In 2020, I designed an Apple Watch dock to replace one that kept slipping around on my desk. My new design worked well—my watch fit on the dock snugly, which was sturdily mounted to my desk. However, when a family friend asked to buy one, I realized that I had solely designed the watch for my own purposes; it only fit the old watch model I owned and was made up of multiple components hastily glued together.
I then redesigned the watch with reproducibility and a wider audience in mind; I adjusted the dimensions so that the dock could be used for any model Apple Watch, and I reduced the design to two parts with a bottom-mounted adhesive disc. I also cut down on the material necessary to 3D print the parts, creating hollowed sections where the product didn't need extra material support. I additionally created a sliced 3D model with variable layer height to optimize print time and cost. I then drew up a small instruction manual to go with each dock and sold them online.
