Someone would ask, how do inventors come up with an idea. Just like Dyson made 5,126 prototypes before he had his very first successful vacuum cleaner, it is always a journey. A journey of making, user testing, getting feedback, qualitative and quantitative assessment, iterating, testing again, and looping back.
Work Alike Prototypes
The initial prototype we developed was very much of components put together with wires everywhere with a big battery pack for our internal testing. We just wanted to test the principles before we made any progression. We tested and compared with other potential directions to see which one seemed to have the most possibility. Along the way, we always welcomed others to contribute and share their thoughts.
We started getting a direction to go for a LYEONS Heart, where we could support individuals to feel more balanced and regulated in moments of stress. It was an early stage with lots of questions, but we started our journey with the earliest prototype. It went from a wired prototype to having an enclosed prototype.
The first enclosure? A glue-gunned version of the necessary components. No more bulky battery pack, and it became portable.
Step by Step
Once it was portable, it continued to show potential direction. People who tried LYEONS Heart and said:
“Can I try it more? I would like to have this.”
So we continued to refine the enclosure, talked about the user journey and who may use the device, worked out some user testing criteria, feedbacks, and more. We explored different approaches and saw the change in individuals’ responses being different. We carefully calibrated and adjusted.
(We still have a long way to go, but we are making progress each day, each hour, each minute.)
The Hands-On Work
Sanding, getting the primer layer on, sanding again, polishing, screwing, soldering. All of it has been exciting, with the vision to support as many people as possible. “Heart stopped working, we’ll have to bring it back to the surgery room (workshop).”
The beauty of development is that you fix one thing, another thing breaks, and you keep going until you find the ultimate solution. It takes persistence…! And yes, of course, sometimes the wires don’t go where you want them to, components get damaged, the button isn’t quite right, the phone connection isn’t fast enough, and the 3D print fails multiple times.
But we value every mistake and every error we encounter. We learn, and we move on.
We try and try until we can create the best solution for you. Big thanks to all our team members (and the wider LYEONS team!) for always staying positive and keeping the smiles going through every step. 😊
Learning Through Iterations
Ultimately, we learned the most by letting people try the device. We had some volunteers who were keen to try out the device to help navigate moments of anxiety in their day-to-day routines. Their journal feedback, whether about usability or effectiveness, moved us miles ahead.
An inspiring moment where we truly felt it is worth it all was when feedback came from our users feeling more confident to do things they weren’t able to do before. Things they found helpful, things they think we can improve. All of these are being taken into consideration. Co-developing with our users has always been motivating and inspiring.
Developing in Parallel
We are looking at structures, shapes, colours, and materials as we go. Rather than doing things one by one, we are developing in parallel so we can take all elements into consideration. The focus may be weighted toward a particular area first, like in the early stages where we asked if it was working or not. Still, taking as many factors into account as we develop has been helpful.
How would you carry it? How would you charge it? How will the connection to the device work? Will it be Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or another method?
These are the kinds of discussions we have day to day, talking together with Team LYEONS and our wider Team LYEONS, you :).
We look forward to sharing more 🙂
We want to take a moment to thank all our users, friends, family, advisors, and more for contributing to our journey. Sharing your expertise, feedback, and ideas has been the engine for us to take step further. 🙂
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