design for the real kids: let them play!

Innovation Studio M.Sc. Product-Service-System Design Politecnico di Milano24th October 2014

Design for the Real Kids: let them play! Rachel Fincken

The focus areas of my talk are: children, design, and play

Childrenwhen I talk about children, I refer to the real kids and not those described in market research data. No numbers or percentages

Designwhen I talk about design, I refer to everyday objects, products, interactions, and activities, not designer goods for kids

Playwhen I talk about play, I refer to a serious design and learning process - in other words, education

Moveable Playground Structure, as featured in Papanek's book The Green Imperative (1971) (IMAGE Victor J Papanek Foundation)

The title of my talk, Design for the Real Kids is borrowed from the highly distinguished designer, educator, lecturer and writer Victor Papanek, whose landmark book, Design for the Real World, first published in 1971, led the way towards an age of morally and environmentally responsible design

So my goal today is to offer some insight…

…and help you innovate for real kids!

Who am I Rachel Fincken, Designer and EducatorMA Design, Strategy and InnovationBrunel University, class of 1999

I have worked in the field of art and design education in the UK and Italy for many years, and as an independent UX consultant for industry.

What I love (and do) #01 I love contemporary design (and “design thinking” let’s say) in relation to education, literature (storytelling), technology and children.

In 2012 I set up a workshop, called Tweetkids Tweetkids is a vision of design education and English language learning for children, whereby we learn to think through playing and making.

I think of tweetkids as a playground, and it is designed for infant (age 3 to 6) and primary school (age 6 to 10) children.

A quick definition:

play-ground noun \-ˌgrau�nd\: a place where people go to do enjoyable things

…and that’s exactly what we do!

What I love (and do) #02

I love teaching (and education in general).I also teach Middle School children (age 10 to 14)My subject, which I teach in English, is Art and Design.

We make all sorts of creative projects, experimenting with materials and processes.

21st century skills LeadershipDigital literacyCommunicationEmotional intelligenceEntrepreneurshipGlobal citizenshipProblem-solvingTeam-working

Design skills LeadershipDigital literacyCommunicationEmotional intelligenceEntrepreneurshipGlobal citizenshipProblem-solvingTeam-working

Learning objectives and outcomes

Learning and innovation skills’: Critical thinkingCommunicationCollaborationCreativity

Four C’S

Real Kids Stories age group profile

5-10

Mikado

A new tweetkids group and new games to play. Pick-up sticks is the English name, Mikado is the traditional International version (and also the name for a Japanese Emperor…).How to play: This is a game for two or more players. The object of the game is to pick up the most sticks.

concept – game design, unusual, fun materials

Printshop: bubble, wave, zigzag We rolled up our sleeves, and prepared to print using lots of lovely recycled packaging materials: soft wavy foam, bubble wrap and zigzag corrugated cardboard. We learnt about the shapes and materials and worked with three colours: purple, blue and yellow to create a variety of patterns and effects.

concept - shape, recycled packaging materials, colour

Spinning tops How to make a paper spinner: secure the first strip of paper around the toothpick with glue and then carefully wind the strip around and around, then secure with glue again. Try to give the roll of paper a little ‘stem’. Keep adding strips of coloured paper (according to preference), until the diameter of the spinning top is about 4 cm wide. This takes quite a while, so be patient!

concept - toy making with paper/toothpicks/glue

Mini-flora InstructionsTake two strips of paper of the same length and width (about 25x1cm is fine), although you may need a 40cm strip to make a full circle or ‘roller’. A bi-coloured mini-flora is quite stunning, so play with different colours.Turn and fold, alternating between each leg of the L shape, so that eventually you have no L left, but a little ‘spring’. You can join different springs together to make circles, and what we call ‘mini-flora’. They can also be turned inside out.

concept – paper and colour play, decoration

Soapbox Making beautiful stones, and learning about colour and light. Let’s get geological with soap!The soft soap is easy to cut and a nice precious stone effect can be made by carefully slicing corners of the original piece. Once each piece has been carved to make a faceted surface, it glows and sparkles just like a real gemstone when held up to the light.

concept: colour, light, cutting/manipulation skills

Snow granita It’s snowing yet again! So let’s make the most of it. After 24 hours of beautifully thick, falling snowflakes, it was time to play, but this time indoors! The slushy snow recipe is super fast and easy to make with just 3 ingredients: snow, lemon and sugar. Quantities can be adjusted to taste.

concept: natural materials, cooking, spontaniety

Floaters  

Nautical adventure Navigating waves with unusual materials.

These are our beautiful little sailing ships made from a 50 cent piece, wine cork, 2 toothpicks, and coloured paper triangles (for the sails). We made lots more sailing ships and did some serious testing in the bathtub. The 50 cent piece creates a perfect stem on which the wine cork balances and floats.

concept: toy design, balance, floating experiment

Real Kids Stories age group profile

10-15

mini still life drawing, 1st year visual encyclopedia

motion optics, 1st year optical animation work

art lab wunderkammer (cabinet of curiosities), 2nd year investigations and booklets about COLOUR

art lab wunderkammer (cabinet of curiosities), 2nd year investigations and booklets about COLOUR

colour mapping, 2nd year colour discovery, identification and classification

project

colour mapping, 2nd year

colour discovery, identification and classification project

colour mapping, 2nd year

colour discovery, identification and classification project

colour mapping, 2nd year

colour discovery, identification and classification project

colour mapping, 2nd year

colour discovery, identification and classification project

colour mapping, 2nd year

colour discovery, identification and classification project

colour mapping, 2nd year

colour discovery, identification and classification project

IdentitY Concepts 2nd year

cutouts applied to glassware

faces, 3rd year bruno munari workshop, face invention, memory game design and construction

faces, 3rd year bruno munari workshop, face invention, memory game design and construction

typefaces from A to Z, 3rd year character/lettering research

reflection symmetry, 3rd year kaleidoscope research and production

reflection symmetry, 3rd year

kaleidoscope research and production

reflection symmetry, 3rd year

kaleidoscope research and production

reflection symmetry, 3rd year

kaleidoscope research and production

graphic design portraits, 3rd year Milton Glaser research and production

Creative lab, years 1-3 wiry work

UX design research considerations

EdU - PLAY model Tell stories

T Involve

I

Motivate

MMake

M

Communicate

C

Feedback

F

Benchmark

B

EdU – Design Process

Social-history

S

Anthropology

A

Context

C

Begin an immersive, interactive experience, even in the research and concept stage. If you can’t do field research, put yourself in the shoes of your user.

Give yourself some questions and activities:

What kind of child were you?

How would you describe yourself at age 8-9, and at 11-12.

What did you like and dislike about key moments of your childhood?

What were your favourite games and toys?

Play a game or do an activity you did as a child. Note down your feelings and memories.

Social - history

Activities PRINCIPLES

Design anthropology is a growing field in both industry and academic studies. All designers need a deep understanding of users and exchange systems.

Design is a relational process whereby the more we know about the people we are designing for, the more successful we will be in meeting their needs.

Give yourself some questions and activities:

Remind yourself of the gifts you received on your Birthdays as a child

Visit exhibitions, bookshops, toy shops, museums and libraries devoted to children

Choose a toy or object you were particularly fond of as child and write/talk about it.

Anthropology

Activities PRINCIPLES

Remember that the “prime consumer” of your product is not the child but those people within the context of the child’s life.

Don’t forget the influence and choices of the people that play a vital part in a child’s life.

Consider the various actors:ParentsMumsDadsBrothers and sistersGrandparentsFamily relationsFriends and friendshipBoys and girls (together and apart)Learning/play environments: school, home, extra curricular activities, Birthday partiesSpecific educational and cultural “needs”

Context

Activities PRINCIPLES

There are many actors in the design education field, feeding the system with ideas, projects and products. Many of these work within digital realms and represent important sources of information.Look at these and others to discover what the competition are doing.These groups influence the space for which you are designing.

Search and discover reference points:

Meetupandmake | TinkerlabBabbledabble | Mindcraft Institute of Play | The Imagination TreeFunkymamas | Keri SmithThe Big Draw | Lotta MagazineMindshift | Make things do stuffMake-to-learn | Timbuktu LabsMr Printables | V&A Museum of ChildhoodMe Books | Made by Joel | Maker FairesMoma Kids | Tate Kids | Muba

Benchmark

Activities PRINCIPLES

However, the most important thing TO REMEMBER is…

the best ideas and inventions come from children themselves, so

whatever your design intent,

ensure that 99% percent of your project opens up possibilities for iteration and that children are given opportunities to design, make,

and above all

PLAY!

Thank you! You can discover more or follow my stories on:

www.tweetkids.net

https://twitter.com/tweetkidsplay

https://www.facebook.com/tweetkidsplay

http://instagram.com/tweetkids

https://steller.co/tweetkids