Category: Projects Spring 2017

Interactive Ethnography

Posted on by Jacob

Date: 3/9/17

Mark, Olivia, and I took a visit to the Boys and Girls Club main campus to gain further insight on the issues that they are facing. After walking into the facility, I realized what a great place they have for these teenagers. Unfortunately, the attendance is at about 20 kids a night compared to more than 100 some years ago.

We had the chance to interview Camille, an important leader of the club. During our talk, we asked the following questions:

“How many kids currently attend the club and what do they partake in when they are here?”

“What do you think the biggest problem is for kids attending the club?”

Regarding the first question, Camille stated that the number of kids is usually around 20 a night compared to over 100 when they had better transportation. She showed us the different rooms within the club where kids have a chance to do homework or go and partake in athletic facilities. My favorite part of the club from what I have seen was the big basketball court that they have. Having a court like that should bring in a ton of teenagers from around South Bend.

Camille answered the second question by stating that transportation is by far the biggest problem that the club is facing. She currently drives a van that is able to pick up a few students but she is only able to make one trip every day because she has responsibilities at the club as well. She told us that if we could figure out a way to get better transportation for these teens, the number of attendees will sky rocket.

Gallery Day Reflection

Posted on by Jacob

The gallery day was a huge success for our group. We were able to talk to a couple of the leaders within the Boys & Girls club, and show them what we have worked up thus far. We started by showing them the many different views people have on the club, focusing mainly on the current teenagers that either do or don’t attend. We came to the conclusion that transportation is the biggest issue that the club faces in trying to get more teens to attend. They currently have only one van that is able to make a single pick up. Our goal moving forward is to find out a way that the club can get more vans or have a bus system work in order to get these teens to their destination.

Workarounds

Posted on by John

The first workaround is clothes hanging on hooks meant to hang posters and other decorative items. The clothes are hanging there because there is not enough space for me to store all of my clothes in the small space allotted for clothing in the drawers and wardrobe given to each student.

The second workaround is a computer charge extending across the floor to the bed. Because the nearest outlet is at my desk, when I want to charge my laptop while using it on my bed, the charger has to stretch across the whole room, which presents a tripping problem.

The third workaround is my toiletries sitting on a towel handed out at one of the football games. Because there is no space to put my toiletries in my room, I put the toiletries on the towel to prevent getting my floor all wet after bringing the toiletries back after a shower.

Moving on to Ideating…

Posted on by Wendy

Great work identifying the range of patterns.  There are certainly some basic and obvious needs uncovered around being a safe environment for example, but I am thinking the interesting innovations will come from identifying the specific opportunities of impacting the decision – by parent and child.  We choose a school because it is the best for us to help us accomplish our goals… so those may be career-based (what college could I get in to?), skills-based (what job can I get right away?), or social-pressure based (just doing what your peers do – great note on how this varies based on the district).  How does Clay compare with other Art Magnets in the country?

Moving on to Ideation…

Posted on by Wendy

Great work on the Guiding Principles!  They are clear and well supported.  This is such a complex problem.  Especially when you consider the view of the various stakeholders.  Does South Bend want to be the city known for the homeless services?  When and how might this be a good idea?  And the insight around helping the person remember what a good day is really great.  What would be the bigger effects of this I wonder?

Moving on to ideation

Posted on by Wendy

Team – You have captured great feedback from the experts and from the kids.  For your Guiding Principles, add more user quotes and note some user characteristics after each quote such as age, race, if active with the club.

We are looking to move beyond the obvious now.  As we being building prototypes and getting feedback, how can we solve this problem in a new-to-the world way?  How much will you need to work with parents?  Schools?  The transportation company?  The Club?  In the Design Criteria, we need to call out that the solution needs to be easy, convenient, and be a status builder for the teens.