What a DIY Project Taught Me About Prototyping: Working Through Trial & Error

The process of building and maintaining a home can be a tedious process. As a rental property owner, I must plan for repairs to withstand wear. Holes are amongst the most common damages, so knowing what method is fastest, cheapest, and long-lasting is necessary. This Networked Learning Project (NLP) helped me experiment with tools as technologies and learn a new skill.

Do-It-Yourself (DIY) home improvement articles and videos are highly available on the internet. The challenge is not access of information, but knowing which information and tools are best for the issue. Like many novice homeowners, I started with YouTube- and Google- ing “patch hole in wall.” After reviewing about 5 resources, I found that articles such as this one were most helpful in providing a material list. YouTube videos provided strong visual resources to go through the step-by-step process, though were often long-winded. I found myself using both articles and YouTube videos to test the patch repair methods.

I’ve learned there are 3 main ways that you can patch a hole in drywall depending on the size of the hole: (1) spackle, (2) a patch repair kit or patch tape, and (3) installing new drywall. I tried the first 2 repair methods.

Due to the abundance of information and methods on patching holes, I learned this project was a trial-and-error process. Resources can only provide so much information, but design thinking helped me to realize that the prototyping (testing) phase critical to choose the best method. Learning designers have ideas of what works best, but those methods must be tested to learn what is most effective for the intended goal.

Below are before and after pictures with each patch repair method… let me know which you think is best so far.

image credit: Harvard University (2020). Design thinking in education. https://tll.gse.harvard.edu/design-thinking [image].

Before and After #1

Before and After #2

Before and After #3

References:

Evan and Kaitlin. (2017 March 24). How to patch and repair drywall [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCJz3JFT_HA

Harvard University (2020). Design thinking in education. https://tll.gse.harvard.edu/design-thinking [image].

Villa, Bob (n.d). How to: Patch drywall. https://www.bobvila.com/articles/how-to-patch-drywall/