MobiDig

Challenge

The client asked us to develop a solution, MobiDig, designed to stimulate and support existing social organizations that provide digital skills training to hard-to-reach populations, including the homeless, vulnerable youths, and the elderly. Their prior exploratory research suggested that this solution should include a playful physical aspect. 

Research

We started our process with descriptive research, including in-depth interviews with the stakeholders of the educational non-profit organizations to understand the processes and challenges involved in the day-to-day activities within their learning groups. This provided us with insights such as the students’ lack of sustained attendance and motivation, as well as their difficulty in sensing their own progress. The interviews were coupled with a survey which further detailed their processes and activities in a structured manner. This led to conclusions including the need for the physical installation to be easily transportable by bike yet still visible to groups of about twenty students. 

Ideation & Validation

Throughout affinity diagramming, we defined the objectives of the project as to create of group cohesion and to visualise student progress through a class. After initial validation in the stakeholder meeting, we further tested these assumptions in a co-creative workshop in which we tested a paper prototype of a LED board to visualise collective and individual student progress within a class as well as to facilitate quizes and timers. After incorporating the suggestions of the stakeholders, a prototype functional electronic version of this LED board, called Hiveboard, was tested in all use contexts, which further identified the need for multiple functions to be included. Throughout these tests, we also further defined the requirements of an online student & teacher platform which integrated with the Hiveboard. Finally, a fully functional prototype was delivered to the organisations for testing and feedback.

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