Technology Inclusion Challenge
+400 Points
The technology industry needs your help! Companies in tech and ed-tech design immersive learning experiences for all ages. However, they are concerned that not all students are benefiting from these technologies. In this Challenge, you’ll address the question: How can we leverage immersive technologies (such as AR,VR,MR, XR) to transform learning experiences for underrepresented and underserved students, including those with visible and invisible disabilities? Come up with a new product or a marketing campaign to address this problem. Create a video pitch for members of the tech industry.
Note: This Challenge is still available to complete to earn points and add to your resumes!! The prize money was awarded in the past to the following winners.
Skills you'll develop
- Problem Solving
- Social Awareness
- Communication
Create
You're ready to CREATE a prototype of your idea. This is what you'll use to explain your brilliant idea to the judges!
Choose ONE of the categories for your solution: product design, business concept, or marketing campaign. You can use the selection checklist to help you choose a category. Check out some examples: A Product Idea, A Unique Business , and A Marketing Campaign.
Create: Product Design
With your idea in hand, you can now design, craft, test, get feedback, and develop your ideas into potential solutions.
Prototyping is an effective way to get your idea out of your head and make it easier for others to understand it. A prototype is a tangible representation of your idea (or an aspect of your idea) that can be used to test your assumptions and get feedback.
Meet a Product Professional
Yay! You’re going to create a new product! First, let’s meet someone who creates new products.
Successful Products
Products are things that we use everyday, are inspired and created by people, and address a particular problem or need.
A Great Product
Consider what makes a product great. Play the video to explore the Five Levels of the Product Pyramid to understand some of the characteristics.
Take a look at the template for a design brief. This is located in the Student KNOtebook.
Take a look at an example of a student's design brief.
Prototyping
Prototyping Example
Prototyping is a process of developing a new product through the physical representation of an idea. Prototypes come in all sizes and shapes, and the type of prototype you create will depend on what you’re trying to learn about your idea and what stage you are in of the process. Check out this fun video to see an example.
Types of Prototypes
With a general plan in hand, you’re ready to make your ideas tangible with a prototype! Designing a new product involves an iterative process, so don’t get too attached to your ideas - they may change - several times!
There are a lot of ways to prototype, here are some you might consider.
Paper Prototype
Paper Prototype
Paper prototypes might be sketches and diagrams drawn quickly on a napkin or using a ruler and pen, but you don’t need to be an artist! A paper prototype is useful at the beginning of the process of conceptualizing a new product, enabling you to create multiple versions of your idea quickly.
Storyboard/Wireframe
Storyboard/Wireframe
Storyboards can communicate a concept by visualizing user interactions and telling a story. A wireframe is a storyboard for an app or website, and is useful for developing the navigation, structure, and placement of content. Wireframes can also be clickable, linking several static wireframes.
Role Play
Role Play
Role plays are useful for certain ideas, like you saw in the example video. Some designers are now also using virtual or augmented reality to prototype their ideas as a “walk through” experience.Digital Prototoyping Tools
Immersive Technologies: Tools for Designing
While it’s not expected that you create the full experience of your idea – you are pitching your idea, not the finished product, you may wish to experiment with designing a small-scale version or one element of your idea.
Testing & Feedback
Now that you have your first prototype, it's time to share it and get feedback so that you can improve it.
Product Testing Example
Testing Suggestions
Getting Feedback
Consider using any of the following methods to structure and organize your feedback-gathering process. Select the plus signs.
Feedback Capture Grid
A feedback grid helps you get feedback in a structured way. You can use it during testing or after to organize feedback. Divide a sheet of paper into four quadrants. Label:
“Likes” for positive feedback
“Criticisms” for negative feedback
“Questions” for questions that participants asked
“Ideas” for ideas that the session sparked
I Like, I Wish, What if..
This method is useful when your participants don’t have much experience with giving constructive feedback. Ask participants to use the three kinds of statements:
“I Like...” statements provide positive feedback.
“I Wish...” statements help to collect negative feedback and constructive criticism.
“What If...” statements enable participants to provide new suggestions.
What do you…
A survey is a great way to get feedback from a lot of people. You can get quantitative feedback (for example, "50 people thought that our prototype...". A few survey tips to keep in mind and more:
Ask close-ended questions (yes/no, or give choices)
Make sure your questions are unbiased
Limit the number of questions
Testing Your Assumptions
What do you want to learn from testing your prototype? What assumptions would you like to test? Assumptions, what you think is true, but don’t yet know to be true, are baked into every idea. Testing prototypes with real people is a great way to check your assumptions and testing early in your process allows you to “learn fast by failing early, often, and cheaply.”
Iterating
After you get feedback, it’s time to make changes to your prototype or prototype another part of your product. Remember, the goal is not for your prototypes to be universally loved. The goal is to get as much feedback as you can to help you make your concept better. Continue to prototype, test, and iterate as much as you can, until you are satisfied with your prototype. This may be a multi-day process and is not to be rushed.
Mentor Moment
Get feedback from a professional who will be judging your project!
Consider how you will test and get feedback from a mentor who may be reviewing your prototype online and giving written feedback. Depending on what you create as prototypes, you could scan, take a photo, or capture video to share and get feedback. You may want to use the “I Like, I Wish, What If...” or the grid method.
Get feedback on your prototype now!
PRO Criteria
Continue to prototype, test, and iterate, as time allows and you feel happy with your final prototype.
Make sure your prototype demonstrates that your idea is:
Purposeful: Addresses the problem
Results: Will have an impact
Original: Is unique from everything that already exists or builds on something in a new way
SWOT Analysis
Use a SWOT analysis to help you decide which idea to pursue. A SWOT analysis is a technique for assessing your ideas to help you improve or change your ideas before making a final decision.
