Objective / Aim of project
EduCraft introduces an interesting new edutainment concept for kids. This project aims at combining paper based craft skills with education related topics. The booklet lets the kids "make" their own toys and learn how certain things ( like gear systems, piston and engine arrangement etc ) work. I wanted the final product to be economically viable for everyone and as the paper is an extremely cost effective medium and also ecologically friendly it was chosen as the medium as the project could be easily scalable and made available for masses regardless of their economic status.
Background Study / Literature Review / Data Collection / Scenario Building
Intense background studies were carried out in the following fields;
Toys and educational kits currently available in the market.
Subjects covered in school for kids in the age between 7 to 15.
Understanding how kids think and like to play.
Carrying out workshops with kids to test the product.
Field visits to schools, toy stores and discussions with child psychologists, educators and toy designers.
Methodologies used for data collection
One on one interviews with kids and parents.
Discussions and interviews with child psychologists, educators and toy designers.
Shadowing
Surveys based on questionnaires.
Design development
The final design solutions were carried out based on the reviews attained through the persona study and the data collected from research methodologies. Various educational topics were charted and paper kits were designed around these topics.
Design Validation
Workshops were carried out to test the designed paper mechanisms. They were assembled by a group of kids and it was seen that their level of immersion was very high compared to them reading or listening to a teacher about those mechanisms.
Consolidation
The whole project culminated into a booklet with various mechanisms and instructions. A few of these projects can be found in the video featured on this page
Conclusion / Learning from the project
This project helped understand the intricacies involved in designing a product for members who aren’t in the same segment we lie in. Since we tend to think from a set perspective it’s difficult to understand what a person 10 years younger is capable of and would need.
One of the most useful tools learned during this project was making a mammoth A0 sized business canvas model for the design solution. This helped to understand how a project can be made economically plausible.
