Project Revival at the 2-Day Challenge!
While The Upcycle Project was concluded as of 2013, this March we brought it back for a brief but intensive two days at The Upcycle Project: 2-Day Challenge, kindly hosted by Bishan Public Library from 22-23 March 2014! This workshop was part of the Press Play series curated by the National Library Board, a very exciting line-up of arts programmes at our public libraries that included street dance, typography and crafts.
Participants with their first iteration of prototypes at the end of Day 1
Our participants brought such great energy and enthusiasm to the workshop, and took to each part of the programme with gusto - from on-site fieldwork which involved engaging library users on their needs and experiences, to brainstorming, developing and prototyping design ideas using upcycled materials. And because participatory design is about seeing everyday people as legitimate stakeholders and involving them at every step of the process as far as possible, we 'live' tested the prototypes with the library users at the end of the two days to seek their feedback on how to improve the designs.
Sharing stories from their fieldwork with library users
Second iteration of upcycled prototypes in progress
Second iteration of upcycled prototypes in progress
'Live' testing with users - curious but cautious at first...
'Live' testing with users - ... and then they took over and made it their own!
'Live' testing with users - many thoughtful feedback obtained
Ta-da! Introducing the Pic-Mat which the children loved
Ta-da!! Introducing the Go-cart which many people found useful!
We're so proud of everyone for having faith in the process of community engagement and participation and doing such a great job with the resources they were given. For us, this really goes to show how much creativity and resourcefulness we all have, as long as we are open to all possibilities and think and build with our hands and hearts.
