Ollie
UX Design
Overview
To research and develop a proposal that solves an issue
Client
University Project
Project outline
Designing an enhanced experience in the lives of vulnerable children amidst pandemic, through addressing mental health issues caused by isolation and home learning
Design Process
In this project, I embrace the power of the double diamond strategy, which guides my design process. Drawing inspiration from renowned design agencies IDEO and Pentagram, I combine their distinctive approaches to create a truly innovative and impactful outcome. The double diamond framework begins by immersing myself in the problem space, carefully defining the challenge and gaining valuable insights. I then embark on a divergent journey, exploring a multitude of solutions based on those insights.
From IDEO, I integrate the essence of their strategy, which involves conducting thorough user research. This meticulous exploration ensures that I craft well-defined user experiences that resonate with the intended audience, resulting in a more meaningful and effective final product.
Drawing from Pentagram's expertise, I incorporate their profound understanding of brand design and their ability to seamlessly blend the physical and digital realms. Their remarkable projects like YOTO and IDEO's playful code design serve as inspiration, highlighting the importance of a holistic approach that harmonizes both tangible and virtual elements.
By infusing the double diamond strategy with IDEO's user research prowess and Pentagram's expertise in brand design and the fusion of physical and digital, I forge a creative path that leads to groundbreaking solutions and an exceptional end result.
Steeple cards
We implemented a design methodology called Steeple cards, which encompasses Social, Technological, Economical, Environmental, Political, and Ethical factors in project development. This approach has proven to be highly effective in providing projects with a clear direction.
After careful consideration, I chose to focus on the social issues prevailing in today's world, particularly the lack of interaction individuals are experiencing as a result of the pandemic and remote learning. The shift from physical to digital interactions has been challenging, especially for children. Extensive research emphasizes the importance of equipping children with effective tools to express their emotions and feelings.
Recognizing the dearth of social interaction faced by their children, parents have permitted increased gaming time as it serves as their sole means of social engagement during lockdowns. Unfortunately, the lack of social interaction is significantly impacting the development of children's social skills.
Workshops
During the workshop, two user journeys were created, one for daily life at school and the other for daily life at home. This was considered the most effective way to encourage children to think and compare the advantages and disadvantages of both contexts, given that they have experienced them. The next step involved helping the children to identify the emotions associated with various tasks they perform in these scenarios. Assigning emotions such as happy, okay, and sad to these tasks proved to be a successful approach in promoting self-reflection among the children.
I had the opportunity to speak with a key worker who supports vulnerable children at a special needs school. Throughout the pandemic, she continued attending school and teaching these children despite the challenges. I conducted a workshop where I asked open-ended questions about vulnerable children, their characteristics, and how they are affected.
In my presentation, I took care to ensure that the story of my project was clear and effectively communicated the type of user, their demographic, and the impact of various factors, including the current situation. The feedback I received was positive, with particular praise for the framing of my project. To further emphasize the effects of isolation on certain children, I included a short TikTok video which successfully generated sympathy for the issues I was addressing.
Define
To organize my design insights, I first categorized them into two groups. The first focused on children's perspectives, exploring concepts such as play, social skills, and connectivity. The second group looked at the issue from the parents' perspective, considering how to create enabling tools for them to better adapt to their role as educators for their children.
After evaluating these two directions, I decided to move forward with the insights from the children's perspective, focusing on the issues of play, connectivity, and social skills. To ensure the project would remain relevant post-pandemic, I reframed it to extend beyond the pandemic and consider homeschooling.
Scenario 1
My initial inspiration for the project came from examining play artifacts and considering the skills that children learn through play. The concept I developed involves connecting children through the mediator of a game. The playful artifact is designed to promote social interaction among isolated children, providing guided play to facilitate engagement in social activities.
Scenario 2
The inspiration for the concept of Shared Play came from observing children's play behavior between the ages of 5 to 8. At this age, kids often act out various situations and scenarios, creating stories that involve heroism, teamwork, and adventure. The idea of Shared Play aims to provide scenarios that align with individual play habits. The artifact projects a scenario in which both players can participate, encouraging imagination, creativity, and social skills among children
Scenario 3
The Show + Tell concept is also based on children's behavior of showcasing items or creations they possess to their peers, parents, or other adults. This is an excellent opportunity for the child to engage in social conversation. Show + Tell is a community of stakeholders that includes children and adults. The goal is to promote social interaction among children, functioning as a social media platform for children without the negative side effects
FInal Concept
I started by mapping out the experience of remote playtime in the lives of children living in rural areas. The experience begins with the child feeling bored, but then the artifact signals that someone is ready to play with them. The child then asks their parent for permission to play with their friend, and the parent allows them to play for approximately 30 minutes. The artifact can also add different elements to create an environment that can be projected to both players. Once the environment is created using the artifact, the players can begin to communicate and decide what game they want to play. The toys themselves have built-in microphones and speakers to enable communication between the players.
Experience Mapping
I started by mapping out the experience of remote playtime in the lives of children living in rural areas. The experience begins with the child feeling bored, but then the artifact signals that someone is ready to play with them. The child then asks their parent for permission to play with their friend, and the parent allows them to play for approximately 30 minutes. The artifact can also add different elements to create an environment that can be projected to both players. Once the environment is created using the artifact, the players can begin to communicate and decide what game they want to play. The toys themselves have built-in microphones and speakers to enable communication between the players.
