Lab+-+Week+6

Bodystorming is a method of analyzing the ergonomics and usability of a product. Instead of generating ideas on paper, bodystorming is a physical experiment in order to analyze a design (Evans, 2009). This technique involves acting and role playing in an attempt to explore the constraints of products and creative innovative ideas to break the barriers.
 * What is bodystorming? **

Through bodystorming the design is to, “… uncover how the relationships between people, locations and things affect ideas in ways that written scenarios cannot” (Fairbrother, 2008). This experience design is used to show the physical interaction between people, things, and places influence the user of the product.

Bodystorming utilizes real life scenarios and express ideas that written descriptions cannot. This user-centered bodystorming technique further explores underlying assumptions of new ideas, breaking barriers of the mind.

The idea of the Betacup was generated when people questioned the recyclability of the commercial paper-cup. People found that paper-cups were covered with a wax-lining, which made the cups unrecyclable, creating a heavy burden on the environment. The Betacup team then generated an idea of a collapsible travel mug with a microchip. The team then applied bodystorming in order to**,** ** “…illustrate the value of a user-centered design process — that effective designs will work within existing user behaviors to enact shifts in practice” (Evans, 2009). By physically enacting their idea, the team got to understand the positive aspects of their design, along with aspects of improvement. **

Special Olympics was formed in 1968, an international organization which was formed to assist those who have intellectual disabilities develop social skills, self-confidence, and have a sense of personal accomplishments. Sports are not a common interest among those who are handicapped because they are restricted, either mentally or physically, to perform. Although toboggan has yet to become an Olympic sport, it has always been a popular winter activity for children. Drawing from ideas from the Canadian Association for Disabled Skiing, I wanted to reinvent the toboggan to be able to, “…assist individuals with a disability to lead richer and fuller lives through active participation in recreational and competitive snow sports” (CADS, 2008).
 * Describe an issue that you would like to use bodystorming to research, analyze and investigate, and describe how you would develop a Case Theatre scenario to do so. **

Children who have a passion for tobogganing will have at least one painful story to share about how they slid down the hill and bumped their head. Last year, as I took my first and ultimately last slide down the snowy hill, I got a swell on my head that lasted a week; what a wonderful bodystorming experience! This is the reason why I chose to research, analyze and investigate the toboggan.

A toboggan is a plastic casted in a shape of a sled with a smooth bottom. For safety precautions, in my bodystorming design I hope to improve the brake handles that have been put on the side to steer and control the direction of the sled. There will also be more than a flimsy piece of string to allow the user to tow the toboggan to the top of the hill. It is a widely affordable product as it is made with simple material, plastic.

As a child growing up in Canada, my favourite part about winter was tobogganing down the hill by my school. My friends and I would meet up after school and spend the evening tobogganing. However, one of my friends would rarely be able to participate because of his partial paralysis of both his legs, which required him to wear leg braces. He had always required his dad to go down the hill with him, and his dad would often be at work. Although he was not able to participate, he was always optimistic and he was never negative or showed any jealousy as he sat and watched. This experience has then inspired me to improve the existing toboggan which will allow those who are disabled to share the same experience.

I continuously ask myself if a toboggan was a good idea to improve in the first place. But I also reminded myself that the improvement of the toboggan was for my childhood friend who watched us play anxiously. All kids should be able to have the same experience, no matter their disability.

Before all the snow melts away, I need to experiment with the exisiting toboggan. Incorporating bodystorming methods of innovation on my toboggan, I want to understand how it felt to utilize the toboggan. I may wish to go down the hill in different ways. First, I would go down the hill normally. Then I would go down the hill with little use of my legs, while I discovered I would require assistance going up and down the hill. Lastly, I would go down the hill not using my arms, which may be impossible as I have to use the hand brakes to slow down my speed. During bodystorming, I can also observe the people around me and interview them for their personal experience. I may begin to generate ideas to help improve the design.