This was a very fun project to be a part of. Our team’s goal was to help educate people on the growing problem of space junk. Every time humans wish to explore space, they end up leaving debris from rockets and other materials used during space travel. Just like on Earth, this junk accumulates, but also creates a lethal challenge. Our team chose to turn this into a fun opportunity for people to learn about space junk by giving them an opportunity to learn about the problem while doing something about it (destroying the junk). I also took away from this project a couple of other lessons: an accessibile design improves the design for everyone, prototyping a dark environment is a tough and fun challenge, and to utilize my team members’ strengths, as they were much better at setting up a prototype and finding the assets needed to help make the experience complete.
- Viewed and interacted with museum exhibits to help situate our design and people’s expectations
- Created and experienced accessibility problems to help our team empathize and improve our design
- Helped the team to become “local experts” on space junk
- Sketching multiple design concepts for design ideation
- Helped to recruit and create scenarios for testing the prototype
- Prototyped many iterations with with paper, flashlights, pillows, and stuffed animals