This is the fifth step in the Strategic Design process, which focuses on prioritizing scoring opportunities. Before you continue, please be sure to review prior steps (see the list in the Strategic Design process article).
In this step, the focus shifts to organizing robot actions and prioritizing scoring opportunities. This process builds on previous steps by aligning potential tasks with available resources (step 1), the list of robot actions (step 3), and the calculated scoring values (step 4).
This is a critical decision-making phase, where each team's outcomes will vary greatly. It’s likely that deep discussions and even disagreements will occur during this process, so it’s wise to come up with a conflict resolution plan before getting started. It is also important to acknowledge that these decisions are not final; priorities are expected to evolve with initial prototyping, testing, and new information.
Begin prioritizing opportunities by placing essential, non-negotiable tasks (such as basic movement) at the far left. Any subset strategies should be moved along with the main scoring opportunities. Continue moving and organizing until all scoring opportunities have been ranked in order using available resources and anticipated return on investment as guiding factors.
Questions to ask your team while prioritizing:
- Realistically, what can be designed, built, or accomplished within the available timeframe?
- What is the available budget? Can more funds be secured?
- Are the necessary physical materials and components accessible for fabrication and programming?
- Does the team have the necessary skills, or will additional training be required?
- Can parts of the project be worked on at the same time, or do they need to be done one after another?
Learn More About Strategic Design
Continue to the next article in this series, Using the Strategic Design Method to Determine Overall Strategy, to move on to the next step.
Credits
This version of Strategic Design is inspired by the work of Karthik Kanagasabapathy, the originator of Strategic Design in competition robotics, and the ideas are used with his permission. Karthik is a former Chair of the VEX Robotics Game Design Committee and a respected mentor in the robotics community. Additional information was provided by the mentors of team 2337, the EngiNERDs, from Grand Blanc High School in Grand Blanc, Michigan.