“Chargers Info Spot”
Creators: Andrei, Avery, Damaris, Dillon, Finn, Jason, Kayshav, Maya (Kimberly and Maria left the school. They helped with the initial design)
Middle School Students from P.S./I.S. 276 Battery Park City School
Type of Project:
- Coding,
- Product Development,
- UX/UI Design
Themes of Project:
- Community Advocacy,
- Education/Schools,
- Resource Sharing
About this Project:
At our school, middle-school students sometimes forget their schedule or are unaware of schedule changes. As a result, they arrive in class late, receive negative consequences from the teachers and experience additional stress.
Another problem that we needed to solve was that middle-school students would not know what lunch clubs they could go to on any given day. For example, on Wednesday, there might be a new lunch club offered that someone might not know exists.
At times, there are special events held in the school that do not follow the regular schedule. If a student missed an announcement about it, they might end up in the wrong place at the wrong time (ex. in the math classroom instead at the grade assembly in the auditorium), or they might miss a bake sale, scavenger hunt in the library, or other special event.
Additionally, The recess schedule varies from day to day due to the weather. This also causes confusion.
To solve the problem, we have followed the design thinking process that is centered on the user’s needs. In the first phase of the process, “Discover,” we interviewed students, administration, and other stakeholders. We analyzed the necessary functions of the solution and constructed our Design Goal Statement, and we researched similar existing products. Next, in the “Ideate” stage, we brainstormed and formed our ideas and product design. We often went back to the “Discover” phase to gather additional feedback from our stakeholders. As we moved to the “Prototype” step, we developed our ideas using AutoCad, Google Slides, and Google Sites as well as actual hardware we are going to use for the product (Raspberry Pi 5.0 and a touch screen). Throughout this process, we kept checking with our users and made needed changes. Finally, we plan to “Deploy” our product by collaborating with Boyce Technologies inc. (a company we partner with). We also plan for future upgrades based on data collected from the Chargers Infor Spot users.
Using the Design Thinking Process, we created a product that addresses an authentic problem that middle-school students experience. Our mini touchscreen “kiosks” will provide them with easy and fast access to critical information by being installed in the most convenient places at school. Students will be able to quickly navigate to their class schedules, special events information, and important announcements. The Chargers Info Spot will help students be on time for classes, not miss out on events and special programs, and have good learning and social experiences at school.
Another problem that we needed to solve was that middle-school students would not know what lunch clubs they could go to on any given day. For example, on Wednesday, there might be a new lunch club offered that someone might not know exists.
At times, there are special events held in the school that do not follow the regular schedule. If a student missed an announcement about it, they might end up in the wrong place at the wrong time (ex. in the math classroom instead at the grade assembly in the auditorium), or they might miss a bake sale, scavenger hunt in the library, or other special event.
Additionally, The recess schedule varies from day to day due to the weather. This also causes confusion.
To solve the problem, we have followed the design thinking process that is centered on the user’s needs. In the first phase of the process, “Discover,” we interviewed students, administration, and other stakeholders. We analyzed the necessary functions of the solution and constructed our Design Goal Statement, and we researched similar existing products. Next, in the “Ideate” stage, we brainstormed and formed our ideas and product design. We often went back to the “Discover” phase to gather additional feedback from our stakeholders. As we moved to the “Prototype” step, we developed our ideas using AutoCad, Google Slides, and Google Sites as well as actual hardware we are going to use for the product (Raspberry Pi 5.0 and a touch screen). Throughout this process, we kept checking with our users and made needed changes. Finally, we plan to “Deploy” our product by collaborating with Boyce Technologies inc. (a company we partner with). We also plan for future upgrades based on data collected from the Chargers Infor Spot users.
Using the Design Thinking Process, we created a product that addresses an authentic problem that middle-school students experience. Our mini touchscreen “kiosks” will provide them with easy and fast access to critical information by being installed in the most convenient places at school. Students will be able to quickly navigate to their class schedules, special events information, and important announcements. The Chargers Info Spot will help students be on time for classes, not miss out on events and special programs, and have good learning and social experiences at school.
Project Media
Images
Slides
More About this Project
Share this project:
Community Feedback:
Fun
Innovative
Helpful
Great Design
Makes Me Think
Feedback from the Judges:
Great work - really impressed with the comprehensive project covering so many areas. I really liked that you did user interviews and used them as a touchstone to shape the project. And great work on the whole package including hardware and software. It's a narrow focus - but sometimes small projects can make a big difference!
I absolutely love this project! You really detailed every step you took within the design process, and showed that you had your target user at the center of your design! A central hub for students to be able to get essential information from at a whim is very useful, especially for students who may be new to the school, or involved with tons of programs! I'm excited to see this be put into action. It's amazing how much effort you all put into designing every aspect of your idea, from hardware to software. Keep up the amazing work!
I have been out of school for many decades now, but I still have a frequent recurring nightmare that it's the first day of school and I have no idea what class I'm supposed to be in or where it meets. So, this must have been traumatizing to me when I was your age!
It's really impressive how you have engaged with the design process, starting with interviewing prospective users.
I'm also really impressed that you are actually planning to build it and are scoping out hardware, considering price and functionality, and thinking about issues like accessibility and safety.
One question I had, that I'm not sure if you've thought through, is privacy. It looks like you plan to show personalized information, but I'm not sure if all of that is something that a student would want others to be able to access. But, if you require a login and password, that would be inconvenient for users who want to stop by and quickly look something up. I wonder if students in your school have IDs that could be used to identify them, so you could swipe your badge and quickly access personalized content.
Anyway, this is a great start and I would love to see you build it, as well as all of the feature ideas that you can come up with to go in there beyond the first version that you've designed so far.
It's really impressive how you have engaged with the design process, starting with interviewing prospective users.
I'm also really impressed that you are actually planning to build it and are scoping out hardware, considering price and functionality, and thinking about issues like accessibility and safety.
One question I had, that I'm not sure if you've thought through, is privacy. It looks like you plan to show personalized information, but I'm not sure if all of that is something that a student would want others to be able to access. But, if you require a login and password, that would be inconvenient for users who want to stop by and quickly look something up. I wonder if students in your school have IDs that could be used to identify them, so you could swipe your badge and quickly access personalized content.
Anyway, this is a great start and I would love to see you build it, as well as all of the feature ideas that you can come up with to go in there beyond the first version that you've designed so far.
Feedback from the Community:
Mittal 👏 a Parent and/or Guardian
The kids worked really hard and it is am impressive amount of work! Well done!
👏 a Middle School Student
I like how you remind people of there things for the day