10. Past Winning Entries of IxDA (Part 2)

Continuing my dive into the past winners of the Connecting Category of the IxDA

2014 Winner - KonneKt: a social game for isolated children in the hospital by Delft University of Technology (Student work)


KonneKt is another example of good interaction design that goes beyond a screen. By using EVA foam pieces, magnets, and suction cups, Job Jansweijer turned a glass barrier into a medium for interaction for children in hospitals who had to be isolated for their health. Job saw the issue of how children under isolation in hospitals were unable to engage in social play, and sought to create a solution that could help them interact with the outside world in a safe and fun manner. 
Media: Craft foam, magnets, suction cups
Interaction: Children and adults are able to use the KonneKt pieces to build on the glass, and people on both sides of the glass are able to participate.  
Connecting: Children who spend extended amounts of time isolated in hospitals with the outside world through physical play. 

2015 Winner - Skype in the Classroom by Made by Many

Skype in the Classroom is a little similar to an entry in 2012, called, Steps. Made by Many collaborated with Microsoft and Skype to break down the classroom walls and allow teachers to collaborate around the world. Students are able to take virtual field trips and listen to guest speakers in the classroom. 
Media: Skype
Interaction: Teachers using it as a tool in the classroom
Connecting: Teachers with other teachers so they can share information, as well as students connecting with other students in different countries. 

2016 Winner - Edward M. Kennedy Institute by Intersection

Intersection has created an interactive museum with a full-scale reproduction of a US Senate Chamber, with interaction and education in mind. Visitors of this museum can act as senators, debating, negotiating, and voting on real legislation with the other visitors in the museum. This has created an interesting way to learn about the democratic process, and how the visitors can have different roles to play within in. 
Media: Physical museum space, tablet-based interactions that are shown in the larger screens of the room. 
Connecting: Visitors with the roles and responsibilities of the US Senate. Politics and bureaucracy can become a very dry topic, but Intersection has created an interesting way for people in engage in it and learn about it.










Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

4. Trying out the Implicit Association Test (Part 2)

Image
This blog post is a follow up after having completed the skin-tone Implicit Association Test. Part 1 can be found here . In the final section of the test, the participant is told more about their results, how the test works, and steps taken by the researchers to eliminate order effect bias in the test. The participant can also see how they match up to others who have taken part in the test.  At the end of the day, I wasn't too surprised with my test results. I do think that one of the reasons why I have preference to fairer skin is the fact that I myself have fairer skin. I'm also more familiar with people with fair skin since I grew up among family members who look like me. However, I also recognise that culturally fairer skin is still prized above darker skin in East Asian culture. From a young age, the associations of "fair" with "virtuous", "pure", and "beauty" have been deeply etched into my mind, from advertisi
Read more

14. Microsoft Inclusive Design Toolkit (Manual)

Image
Since the whole toolkit is actually multiple files and videos, I'll be narrowing down the focus of this blog post to the toolkit manual, which can be found here.  (the link downloads the file). The document first starts off by explaining why inclusive design is so necessary, and how diversity can be seen as a source for making better designs. Designers often use themselves as the starting point when creating their work, excluding the people who don't understand or relate to. To practice inclusive design, one of the first things to realise is that there is no such thing as a "normal" person. The document also emphasises the importance of inclusive design in lowering the barriers to entry for societal participation for more people.  In the next part, the document defines "inclusive design" as "A design methodology that enables and draws on the full range of human diversity". The most important part of inclusive design is to learn from a range
Read more