On Wednesday we finally were allocated our groups for the project. I had come in to the course with a few people I had worked with in previous courses that were interested in the same topics and themes as me. Unfortunately I did not end up being allocated with these peers and was assigned my second choice, creative learning. Due to previous experiences with group-work-heavy DECO course where I ended up having to pick up a large portion of the work because of absent or unmotivated team mates, I was hesitant to work in a group with people who's work ethics and aims may not align with mine.

After meeting my group, I am pleased as after discussion we all aim to achieve the same result and have similar opinions on time and effort input. My group members are Michelle, Chuike and Autumn. Autumn was absent for most of the contact but arrived as we were discussing our plan for the next week. We initially read through the notes written on the butchers paper from world café and looked through the related concept posters. We all were drawn to the project inspiration idea, "Chroma" and decided we wanted to go in the direction of creative learning through body movements and potentially also focus on teaching colour theory if research support this decision. We decided that our target audience would be primary school children and the intended setting would be a classroom - this will be dependent on if we find supporting research however. Whilst discussing potential concepts, Michelle mentioned incorporating a 'Twister" mat. I loved this idea as it would foster a fun and collaborative environment. As we all liked this interaction mode, we continued to ideate how we could expand upon it. This sparked the initial inspiration of the game Twister. I am drawn to the playful manner of the game and feel that there is much potential for tranformation into a tech concept: https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/306526318379593861/

Chuike suggested we complete an initial probe by casually interviewing people we know that would fall into the target audience. Michelle, Chuike and I all have multiple cousins that are primary school aged. I spoke on the phone to my two young cousins and received the following results:

These reponses seem quite limited but actually provided me with valuable information about whats interests primary school students about learning and how concepts should be designed to cater towards this demographic. The main themes evident include "play", being with "friends" and doing physical activities such as "running and jumping" and "glueing stuff". These themes will be used to guide the designs going forward.

I also conducted some research into the area of creative learning and its benefits. I looked into the benefits of learning colour theory and teamwork at a young age. I found information that strongly supported our current loose concept that focused on teamwork, colour theory and creative learning. Using technology to teach creatively is extremely effective as traditional methods can actually restrict learning, especially for those with different learning styles. Learning colour theory is a very valuable topic for young students as it helps to build cognitive links between visual cues and words. Teamwork is essential for early development as it helps with communication, social and emotional skills and can improve self-esteem in children. Therefore, these will also be topics considered throughout the design process.

Reflection:

I feel that I have already learnt quite a lot about our team theme and designing for the target audience, however, I understand that this is just the tip of the ice berg and these topics are all very nuanced and complex. I look forward to exploring the domain and problem space further throughout the semester.

I am also really happy with how the team allocation turned out and am glad that my team members expectations for the course seem to be inlign with mine. This is really important for me as I have had negative experiences in the past where team mates have lower expectations for course outcomes which ultimately means that my grades are impacted.

We plan to meet next Monday for an hour to finalise our concept and prepare our pitch before the initial proposal deliverable.