Stroll Story.
Time
2023.10 - 2023.12
Sector
Education | Growth | Fitness
Role
Research | Visual design | Service system design
Teammates
Dharini Kamdar
Collaboration
Walk Massachusetts
Kids used to be able to confidently roam around the neighborhoods, learning and growing along the way. However, in today's urban landscapes, we face challenges in nurturing children's independence and spatial awareness due to the drastically changing surroundings which have little space that is suitable for kids to explore on their own.
That's why we created Stroll Story. This project enables kids to reconnect with their surrounding, offering them the freedom to explore and grow through their discoveries.
Starting Points.
The changing urban landscape and the limited space for children's exploration.
Parental concerns and challenges faced in fostering independence.
The importance of addressing these challenges for children's development.
In today's urban landscapes, we face challenges in nurturing children's independence and spatial awareness.
But what if we could give them the freedom to explore their surroundings based on their own?
Our envisions.
｜Autonomy
| Growth
| Self-exploration
| Community
| Walk more
| Interact with real world
| Bonding
| Fun school route
Solution.
Stroll Story Logo
We have developed the Stroll Story project, which provides a monthly event allowing children to independently explore their surroundings. Children are gathered at a location near their school by volunteers from Walk Massachusetts, who then guide them to a designated 'Exploration Zone'. Within this zone, kids are free to roam and discover. The program is equipped with toolkits to facilitate these adventures, including the exploration map and Apple Watch.
This program is designed with the growth and well-being of children in mind. We believe that by restoring children's freedom to explore on their own, we can positively impact their cognitive development and enhance their social skills.
Setting the Stage.
| Part 1 Hypothesis Formation
We are aware that our research project, involving complex topics such as children and safety, makes the actual design process a little bit tricky. Therefore, it's essential to start with hypotheses so we get a guideline of design. Through research, we aim to clarify what is feasible and what is not. Here are 5 assumptions.
1. Parents are not comfortable to let their kids walking alone in Boston.
2. Safety of their kids is one of the biggest concerns
3. Kids want to explore their neighborhood after school hours
4. People are willing to alter the behavior for intervention
5. Kids are traveling to school by bus, bike or on foot?
| Part 2 Preliminary Research
Site: Curley K-8 School
Target audience: Children between the age 7-12 years
Location: Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
Type: Public School
Why we choose it: Safe neighborhood
Research Plan:
Research over that whether the surrounding area has sufficient exploration spaces for children to play.
Interact with the target audiences to understand their behavioral habits and characteristics through research and observation methods.
Reach out:
Curley K-8 School - connect with official channels/ gain access to talk to parents and children.
Contact with relevant organizations to gain insights into those involved in children, education, and transportation, and seeking guidance on the feasibility of design through communication.
We mapped out the surroundings…
To ensure the availability of ample, secure, and enjoyable spaces for exploration within the school's accessible vicinity, I mapped out the possible activity zones within an area that is within a 15-minute walking distance from the school. I categorize them into 6 different types: commercial health, residential area, playground, park, garden and nature reserve.
Findings
There are enough areas for kids to explore, especially since there are 4 parks, 3 gardens and 3 playgrounds within walkable distance.
We interviewed two moms from the school…
We wanted to hear more from parents and find out if they are interested in having their children participate in such activities. So we visited Curley K-8 school and interview 2 moms. The research results is interesting and I list all the findings below.
Click here to see the interview questionnaire.
Findings (answering the assumption questions)
1.Parents are not comfortable to let their kids walking alone. They prefer someone to be with their kids.
2.Safety of their kids are their major concerns
3.Kids have plenty of time to play after school hours. Now they just hang out with their friends in playgrounds.
4.People welcome intervention, only if it is safe.
5.Kids travelled by car, bus, bike and on foot. Some of the parents walk their kids to school since their homes are near.
Fail, fail and fall.
It became extremely difficult for us to carry out our research and get the data,
which made us felt lost and don’t know what to do.
We initially planned to collaborate with schools to obtain parental feedback. However, the slow progress of the schools did not align with the limited timeframe of our project, resulting in the failure of our original research plan.
We also attempted to reach out to members of the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) organization, aiming to understand their existing projects and thereby identify feasible directions for our own project. Unfortunately, our emails went unanswered.
We sent emails to 4 organizations, but received no responses.
Fail, fail and learn.
| What we did:
Since we received no responses from the previous emails we sent, we persisted in reaching out other organizations.
We received emails Walk Massachusetts. They invited us to attend one of their meetings.
We established email communication with an individual who had previously collaborated with SRTS.
| What we learnt:
Walk Massachusetts
WalkMassachusetts makes walking safer and easier in Massachusetts to encourage better health, a cleaner environment and more vibrant communities.
We attended their monthly meeting
We had a chance to go over the Safe Routes to School Presentation prepared for Walk Massachusetts
We understood the stakeholders of our project to a larger extent…
We found that similar to our project, SRTS is also channeling their focus towards promoting travel on foot…
The vast majority of students commute by vehicle, few walk.
SRTS promotes walking bus activities
Meeting with C associated with SRTS
C is an individual that has previously worked with SRTS. She had a 45-minute meeting with us, during which she shared details about some SRTS projects and her collaborative project with SRTS. We also briefly introduced our project to her, including some of the progress we have achieved so far. She offered us some invaluable advice.
Identify Opportunities.
During our research, we tested out our assumptions, which shows intervention to a certain extent is feasible. Thus, based on our findings during the research process, we proposed the HMV question.
How Might We solve the safety problem
and unlock safe and inclusive adventures
for kids after they dismiss from school?
We brainstormed the possible solutions and elements involved…
Prototyping.
“ Scavenger Hunt ".
Our initial prototype was a “ scavenger hunt” game, derived from the idea previously mentioned about unlocking children's freedom to explore. As illustrated below, through 'Building Connections', we provide guided routes, allowing children to observe and note 'Points of Interest', such as cats, dogs, or charming landmarks. Additionally, we planned for special activities like 'Festival Events' and special functions like 'Building Community' to enrich the children's free exploration and social needs.
Building Connections
Guidance to the playground or park
Routes recommendations
Multiple modes of transport
Festival Events
Holiday candy hunt
Easter egg hunt
“ Points of Interest ”
Cute pets
Landmarks
Nice shops & window decoration
Building Community
Work with others
Friend spots notification
We applied Apple Watch for safety concerns and recording needs…
Apple Watch act as a tool for communication, recording, and location tracking. It serves both safety concerns and recording functions.
real-time location tracking
sharing the location with parents' phones
reminder of the remaining time
audio prompts
stay in exploration zone
We created a service system map to illustrate the process…
Children
Parents
Volunteer
iwatch
Frontstage
Backstage
And the feedbacks…
｜That seems fun!
1.Kids are allowed to explore own their own.
2.The concept is interesting.
3.Apple watch is a good way to locate kids.
｜It can be better.
1. Apple watch is used too frequently.
2. Is there enough volunteer?
3. The guidance for kids is vague.
Final Design.
Based on the first prototype we developed and the feedback received, we reorganized and launched the "Stroll Story" project.
System Map
In this diagram, the relationships between the system stakeholders in the project is shown to help people better understand the organization of the activity. After school, children gather at the school gate, where volunteer from Walk Massachusetts organize and lead them to a nearby exploration zone. The exploration zone will be a place within 15-minute walk distance from school. Volunteers from Walk Massachusetts will safeguard the main intersections to make sure the zone is capable for the kids to explore on their own. Once the exploration is complete, kids are led back to the school by volunteers. Parents are kept informed about their children through mobile notifications all the time and are responsible for pick-ups.
Service Blueprint
The "Service Blueprint" diagram provides a more detailed description of how the various stakeholders interact within the system. Building on the previous system, our final version of the service system incorporates the "Exploration Map" tool, allowing the Apple Watch to serve merely as a GPS locator and navigation aid. During their exploration, children mainly use the Exploration Map for recording and navigation, which helps developing their reading skills and cognitive abilities.
Exploration map
To better provide guidance, we designed a double-sided exploration map in a hand-drawn style. The front of the map displays information such as the month of the activity, while the back shows the name of the area for that month's activity and other details. Each child will be given an exploration map before the start of the activity for use during their free exploration.
The "Exploration Map" is a worksheet. The front side is a hand-drawn map of this month's exploration area. It includes key details such as major road names, landmarks, the boundaries of the exploration area, and the location of the assembly point. Each time before the exploration start, volunteers will conduct a brief lecture to teach them how to use the map.
The back of the map features four prompts, guiding children to think and take notes during their exploration. The four questions we proposed are designed based on the cognitive characteristics of children in this age group, focusing on reflective thinking. The questions cover exploration of the world, nature, self, as well as family or friend relationships.
We adopt a special form - Origami Twist
To better stimulate the children's interest and make exploration more engaging, we used a special folding technique to present the map — the "classic origami twist." This method is simple to create and transforms the map into an interactive origami piece, offering plenty of fun for the children as they open and fold it.
To encourage continuous participation, we created a "Collection Book" specifically for collecting exploration maps from each activity. This collection book is designed to match the origami design of the maps, showing the name of the location for each activity when a map is put into the book. This collection book can also serve as a growth tracker for the child, also allowing discussions between the child and parents about the day's activities, thereby enhancing family communication.
