Lecture – Outcome and Ambition
It was really valuable hearing from industry experts how they evaluate projects as it is not something I have much experience with. I do wish they had gone slightly deeper into their process as it felt very surface level - like it was more of an overview of the process and it would have been more valuable to hear about their specific techniques and questions asked. I think this has been a bit of a theme with the interviews - they haven't gone as deep as in previous modules, it would be useful to hear more specific examples.
I found it interesting that every single one of the speakers said how important it was to evaluate your projects and how it will positively inform future projects. In the last project (the self initiated brief) it was the first time I conducted a thorough evaluation in recognised format (Gibbs reflective model) and it really helped with this project. I did things differently such as the crazy 8 design sprint as in the previous one, I realised that I hadn't come up with enough ideas to make it truly robust. This is just one example of how I have used evaluation techniques to improve future projects and I will continue to do so.
How Designers Measure Success
I didn't find this article the most useful one to read about evaluations, it didn't give any solid recommendations just repeatedly said how important it was. I don't think it gave much of a blue print of what to do, but maybe that is the point. Evaluations can be personal to the designer and you can figure out what work best for you. Maybe I am looking for more guidance than is necessary and I should actually create my own way of evaluating the project.
I think for this project I will move away from the Gibbs method and instead try and work out what way of evaluating a project works for me.
Workshop Challenge
Finalise the design of your ‘Industry Set’ project.
Write short notes to evaluate the success (or failure) of your Industry set project and ensure you articulate the project’s relationship to the original brief, strategy and project plan. Gather target audience and key stakeholder feedback and reflect on what worked, what didn’t work and what you would do differently.
Engage in discussion on the Ideas Wall and add your reflective notes to your blog.
Record a five minute video presentation to evaluate the success (or failure) of your industry set project. We want you to reflect on the different stages, from concept development to final outcome, and demonstrate how your project has evolved over the last eight weeks. Please note, we want you to evaluate your project to gain a fresh insight and not simply summarise each stage over the last eight weeks.
Record your presentation in the format of your choice (for example, a voice recorded Keynote or Powerpoint slide presentation, video recording or podcast).
Upload your video presentation to your blog.
Final Designs
The box
The Instructions
The LEGO Model
Feedback
I held an online workshop with the communications team at Catch22 and received the following feedback:
Evaluation
At the concept phase I asked some questions about the possible subscription boxes. I am now going to show how I used research and development to answer these questions.
Could he box have a dual use?
Currently because of the material, the box only has one use, to deliver the LEGO and instructions. However if I were to develop this project further, I would look into making the box using seeds in the packaging so it can be planted after use and grown into wild flowers.
I did do some research into this however I didn’t research into the method of process to see if it was a viable option. This would be a great action moving forward and something which can be used to develop the box further.
Can I make it all environmentally friendly?
The box is going to be made from myo-composite which is an entirely environmentally friendly process involving mixing mycelium with natural pulp and growing the box around a soft mould.
The LEGO will be made from PET plastic which has recently been developed by the LEGO company meaning it can be recycled over and over again. The instructions will be made from recyclable paper,
Could I use LEGO instead of people being expected to paint a model?
I decided LEGO was a better option for the model meaning more people will be interested in the box because LEGO doesn’t require a specialist skill, unlike painting.
How do I give clues to finding out where on the archive the instructions are?
This went through a thorough development process, at first I wanted people to scroll the archives to find it, however I realised finding one item in an archive of 250k items was too big of an ask. My next idea was a scratch card with clues on however I didn’t think this was interactive enough as you could just scratch off the last bit and find it. The idea I decided on was a series of questions leading you through items on the archive which are in their own Wonderbox section. The last item will then have a link to the building instructions.
How do I relate the design of the box to the subject matter?
My final design for the box echoed a rocket launching through it. I think I incorporated the subject of space and exploration into the design well and the colours were straight from the science museum branding. The words around the sides of the box - explore, create and build are also lifted straight from the Science Museum Group’s marketing plan. The box is both on brand and focussed on the subject of space.
What information should I include on the box? As I previously stated, The words around the sides of the box - explore, create and build are also lifted straight from the Science Museum Group’s marketing plan. I think it is important to have these words on because it tells you everything you need to know about the point of the box. I also put on the bottom that everything in the box, including the box itself, is biodegradable. I think this is really important because people interested in science tend to be passionate about climate change. Also, the processes I have chosen (like the myocomposite mushroom packaging) will hopefully be interesting to people.
Summary
Wonderbox is a brand-new subscription box from the Science Museum Group. Each month you will receive a package through the post with LEGO and some questions inside. You will be tasked with following a treasure hunt through the online archives to find your building instructions for you LEGO model. The whole package will be biodegradable - the box is made from Myocomposite which means your box is grown and will biodegrade when you are finished with it. The LEGO is a brand new environmentally friendly design made from PET plastics meaning it can be recycled repeatedly.
In this video I am going to evaluate the success of this project and look at the design process I went through to come up with the final design.
In my original brief, I stated that I wanted to encourage people to explore the online archives as well as the world around them. I think I partly achieved this, by encouraging people to do a treasure hunt around the archive to find the building instructions, it allows items on the archive to be discovered that have never really been seen before. However, I wrote the original brief with an idea in my head which I have learned is not a good idea. This is why I do not think I hit the second part of this objective - encouraging people to explore the real world too. I originally had the idea of making an Augmented Reality app, like Pokémon Go, that would allow people to explore things from the archive in the real world through their phones. However, after seeking feedback from peers, advisors and tutors I realised that I didn’t want to go ahead with this idea, it was the first one I came up with and in some ways the easiest option to go for. I decided I needed to go back to the drawing board and come up with new more innovative ideas, and I am so glad I did this.
I think this enhanced my project and took it to a different level. I completed a crazy 8s design sprint and came up with far more innovative ideas that the original idea for an AR app. I hadn’t even considered a subscription box before I did the crazy 8s, it must have been buried in the back of my mind somewhere, but because of this I can really see the value in it during the concept stage. This process allowed me to think more freely and is something I will take forward into future projects.
Part of this project I think I could have improved upon is the research. I did a lot of research on science, subscription boxes and the science museum but I think I could have possibly thought outside the box more. With the rest of the project, I really pushed myself outside of my comfort zone however I think this is most underdeveloped stage.
The development of this project I think was successful mainly because of the process I went through. With each idea I sketched, designed, prototyped and 3D modelled it, this allowed me to see the positives and negatives of each iteration before moving on to the next. I think this is possibly because it was a longer project, but I really felt like I had time to explore my ideas and make sure my final idea was robust and the best fit for the science museum brief.
Part of the development stage I am particularly proud of is the experimentation I went through to come to my final design. After seeing my second iteration I really wasn’t happy with the way it looked - my concept for the box design was to make it look like a rocket blasted off through it, however, the design wasn’t really working. So, to help, I made some boxes and burned them from the top like the fuel flames were burning through. This led directly to my final design, I realised that it would be far more effective to have a burn hole in both the top and bottom of the box. I took this idea and changed the flames to being more abstract, using the colours from the science museum brand guidelines. I also added a view of space in the middle, suggesting the wonder people would find inside the box. This is the aesthetic I took through the rest of the project and used on the instructions, the website and the LEGO packaging.
I am really pleased with my final proposal for Wonderbox. I think by including the treasure hunt to find the building instructions it really hits the deliverable of encouraging people to explore the online archives. I developed this idea as initially I just wanted people to find the object on the archive just from some clues, however I realised this was too hard, there is 250 thousand items for people to choose from so to expect them to find the right one would be like finding a needle in a haystack. I then thought of doing a scratch card with clues but originally landed on the questions leading you to the next page and eventually the one with the building instructions.
By developing the model from a plastic or clay one that required painting to a LEGO model opened my subscription box up to more people. Instead of requiring people to be interested in both painting and science, anyone can build LEGO which will hopefully mean the box will be popular with adults and even families.
If I was to do anything differently it would have been to do the crazy 8s sprint right at the start of the project and not write my brief with an idea already in mind. I think this hindered my initial design process and I would have had more time to focus on the subscription box. I would have liked to be able to prototype the whole box whether that is by making it physically or doing something like a sketchup model to be able to show it in 3D and interact with it. The only reason this didn’t happen was time so given more time this is something I would love to do.
Overall, I think Wonderbox successfully answered the science museum brief and I am really pleased with my final proposal. I think Wonderbox both encourages people to explore, build and be creative which is in the Science Museum Groups Marketing plan, and gets people to explore the online archive and see things they wouldn’t have otherwise, hitting the original brief. Although my process was flawed at first, I learned some valuable lessons that I will take forward into future projects. Wonderbox was a real passion project for me so coming out with something I think successfully hits the brief and I am happy with is a great outcome!
Here is my evaluation video:
References
[1] How Designers Measure Success, Part 1 (2019) Available from: https://uxplanet.org/how-designers-measure-success-part-i-aa1792e6903a
[2] How Designers Measure Success, Part 2 (2019) Available from: https://uxplanet.org/how-designers-measure-success-part-ii-4b704c42a7c4
Comments