HANDBUILT Presentation

In the final stretch of it all, I believe Matthew and I were able to bring it together in the end. The biggest issue that needs to be resolved after presenting to the Nelson, are certain details on the cards themselves. However, in regards to everything else that came prior to today, lets just say it was definitely a challenge.

There are many aspects to this project that contributed to the difficulty of this task. One of the most challenging, I felt, was finding a balance between simplification and functionality. The introduction of user testing proved to be extremely insightful and a useful tool in the development of this project. In most everything we do, it's easy to get stuck in our own heads, so its important to get feedback and see if something is actually working.

Another challenge, Matthew and I struggled with was in how to frame and explain the presentation. In general this semester we both felt has been about learning how to present work and pitch ideas in an manner that is engaging and tells a narrative. We figured, what better way to explain our system then to show the system in action in the park where it will be held! As a side note, it's important to check the weather in scheduling a photo shoot outdoors.

What I found most interesting from the whole experience is how there are so many unique possibilities to engage children. I suppose this can be said about everything, but what is unique about designing for children is that you have to, in a sense, remove a grown up identities and learn to see the world again as a child.

Lastly, congratulations everyone on job well done!

User Testing Day Reflection

After taking a moment to reflect on our user testing experience here are some problems we identified: Firstly, rather than using the map to orient themselves it seems that both families identified the icon. We need to give the map more real world/actual reference points such as landmarks, pathways or directional elements to help families orient themselves. Secondly, there is a bit of a disconnect between the cards and the map in regards using the cards as prompts. The educational concept of learning about the materials and making those connections between the cards were initially overlooked. We need to give more of a purposeful explanation and directional cue in our description of the map. In both tests, majority of the time was spent on the hunt of the sculpture rather than the learning aspect it seems. We need to make the learning aspect more exciting to then also make the hunt more exciting.

Next Steps:

1. Give more identifiers landmarks on the map

2. Write a clear purposeful, and directional explanation that links the cards and the map

3. Play up directional descriptors on map

4. Refine, Refine, Refine!

Nelson Atkins Internal Testing