Week 4 - Collage Journaling + (Re)Iterating

Circle Discussion Topics:

• Check in. How is everything going?

• User Centered Design Concepts

• Wayfinding

• Optional Share?

User Centered Design Concepts

You can apply the same cycle to your own personal life. This reframing helps alleviate the burden that comes with decision-making. By committing to making small changes and testing these changes out, you’ll be able to alleviate problems that you thought were unsurmountable. By iterating on some of the most important aspects of your life, you’ll be applying strategic thinking, and making progress on your own journey.

Here’s a story to provide an example: My 8 year old son had a hard time focusing with online learning last Spring.

(re)Discover:

• I spoke with his teacher. I also “interviewed” my sons to learn what the top 5 things they would change about their separate online experiences.

• I spent 2 days outside of his room observing him and writing notes on when he was fidgeting and when he was getting up to go to the bathroom.

• I spent 1 day observing him in his room. I told him that I would be working on my own laptop if he needed me -- he asked me for a lot of snacks.

Analyze:

• In the 2.5 hour block of time allotted to his online learning each day, he went to get (more) snacks 2 times and used the bathroom 3 times.

• I made a note of his materials. His folders and homework were on the floor beneath his desk.

• He kept fidgeting, and would slouch until the teacher couldn’t see the top of his head.

• He tapped on the screen and played with the different command buttons continuously -- even when the activity didn’t require this.

Design:

• I wrote out a problem statement and possible solution: I think my son is uncomfortable and bored, and so he therefore makes excuses to get away from his desk. A possible solution is to create variability and comfort so that he can focus on the teacher.

• I looked at small desks online to see what was available as well as how the desks were configured. Part of this was simply by looking up #smalldesks on Instagram.

• I took all of his supplies and school materials and laid them out on the floor.

• I looked at all of the available chairs and small tables in the house

Iterate:

• I tried out different tables and different chair configurations. I had him sit at different sets to see which ones he preferred -- underlining that we were going to try a few.

• I took everything off of his small desk except for his ipad and a lamp.

• I placed a small kids table (that we used for crafting) in his room along with a kids chair. He was able to swap this out with a comfy cushioned kids chair for extended listening times.

• I purchased a monitor stand and organizer to keep his supplies on his larger/shorter desk space. He could then have the option of not using the stand when he wanted to use the comfy chair.

Implement:

• I suggested periods of time when he should use one desk over the other.

• I observed him by checking in now and then and noting when he naturally used one desk/chair configuration over another.

• I purchased a fidget toy to keep his hands moving when it was time for extended listening.

• I used the taller/original desk configuration to simply store all of his books and supplies. He didn't use this one at all for online learning.

The change was drastic and awesome! He was able to focus, and the teacher provided positive feedback that he was able to stay engaged. And (considering these next coming weeks) we will continue to iterate! In summary, if you’re open to a cycle of reflection, changing, and learning, the complexities of your life can be reframed into something achievable.

Wayfinding

MELU - My Eyes Light Up

• Make a list of things that make your eye sparkle with curiosity, interest, and/or delight.

• When you come across something that makes your eyes widen naturally with delight and wonder, take a moment and savor the feeling. Celebrate it!

MEGO - My Eyes Glaze Over

• Make a list of things that you consider tedious, and you would PAY someone else to do these things if you could.

• When you come across an activity that excites others, but you feel like you have to go along with it to be kind --- these activities can also be considered MEGO.

What are things that BOTH excites and intimidates you?

This is a question that one of my mentors asked me, and continuously thinking about this is a great way to begin wayfinding. For the list of things that make your eyes light up, which things are the ones that both excite and intimidate you? These are the things that will keep you wanting to learn and grow to overcome the intimidation -- but with joy and fulfillment.

Step 2: Let the most alluring information scents be your guide.

Wayfinding can be a very long and iterative process, but it can also be very fun and rewarding. As you use the concepts in Step 1, you will be guided towards taking forward steps with more confidence. If you feel yourself no longer excited about a particular path, take a moment to mentally retrace your steps back to where you felt MELU.

My husband and I have started enjoying the process and planning of where we want to spend our time at the later stages of our lives after our kids have all left the nest. We started by simply looking at a map of the world. We both made lists of places that we loved or thought were intriguing... The main requirements for us were healthcare and travel accessibility (for the kids and grandkids). And then we started wayfinding by asking and answering these questions:

• How do we feel about sitting in traffic?

• Do we see ourselves gardening?

• How close would we be to nature or a park?

• How close is the nearest grocery store and would they have organic food?

• Do I see myself shoveling snow or would I be okay with paying someone to shovel snow?

• What would we do on a free Saturday? What do we see ourselves doing for exercise? Etc…

As we started discussing these questions and envisioned our future, we started wayfinding our way through our lists. We then realized that our original lists were too limited. We started exploring and traveling to places that we could visualize living in with the feelings of MELU as we age.

Between wayfinding, and using the iterative User Centered Design process, we feel more confident in visualizing and planning our future.