Empowering Our Girls
TITLE
Maker Girlz
CLASS
OBJECTIVE /
Choose a design problem that could be solved through the use of a mobile app and create a well-considered, mobile, on-screen, user experience.
Nature of Interaction
DATE
Spring 2017
KEYWORDS
APP design, Maker
Movement, tutorials
DELIVERABLES
Mobile Application
APPROACH /
DIY (Do It Yourself Activities) and the Maker Movement is encouraging people of all gender, ages and backgrounds to build something with their own hands. However, recent studies have shown that teen girls are not receiving as much encouragement to participating in Making as their male peers, mostly due to safety concerns and mobility issues. In order to help solve this problem a design of mobile application that can offer Maker tutorials and support to these young girls was proposed.
Design Brief
What is it?
An app to encourage teenage girls to engage in more hands-on activities, become fearless Makers and learn
a craft.
Who’s it for?
Primarily teenage girls (13-19 years old) of all backgrounds. Focused on American based individuals, but with the possibility of growing internationally.
In order to?
This app will aid teenage girls to learn a craft or skill they would’ve otherwise not had any contact with, break gender and age stereotypes and increase the girls' career opportunities.
How does it work?
Users will gain overall knowledge on the field of making and craft by the information presented on the app, as well information on successful female makers. This will allow the user to form a emotional and visual connection with the act of making and the professionals in the area. One of the features of the app will be of basic learning while playing a game, this will help users learn simple movements and logic needed to perform certain making tasks, as well as help identify different materials and tools for each task.
Research Guide
Screening Interviews
Questions
Q1. How do you engage in hands on activities now?
Q2. Do you prefer to do these activities by yourself or with others?
Q3. Do you feel like you’d need an instructor?
Q4. What tools (apps, wearables, websites) do you use to help
Q5. Would you like to use it to find others similar to you that are also engage in making and doing similar projects?
Q6. Do you have any additional thoughts on making activities or learning a craft, motivations for engaging in making or improving your skills?
Catarina, age 19
Q1. In terms of creating art, I mostly work traditionally with markers.
Q2. I prefer working with other people. It's good for feedback and for exploring new techniques and aesthetics I might have otherwise never tried.
Q3. I don't think I'd need an instructor but, I do think it would speed up the learning process.
Q4. YouTube, Instagram, Art Station, Pintrest and sometimes Deviantart.
Q5. Yes.
Q6. If an app is created to motivate people to create, I think it'd be great not just for artists, but for anyone who might be looking for a past time or some sort of outlet. Crafting and creating has no limits and, in my opinion, is a healthy form of expression. In terms of improving a skill, practice is the best way to get better at anything.
Kamila, age 15
Q1. Usually I watch videos on Youtube that teaches some of the things I find more interesting.
Q2. By myself.
Q3. Yes. It's very important. But good instructors with patience and goodwill are very hard to find.
Q4. Youtube and Pinterest.
Q5. Yes.
Q6. I think that we (women in general) are too underestimated when it comes to make things by ourselves and create whatever we want. We are as capable as anyone else but all our potential is covered to seems bad or incomplete specialy if we don't have the ''help'' of men.
Darci, age 16
Q1.Workshops ads on social media.
Q2. Depends on what kind of activities, but do it with others might have more fun.
Q3. Yep , I feel I need an instructor if I am not familiar with the activity.
Q4. Websites/Skill share.
Q5. Sure, I would love to.
Q6. Maybe more pop up workshops for people to join and they might start to engage in hand crafting.
Larissa, age 13
Q1. I normally do these activities when I have free time or when I need to take some time away from my daily routine, always at home.
Q2. I prefer to do them by myself.
Q3. No.
Q4. I use Pinterest and Youtube as a source for tutorials, using free available material to practice
Q5. Yes! With them, I can learn from their experience without feeling like I'm in a classroom.
Q6. I think that what troubles any beginner is the need to go out and buy a bunch of new supplies, even though you can perfectly begin and practice with what you already own and then invest your money.
Research Guide
Personas
THE BEGINNER MAKER
Jen, 12 years old
Public high school student
She wants it because...
She believes women in general are too underestimated when it comes to making things by themselves and want to show the world the women are strong and have a lot of potential.
HER TOOLS
- First tool
HOW SHE DOES IT NOW
- First step
FEATURES FOR HER
- Show potential outcomes
- Community support
- Instructor and teachers support
- Grows with them as they improve
- Projects and activities suggestions based on their likes
- Possibility of a collaborative project with another maker
WHY SHE WILL LOVE IT
- Milestones
- Rewards, celebrations
- Real-time encouragement
- Community support
- Physical accomplishment
THE DEDICATED MAKER
Carla, 19 years old
School drop-out
She wants it because...
She believes creating has no limits and is a healthy form of expression that everyone should engage in.
HER TOOLS
- Markers
- Sketchbook
- Screwdriver
- Ruler
- Woodcutter
- Sandpaper
HOW SHE DOES IT NOW
- Sketches and plans in advance a possible project
- Searches on-line for inspiration or tips
- Keeps process journals
- Likes to share on social media or with other makers
FEATURES FOR HER
- Training programs/ challenges
- Real time feedback
- Final artifact critique
- Auto-uploads to on-line process journals or logs
- Competitions
- Sharing options (Ways to showcase work)
WHY SHE WILL LOVE IT
- Community of makers they are a part of already
- Training programs and challenges
- Ability to see results
- Ability to get more feedback from fellow Makers
THE OCCASIONAL MAKER
Larissa, 16 years old
Private high school student
She wants it because...
She wants to learn without having to commute great lengths, practice the skills they already know with the tools they already have and save money.
HER TOOLS
- Personal tools
HOW SHE DOES IT NOW
- Usually by themselves
- Plan projects ahead by searching on-line for inspiration and tips
- Use tutorials
- Use free available material to practice
FEATURES FOR HER
- Insight over time
- Build up of investment
- Projects and activities suggestions based on their likes
- On-line support
WHY SHE WILL LOVE IT
- Tracking maintenance
- Goal setting
- Levelling up
- Project suggestions
- Lifestyle suggestions
- Convenience
- Money saving
Research Guide
User Journey
Before starting the design sketches and graphic element selection for the making of the app, it was important to establish the User Journey.
The User Journey bascially depicts the steps a user takes in order to reach a goal when using a particular app or website.
Thus defining my potential User's Journey was necessary in order to establish certain sections that my app would require. For example, I noticed I might need three types of levels for the maker activities and projects; that the user would need to define goals and skills they would like to learn with the app; they would need information and location data on where to buy or get the tools needed for a project; as well as providing them with the possibility of joining a collaborative maker project.
Research Guide
Moodboard
Thanks to the paper prototypes I was able to see some errors in my navigation system and also notice that some design elements were missing or could even be taken out.
Gestural Navigation
Unexpectedly, this was the one with more problems and that requires more refinement:
1. Will the transparency "hover" over every page that the user goes to? Can it disappear after 2 seconds, does it even have to appear? Could the user just hold the middle space on the phone for a few seconds and the "hover" menu pops up?
2. A back button might be needed.
3. To go back to the previous page there are too many unnecessary steps.
Hamburger Menu
The most straight forward and simple navigation. The user tested didn't have any
major problems.
Icon Sketches
