Educational Toys for children with hearing impairments
Thuy An Center
Thuy An Center is a public vocational school and care center for students with disabilities.
It was founded in 1976 as a rehabilitation center for children of war veterans, and has since
developed into the top full-care center for all people with disabilities. Most children at the
center are full-time residents, and receive schooling, vocational training, medical support,
as well as physical and occupational therapy on site. The center values education, and
many of the students go on to attend higher education.
You will be paired with a specific client and tasked with creating a custom educational toy that can be made using your design skills (i.e. product design workshop tools, 3D printer, and / or laser cutter)
Custom board games
Custom Chess Sets
Laser cut puzzles
Games
A: Inquiring & Analysing
CLIENT VISIT!
Date: Friday, March 14
Time: 9:20 - 11:05
Mission: You will have limited time to interview clients with the help of Thuy An mentors who will help you to communicate through ASL.
Work with your assigned client and the Thuy An teachers to communicate via sign language and imagery
Co-create ideas for an educational board game that uses 3D printed game pieces (i.e. dice, custom characters, etc) and a laser cut game board
Take notes on your client preferences such as colors, game piece characters, size of the board and pieces, and rules
For example...
Copies of popular boardgames such as Monopoly (Hanoiopoly) or Connect 4
Custom chess set based on their favorite cartoon characters or video game
Custom puzzle of Hanoi with their favorite places highlighted
Co-created new board game with rules and 3d printed characters
Client Lists and Preferences: see spreadsheet below
B1
Develop detailed design specifications, which explain the success criteria for the design of a solution based on the analysis of the research
Instructions:
What design specifications will make your end product or solution successful? Write your ideas down in the imperative form (i.e. it must do..., it has to include…).
Specifications to choose from:
Here is a LINK to some generic specifications with descriptions and at the bottom of the doc some generally used testing methods (evaluation)
Here are some specific ideas for Specifications you may like to choose from:
The toy is educational
The toy uses a safe finish
The toy includes no choking hazard
The toy is painted or colored in order to be attractive
The toy is primarily made of either wood or plastic (both?)
The toy is fun to play with
The toy will aid the learning of a student
The toy is designed for young children (aged between ?)
The toy does not promote anything negative
The toy does not use toxic materials
The toy is completely safe for use by a child
The toy has more than 2 parts to it.
The toy is aesthetically pleasing to look at.
The toy is durable
The toy is easy to play with
Resources
B2
Develop a range of feasible design ideas, using an appropriate medium(s) and detailed annotation, which can be correctly interpreted by others
Instructions:
Concept sketching is an integral part of the design process. Based on your design specifications and the opportunities you identified during your SWOT analysis of existing products, begin to sketch out at least 3 different ideas and share them with peers.
One method to test whether or not the product you are planning will work well for your clients would be to let children of a similar age look at your concepts for constructive feedback
Resources
Skill
