Group members:
Mansi Chottani, Kye Li Chia, Ruoxi Song
Research question:
How can we preserve traditions through games?
Our solution
Introducing traditional games to the public through a local traditional games fest
Date:
3rd July - 24th November 2023
After finalising the content of the infographics, our focus for this week shifted towards refining both the details of our games and the presentation of our infographics. We began with a discussion with Irene, during which we explored the different placements of our displays within the park. Initially, we assumed that Elephant Park would be a shared space, as several other groups were exhibiting their work. However, we later discovered that we were the sole exhibitors in Elephant Park, and our display would be featured throughout the entire London Design Festival period, spanning a week.
Given this exclusive access to the park, we were keen to utilise the space to its fullest potential. Considering the park's size, we made the decision to introduce an additional game, increasing the total to five games to ensure comprehensive coverage of the grounds.
In the process of developing our games, we conducted initial prototype testing with a select group of individuals. This testing revealed that the language used in our prototype was not sufficiently clear, causing confusion among participants about how to play the games. In response, we undertook a revision of our content, adding more visual elements and transforming the instructions into user-friendly step-by-step guides.
Having refined our game instructions, our attention turned to the visual aspect. We engaged in a creative exploration, conducting a mood board exercise to determine the most effective way to convey our infographics.
After considering various visual representations, we ultimately settled on using cutouts of real photos accompanied by concise descriptions. We believed this approach would best illustrate how the games should be played, what equipment is required, and how it should be used.
Despite our progress, we encountered some challenges during the final stages of preparation. These challenges included navigating safety requirements and adhering to specific rules and regulations imposed by the landowners. These regulations mandated the use of a particular type of signage standee that did not align with our initial design's dimensions. While we attempted to propose alternatives, arguing that the recommended signage was too small for a park of such scale, our suggestions were ultimately rejected. Consequently, we were obliged to resize and adjust our design to fit the new dimensions. Additionally, our project had to operate within a specified budget, which imposed constraints on our choices for signage standees.
Aside from that, we seized the opportunity to engage with the public through a workshop. Our intention was to collect data to enhance our project. Given our project's focus on preserving tradition through games, we used this platform to explore public perspectives on tradition. To facilitate this, we designed a simple zine template featuring the following questions:
- What does the world 'Tradition' mean to you?
- List traditions that are most memorable/valuable to you (personal/cultural)
- How would you want to revive/bring back the lost or declining tradition?
Learnings:
- Collaborating with external parties through online platforms can pose challenges, particularly because they may not share the same visual perspective or understanding of the displays and issues we encounter.
- We've learned to collaborate effectively as a dispersed team, adapting our schedules to different time zones. We've also been accommodating, considering team members' vacation time and balancing collective and individual contributions.
- We allocated tasks based on individual strengths while maintaining a readiness to support each other whenever the situation demands it.