Examine the gap in expectations between adults and children for the Giant Room

Duration
9.2022 - 10.2023

Client
Giant Room

Keyword
User Research
Interview with kids
STEM + Arts

Team
Fan Fang,
Mihira Patel,
Tzuyi Lee 

Advisor
Adriana Young
Hirumi Nanayakkara

Role
Desk & User research
Data Synthesis

My Contribution

  • Led interview with instructor

  • Synthesized research insight to applicable suggestion for client

  • Present our research process to client

Project Process

01 Observe

02 Discover

03 Define

04 Present

00 Background

About the service

Azi Jamalian, the founder of the Giant Room, studied kid behavior for four years prior to establishing the Giant Room. She discovered that false assumptions about how children think and learn occur frequently. Recognizing the disparity between how children learn and the existing educational structure, she began to build the Giant Room, a space for children to form new ideas and put them into action.

Goals of Giant Room

Transform the typical classrooms where children have little time to create into a new model that spares lots of room for children to learn through actual play, making, and sharing.

01 Observe

We went on a field trip to see the children's work, hear the founder describe her idea for Giant Room, and see their current prototype.

“It’s all about the spark to get the creative process going. We want to help parents learn about the creative process. Some parents are really involved and some are not.”

— Azi, the founder of Giant room

Field Trip Highlight

#1 Mostly everything for kids is pre-determined by adults. Instructor show leading projects to get kids start making

#2 They want to hear what kids have to say, but it's hard for them to do so. The education space is tricky - the users are kids, but parents/educators are gatekeepers

#3 Giant Room is interested in seamless sharing. The have an app with sharing feature, but uncertain about families’ feedback

Research Focus

The field trip sparked a lot of questions for us. So, we categorize and list them all to see if there is any commonality or subject that captures our interest the most.

We successfully narrowed down the topic of our research for this project based on the insights and our interest.

Determine whether there is a discrepancy between adults' and children's expectations for the Giant Room, and if so, identify ways to bridge this gap.

Research focus

02 Discover

Methodology

Primary

  • Moderated remote interviews with Family and instructor

  • Debrief

  • Research artifects

Secondory

  • The GIANT room website

  • Competitor research

Main Questions

  • 1st time vs 2nd+ times EXPERIENCE of kids

  • What is the relationship between the kids and their feeling about SHARING their work online?

  • What are their EXPECTATION of classes, tools of Giant Room?

Interview

We had the opportunity to interview both parents and children, as well as one instructor. After receiving the screening information from the interviewees, we began drafting the interview questions based on our research focus. And narrow down to fit in the interview's limited time.

03 Define

Synthesis

We recorded the interview with the interviewee’s consent. and color coded the transcript to extract insights.

Persona Snapshot

User Journey map

We compare the journey for different role in every state of it.

04 Present

Insights

#1

Parents expect more expansive medias

#2

One-day coding class is harder for kids to keep engaging

#3

Kids want to participate in the curriculum decision

#4

Kids and parents are more than happy to share their works

Suggestion

#1 Provide more hands on tools 

Parents feel that while the technology is amazing, they would like their kids to have more hands on tools which help them with exploring materials and acquire some dexterity skills. 

#2 A shorter introductory class for the first-time kids to try out.

When there are other kids who are already familiar with the curriculum and are hesitant to return for more.

#3 Doing polls, or games to gather input on what subject kids like before making curriculum will be really helpful and increase the engagement for the class

From the interview insights, Most kids are eager to contribute.

#4 Provide some peer sharing sessions in classes.

Kids love to share their works and really don't mind sharing if they feel they create something they think is cool. Parents always share their kids’ works outside the classroom.

Reflection

Working on this project was a truly fruitful experience. I learned so much in just four weeks, and it will have a lasting impact on my understanding of design and research.

One of the biggest takeaways for me was the importance of understanding the perspective and experiences of children when conducting interviews. I realized that it was crucial to use simple language and be attentive to their responses so that I could adapt my questioning to keep their attention. In addition, I also learned the importance of ensuring that parents understand the significance of their child’s input in order to get the most valuable insights.

I was able to better appreciate various design artifacts after developing personas and journey maps for this project. They helped me put myself in other people's shoes much more easily. Overall, this has been a valuable experience, and I look forward to future challenges in the user research field.