To-Go Kits
As a Human-Centered Design Consultant for the Pomona Community Engagement Center, I designed a community engagement initiative for the newly opened center. My team designed take-home arts and sciences kits for elementary school students that spark curiosity, encourage repeat visits, and foster trust between families and the Center.
Role
Consultant
Project Type
Human Centered Design & Community Engagement
Timeframe
4 weeks
Electro Kit
Pom Pom Kit
Origami Kit
This science kit teaches kids basic electrical engineering skills! The materials can be reused to do a variety of projects.
Contents:
Instructions for a few different starting projects / Breadboard / LEDs / Resistors / Rechargeable / Battery / Wires/ Wire Stripper
This craft kit teaches kids to make fluffy pom poms from scratch! Includes a full roll of yarn so activity can be repeated.
Contents:
Scissors / Cardboard / Tinfoil / Yarn / QR Code to instruction video
This art kit teaches kids how to do origami! Designed to be an activity that lives beyond the kit.
Contents:
Origami Paper & Instructions
Why this design?
We chose to make a product for elementary school kids because we identified that the best way to connect with the community was to start with youth. The product works as a starting point to engage kids with a support network, providing them with a safe space to hangout, educational support, and opportunities throughout their childhood.
The to-go kits are catered to children, providing them with an interactive skill building activity. We considered family members in our design, creating an activity that can be completed independently avoiding burden on caretakers. By having multiple kits, we incentivized parents and their children to keep coming back to the Center.
This Design was Implemented!
The Pomona Community Engagement Center implemented this program as "Try It Out Tuesday".
Design Process Highlights
Background Research
Historically, downtown Pomona has been underfunded and has struggled with infrastructure. Over the last few decades, there have been a series of attempts to revitalize the area, but they have ended prematurely. The most successful of these projects was led by local artists who painted a series of murals. Other artists have created art pieces all throughout the downtown area. My team chose to build off of the thriving arts scene in downtown Pomona for our solutions.
Why to-go kits?
After much consideration and feedback from people from the PCCEC, our team decided to make to-go art and science kits for elementary school kids. By doing so, kids could have access to art supplies and projects anywhere. By having multiple kits, it would also incentivize the parents and their children to keep coming back to the PCCEC. We also felt that this would enable kids to form a relationship with the Center starting at a young age, connecting them to other resources the PCCEC has to offer throughout their childhood and a strong support network.
Personas
We created a few personas that captured who these kits would benefit beyond just the user. Though these kits are geared towards elementary school kids we believe they could also be beneficial to caretakers whether that be a parent or sibling. Below are the three personas that stood out the most to us:
High school junior caring for two younger brothers after school. Needs low-maintenance activities that keep them engaged independently because she has limited time to balance college prep and homework with caregiving responsibilities.
Elementary school student with a high school-aged caretaker. Needs engaging, independent activities because limited after-school programming leaves him without accessible options while his brother focuses on homework.
Single mother of an elementary school student. Needs comprehensive educational resources that account for real-world constraints like transportation and cost. She values her child's education but lacks the time and money to navigate programs that don't consider these barriers.
Empathy Interviews
We interviewed seven community members. Ed Tessier helped build a coalition for an arts charter middle and high school which provides students the opportunity to explore their creative interests and actualize their art. Our interview with Ed revealed a gap in arts education for elementary school kids.
Further interviewees expressed a need for after school programming. With these needs in mind, we decided to narrow our design towards elementary school kids.
Testing & Iteration
We tested the pom pom kits with Noa (4.5 years old) and Leah (7 years old). We created surveys for them to complete as well as for the parents to understand the level of necessary supervision. Our team discovered that:
- Kids are very persistent when it comes to making things. As long as they are shown that a certain activity is possible, they will try it
- Kids want things to have a story: characters, a world, a theme attached to the pom poms! (Noa wanted a princess pom pom)
- Between 20-30 minutes is a good time scope
- Visual instructions were clearer than written instructions, especially for activities that required cutting or folding
