KidsTeam has multiple partnerships, and is always looking for more! Just like all programming, there is a lot of planning and communicating to set it up. Usually, we do multi-week sessions, where we meet once a week for five to eight weeks. For those sessions, we have a loose outline that can be adapted and modified to fit the specific needs of the partner. The first week is for introductions, some activities to build trust and get all participants used to co-creating, the second is usually for introducing all participants to the technology they will be working with, the next couple of weeks is for designing, and then we end the last week on a fun, celebratory note! If multiple sessions don’t work for new partners however, we can also do single day workshops of a couple hours. Additionally, since Covid started, we have, like everyone, adapted, and now we are able to do programming in person or virtually!

 

Once our partner has decided what length of sessions they are interested in, the next steps are choosing what their design question is, and the materials needed. KidsTeam is able to provide the materials, and we make sure to distribute those before the sessions start. Since we are able to adapt our schedule and methods to each partner, there is a bit of co-design between our partners and us before the sessions even start! 

 

How is KidsTeam different from a regular children’s program? From a glance, our workshops can look like a traditional library children’s program. We have kids creating with their hands, interacting with technology, drawing pictures, etc. While those definitely look like fun activities (and they are), they also serve a purpose: children’s feedback and ideas. Our activities are designed to get the children to be creative and problem solve specific design questions. The methods that go into planning those activities will be explained below, but our goals are to elicit feedback from children on design questions. If our design question is “How can Mindstorms help you connect with your friends,” then our activities will be based around children interacting with Mindstorms and coming up with fun ideas for how they can use Mindstorms to communicate with friends. 

 

How is KidsTeam different from traditional user experience (UX) design? This question also, on its surface level, can be hard to answer. According to the Interactive Design Collective, UX design is “User experience (UX) design is the process design teams use to create products that provide meaningful and relevant experiences to users. This involves the design of the entire process of acquiring and integrating the product, including aspects of branding, design, usability and function (2022). Participatory design will be explained below, but KidsTeam differs from this definition because instead of just utilizing the experience and knowledge of professional designers, we are also using the experience and knowledge of the very users who will be using this product. Although we could probably think of plenty of ways that we could use Mindstorms to connect with friends, since that design question is being asked for future children’s programming, we want to hear their ideas as well. 

 

“In traditional user testing, children are shown a prototype of a nearly finished product, and testers collect data before sending test subjects on their way. Assistant Professor Jason Yip’s team turns that approach on its head. It gives kids time to develop as skilled testers and involves them earlier in the design process – a method known as Cooperative Inquiry” (ISchool, 2022).