part of creating, not the creating or learning process itself (that's the fun part!). This project was an experience that supports this belief of mine. I had never previously built an electrical circuit from scratch, but now I know that if I put in the time and use the many resources available to me to support me to do it, I can. It is also inspiring to know first hand that objects like this can be prototyped quickly for iterations and testing. I will certainly bring the knowledge I gained from this project (and I imagine will continue to gain in this course) into prototyping when I'm developing IoT products in my future classes and/or career. 

Looking back on the process I followed in this particular project, I would have taken more time on the front end to map out exactly how the circuit should be set up so that it is easy to look at and not just a "mess of wires" unless looked at closely. I had to reorganize my breadboard a few times to be able to see exactly what was happening on it. This would have been helpful to resolve some of the bug issues I encountered, which were not in the code, but in the initial set up of my breadboard.

I reached the point that I wanted to, but know that I can build upon this project to do more things that would increase engagement and interaction with the product, so that someone would actually want to use it. It is currently interactive, but not as engaging or easy to use as it could be. For example, the person needs to look online to see the temperature-- it would be great if I could set this up so that the temperature was sent as a push notification to the person's phone or even digitally displayed on a future version of the meditation light casing itself.