Animal Mixing
design education for refugee minors in Greece
#Paticipatory Design, #Education, #Research, #Play
OVERVIEW
Animal Mixing is a card game designed for the activity class at the Horizon Center, a design education center for unaccompanied refugee minors in Greece. It functions as an imaging tool that crosses the language and social barriers of those refugee students. Students will build their own mixed animal characters by following the worksheet. They will be able to animate their mixed animals using the mobile application.
Duration: 8 weeks
Team: 3 people
ROLES/CONTRIBUTION
Research
Conducted literature review and data analysis with the team; user testing & in-depth interview (8 refugee students and 10 other testers).
Product Design
Identified and proposed class flows that attract teenagers. Created course worksheets, interaction flows, mockups, and design reports.
Graphic Design
Directed and created identity systems, card illustrations, course slides, and packages with the team.
OUTCOMES
The final deliverable is composed of a 30-card animal mixing playing card design and an 1-hour class design composed of three different ways of using the playing card.
The design was showcased in the RISD Industrial Design Triennial (2022).
CONTEXT
For years, Greece has hosted a large number of asylum seekers and refugees fleeing conflict and poverty. Migrant youth in Greece often lack the support networks necessary to overcome the trauma.
We remotely worked with design instructors at Faros (a local NGO in Greece), where they run a design program called the Horizon Center Design Program in collaboration with RISD and MIT D-Lab for refugee minors and develop interactive and tangible educational projects that will be implemented in the Horizon Center Design Program.
OBJECTIVE
How might we attract students that are new to the design process? How might we invent class activities that foster creative thinking and communications among refugee minors?
STRATEGY ROADMAP
Followed the MIT D-lab design rythm (L.I.C.T) and learning outcome.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
Through literature review, remote site observation and multiple in-depth interviews with instructors at the Horizon Center, we gathered key information about the pedagogy of the Horizon Center and analyzed the user needs of instructors and refugee students.
Interview
We connected with the Horizon Center Staff and interviewed them via Zoom meetings, What’s app, and spreadsheet. We understood the missions of the Horizon Center.
User Needs
We understood the user needs from our interviews and the instructor’s guidelines from the Horizon Center.
DESIGN HIGHLIGHTS
Drawing from the research insights, we identified our activity class design objectives:
Generate ideas from imagination
Digital Collaboration
Meanwhile, we aimed to design activities that cross language barriers and that avoid associations with their past traumatic experience.
We decided to design a playing tool for the activity class.
Ideation
Using the identified design opportunities, we discussed and brainstormed ideas.
Prototyping & User Testing
We drew on sticky notes for inital prototyping, and conducted 2 rounds of user testing with 10 people.
User Flow
After we interviewed testers after they played with the prototype, we optimized the playing card design (such as the placement of the text, the color coding, the picture choice, etc.) to match the user flow.
FINAL RESULTS
We divided the 1-hour activity class into three sections. Each of the section features a different way to use the Animal Mixing Card; the level of difficulties increases as the class progresses. We taught 8 students in the Horizon Center remotely.
Playing Card Design
Each set of the playing card is composed of four sections: Head, Body, Legs, and Environment.
Course Design
In addition to the playing card, we also created syllabus (instruction guide), student worksheet, and teaching slides for the instructors at the Horizon Center. The activity followed the Learn-Imagine-Create-Test cycle from the MIT-DLab.
Remote Teaching
We delivered the class with 8 beneficiaries at the Horizon Drop-in Center in Lesvos, Greece.
REFLECTING FORWARD
Humanitarian Design // Remote Usability Testing // Teaching // Technology // Teamwork // Participatory Design // Interview
It was the first time that I instructed a design class remotely, crossing languages and nations. From the teaching experience, I had four reflections:
(1) Check the material availability beforehand (especially when I need to use digital products);
(2) Choice restriction is required: for a smoother transition of the class, it was preferable to ask the instructor to select an environment card.
(3) Be flexible with time: leave time for translation and discussion.
(4) Add instructions to the slides for easy translations.
From this project, I learned to understand stakeholders' needs and integrate their goals and personalities into my design. I realized the importance of stories, especially when designing for young people. I also learned to be flexible in the usability testing. It was my intention to use design to make a positive social impact.I was glad to manifest this goal through the Animal Mixing Cards; it alerted me not to romanticize the whole process of humanitarian design.