Final project
The capstone — actually finish the thing you diagnosed in Assignment 1 (or a new one), and account for why the last mile was the expensive part
Due: 28 May 2027 · Weight: 50%
The brief#
Finish something. Then explain, using this course’s own framework, why finishing it was the expensive part.
You can carry forward the thing you diagnosed in Assignment 1, or pick a new one — but this assessment is about crossing a real last mile, not describing one from a safe distance. If you reuse Assignment 1’s subject, the bar is higher, not lower: we already know what was wrong with it: did you actually fix it?
Scope this realistically for the time you have. A capstone that quietly assumes twice the available hours is the single most common way this assignment goes wrong, and it’s the same mistake week 6 spends its own lecture warning manufacturing teams against.
What you submit#
The finished artefact itself — or, where the artefact can’t be submitted directly (a shipped product, a completed process, a delivered thing), evidence that it’s actually done. Alongside it, a written account, 1,500–2,000 words, naming the specific last-mile cost you crossed and connecting it explicitly to at least two domains this course covered.
The spec
The brief poses the problem and leaves room for a response. The spec is the fixed part: what a marker checks. Some lines can be checked mechanically; the rest call for judgement.
- the thing is actually finished, not just further along than it was — you can reuse Assignment 1's subject, but the diagnosis alone doesn't carry this assessment
- the write-up names the specific last-mile cost you had to cross, using at least two of this course's twelve domains as reference points
- it stands on its own, without you there to explain it
- submitted by the deadline, in the format named below
How it is marked
| Criterion | Weight |
|---|---|
| The thing is actually finished, not just further along than Assignment 1 | 40% |
| Names the specific last-mile cost crossed, tied to at least two domains | 30% |
| Stands on its own, without you there to explain it | 20% |
| Evidence, length, and format match the brief | 10% |