Last week was my final week in the office. I can hardly believe how quickly summer has ended. Thursday was my last day in the office. It was quite hard between saying goodbye to everyone in the office and just realizing that the summer was over. It seems like just yesterday I was stepping into the 3rd Stone offices for the first time. This week has been a week of reflection—on the projects I’ve completed, the lessons I’ve learned, the experiences I’ve had, and the people I’ve met. I am thankful for all of them and especially thankful for the opportunity I was given to travel and work here.
On Wednesday, all of the interns gave final presentations about our projects. My presentation was entirely about the Hadleigh Health Technologies (HHT) website (which is now live!). I talked about the reason I built the website, planning the project, and the process of actually building the website. I’ll give you a short version of the presentation right now!
There are a range of different ways to build a website, including coding the entire thing by hand or outsourcing the job to another company. The method we chose to build the HHT website was to use WordPress, a content management system. For those of you unfamiliar with WordPress, it is one of the most popular online publishing platforms, and you can make a free website in just seconds. This blog is actually powered by WordPress. In the most basic sense, you choose a theme, organize your content (words and pictures) onto the pages, then edit and customize until you’re happy with the site. WordPress makes it easy to make a good-looking site with a fairly minimal amount of coding. The last website I built, doseright.com, was also built using WordPress, and it was actually the inspiration for the HHT website.
We were contemplating building a website for the Pumani, but then decided that a website that could showcase both products would be more useful. Once we had decided all of this, Robert helped me devise a project goal: to build a unified website for HHT that encompasses the focus of the company, the needs it meets, the methods it uses, and the products it creates. Following this, I created a product definition, in which I defined what features the website needed, as well as what behaviors it would perform, and what interfaces it would interact with. I also created a schedule to organize the weeks I had to work on the project.
Once I finished the planning stage, I began actually building the website. First, I searched the web for inspiration from other global health websites. In this process, I found that HHT is a unique company, in need of a unique website. Many companies that produce global health devices tend to be non-profits. Most for-profit medical device companies design devices that are suited for different needs than the HHT products. HHT is somewhere in the middle. We need to both explain the need we are filling—global health solutions—and the products we are creating. Since it is such a unique company, it needs a unique website.
After gleaning inspiration, I started looking through themes, and after a review of several with Robert and Jocelyn, we decided on a customizable theme. I built each page by combining words with pictures and rearranging. Every few days, I would ask for feedback and work to improve the site. Over the course of the project, I gathered feedback from around the office, including from Robert and Jocelyn, as well as from the other interns, Katharine and Emily, who both have excellent design sense. I began by building the product pages for the DoseRight Syringe Clips and the Pumani bCPAP. Next, I wrote and built the pages for Need and Approach. Those pages took more thought, as I was working from scratch. Finally, I built a page that would feature all of the media and publications about HHT devices, a page that explained the company, a contact page, and a home page. For each page, I had to decide on colors, layout, wording, and animation.
One of the most important aspects of this project was iteration. Even after I built each site, I would go back and revise it many, many times, until both my colleagues and myself were happy with it. Feedback was incredibly helpful, especially from Robert, since I was building the site for him. On the “Approach” page, I explain design thinking using a concept that Robert taught me—ETC. ETC stands for express, test, and cycle, and it is exactly how I built the site. First, I would find the need and create a solution (express), next I would test my solution by gathering feedback and looking at it critically (test), then I would go back and revise my solution building off of what I had learned (cycle). It was neat to write about the design process as I was actually performing it.
I’ve learned so much during my time at 3rd Stone, both from this project specifically and from the internship in general. Working on the HHT website taught me about WordPress, some coding in HTML and CSS, and how to communicate information effectively. I also learned attention to detail. There were often aspects of the website that required slight modifications, and while the modifications could seem tedious, they were worth the work in the end. One of the most important things I learned was project management. Because this was a fairly individual project, I was in charge of planning each day, prioritizing, finding what needs had to be met, and even setting up meetings. I really appreciated learning those things, and I think they’ll help me tremendously in the coming school year as I begin senior design and even beyond school.
During the internship, I learned even more. I learned just how much goes into making a product–from engineering to design to marketing. Global health products, in particular, are tricky, but the needs they fill are so incredibly important. I also learned what it is like to work in a professional engineering environment and that engineering is so much more than problem sets and prototypes. I learned the importance of company culture–I really enjoy every day at 3rd Stone, because although everyone works hard and is very motivated, work is punctuated by laughter.
I’d like to thank everyone at 3rd Stone for such an amazing summer. I think they already know the impact they’ve had on me, but I’ll just reiterate it. Jocelyn was a great mentor and it was so awesome to be able to hear about her experiences both at Rice and in Malawi. Jackie was always so helpful and taught me a lot about engineering and especially about using the laser cutter. Linda always made me laugh (with her) and she was so caring. Robert was an excellent boss, with a ton of helpful advice and feedback. Malcolm taught me important points about professional engineering. And, of course, the other interns were great as colleagues and as roommates. I’m so thankful to have gotten to know everyone at 3rd Stone and for the things they’ve taught me. I’m also thankful to BTB for giving me the opportunity to travel here and work for the summer. It really has been memorable.
Finally, I wanted to end with a compilation of what I’ve learned as a tourist here. Aside from everything being beautiful and unique, I learned there are some things you have to keep in mind when exploring around here.
A beginner’s guide to the Bay Area:
1. Dress in layers. No matter how warm it is in San Rafael, it’s probably going to be 10 to 20 degrees colder in San Francisco or anywhere along the water.
2. Be patient about parking. If you’re within a quarter mile of your destination, it’s probably a good idea to begin scouring for parking.
3. Learn to parallel park. On hills.
4. Learn about the many forms of public transit offered in the bay. From ferries to buses to trams, the Bay Area has quite the range of transportation methods.
5. Be prepared for some absurdly beautiful views. Every so often, you’ll just be driving, then happen upon a view of the entire bay and be overtaken by the beauty.
6. If you do visit, be aware that you may love it so much that you won’t want to leave. (That’s what happened to me!) But luckily, I didn’t have to say goodbye, I just had to say “See you later, California.”