Phase 2 Iterate phase

Design and research goal

Design goal I want families with children (9-13) to feel more responsible for the next life of products and materials. Interaction vision I want to make children aware of the value of old products in a playful and social way. Make them feel proud!

During this cycle I created several designs. The last design exists of a game (playful), in which children (social) have to collect materials that are used in several recycling processes in a game (which I already collected). They can reach these materials by throwing a dice and walk around with a puppet on a newspaper. After collecting all materials of the recycling process card they have to answer several questions and finish (aware). The winner will receive a trophy created by the other game players made of old materials (proud). Goals / intentions Find out if children like the game and why, if they learn from it and maybe even have some tips to improve the game. Intentions I wanted to let the children play the game and didnt wanted to say anything I wanted to explore more about the interactions between the girls (parent)? Differences between 9 and 12 year old children? Do they want to reach the goal (game AND trophy)?

Questions 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Do you like the game? Is the game clear? What parts do you like and why? What parts would you improve or leave out, why? Would you play the game for several times? Would you learn from it?

Assumptions I assumed that the children would be interested in the game and that the used language and materials were clear to understand.

Design and research activities

For this research two girls participated (9 and 12 years old). Both girls like to be creative and to learn. The youngest really likes to play games, for the 13-year-old it depends on the game if she likes it. Social media becomes more important and it is also important to belong to a group of the same age. During the research I made some pictures and taped the audio. I started with explaining that I created a game and that they would play the game. I havent mentioned the sustainable part. The game took about an hour and that was enough. This children and most children in general cannot be focussed for a longer time and are easily distracted (they started reading the newspaper when I told them to choose two pages with a lot of squares). They liked the game but didnt understand all the rules and things they had to do, so I had to explain a lot. It became easier to play the game after some practising. After playing the game I asked what would happen next, but they actually didnt know. They forgot that the loser had to create something for the winner with old materials. After I told about the creation part, the youngest girl created a face with stickers on a rubber ball as a trophy for her sister. At the end of the workshop they gave some suggestions about the game and told what they liked and what I had to improve. Back home, I listened to the taped audio and wrote down my explorations. I can prove them with some pictures. I wrote down the most important findings in my workbook to further explore.

Results
Overall the girls liked the game, but I observed some unexpected interactions and happenings: The girls started to read the newspaper, they were distracted by the text and pictures. Afterwards they were again distracted by the titles and pictures of the newspaper. First the game wasnt clear, the girls positioned all the materials in one corner of the newspaper The rules were difficult to remember (too many?) o Can I collect two materials in one turn? o Do I have to reach the number one exactly? Difficult words o The oldest girl didnt know what the abbreviation GFT stood for (vegetable, fruit, garden waste) o Circa also was a difficult word (approximately) Difficult to recognize o Cork (natural form / cork of bottle) o Newspaper o Sand o Staple The squares on the paper werent clear, the girls kept on asking if their puppet could walk diagonal etc. A discussion started in which the oldest took the decisions . The youngest girl needed more time to recognize the materials and to decide what material she would take next. This annoyed the oldest girl: Just throw the dice, we are waiting for you! The youngest found the recycling process of the oldest sister without help (I even didnt ask for it!) Questions o If the question was difficult the mother or I sometimes explained the context. o Answers: 1-3 years should be changed in: 1 until 3 years o Multiple choice questions should be mentioned as A,B,C o Should be concrete, the youngest girl just guessed, the oldest was really thinking about the questions. The children thought all these materials were used in the recycling process, this is not the point. There is also some waste integrated in the game. The sisters helped each other by finding the right materials (oldest one helped younger sister after she reached the number one (question) part) Girls didnt remember de goal, busy with one thing at the time The trophy wasnt made of old materials, this part wasnt understood very well during the workshop. Also more concrete assignment?! 9 year old has more fantasy, says that some plastic piece looks like a plough. Her sister thinks thats childish.

The girls also suggested or asked some things: 12 years old

Learned most of the questions (reproduced some questions) Children like to play games, now in combination with learning, thats nice! You need some time to understand the game You can play the game different times, materials on other place / other newspaper The squares should be marked Make more questions and expand the game After answering the question about chewing gum and digest, she concluded that you shouldnt throw away chewing gum on the street. = good conclusion 9 year old o Nice and fun game (because you created it) o I learned the process I had to read o Use real cork (out of known world) from bottle

o o o o o o o

Conclusions
Research questions reflected 1. Do children like the game? - The children react enthusiastic on the game (variation) 2. Is the game clear? - The game isnt clear, the words/assignments should be focussed on children - Some materials werent clear too, an option should be that children collect the materials their selves, so they will understand and think about it. 3. What parts do you like and why? - The children liked the questions and the collecting part / learned from it 4. What parts would you improve or leave out, why? a. Marking of squares b. Expand amount of questions c. Clearer what material to use for the trophy (paper, bottle). 5. Would you play the game for several times? a. Yes, because you can vary the play board 6. Would you learn from it? (see Q 3) Intentions reflected I wanted to let the children play the game and didnt want to say anything. This didnt work at all, I should improve the rules and the questions (concrete, children have to understand them) I wanted to explore more about the interactions between the girls (parent). Differences between 9 and 12 year old children? o The knowledge of the children is very different, the 12-year-old thought about the questions and the youngest just guessed. There was some irritation between the

girls. That is why it should be interesting to invite the friends of the same age, the knowledge/interests should approximately be the same. Do they want to reach the goal (game AND trophy)? o The children wanted to win the game, but forgot the trophy. Was it special or valuable enough?

Relevant additional findings Some questions were too difficult for the children, so the mother (or I) interfered and explained what was meant in the question. The children werent really aware of the recycling process because they only had to read the process and could focus on the underlined words. An option is to involve them in the collecting process before they play the game. The trophy wasnt supporting the children to win the game. This part should be improved, for example by organizing a game night or a floating trophy that everybody wants to have (internet!!). Then they will be motivated to play the game again and win the trophy and learn in the meanwhile.