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Ontwerp van een educatieve interface voor het ontstaan van de seizoenen op aarde

Gremmer, Jolanda (2014) Ontwerp van een educatieve interface voor het ontstaan van de seizoenen op aarde.

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Abstract:This report has been written on account of the bachelor assignment of the study Industrial Design at the University of Twente. The assignment has been carried out at the observatory named Cosmos, located in Lattrop. An essential subject in the collection of the observatory is the cause of the presence of seasons on earth. To explain this phenomenon, several methods already exist. However, these existing methods require an abstract way of thinking: you will have to imagine where on earth you are and how the sun will look like. For some children/people this abstract way of thinking interferes with understanding the theory. The purpose of this assignment is designing an userinterface, which will teach the visitors the cause of the presence of seasons. The userinterface must ensure that the user gets an insight in the theory, in an independent way. To realise this, the userinterface has to minimise the amount of thinking steps. The design process started with a preliminary research. One of the first steps was defining the target group. The target group consists of children aged 10 to 13 years. Some characteristics related to the social environment of the target group are: sensitive to visual spectacle, starting to watch more real movies and series, they like to do and discover things spontaneous and for example by touching everything. For connecting in a more cognitive way, presenting information in a serial manner is very important. Information should be presented by the use of two sensorial channels. Connecting with and the repeating of foreknowledge are significant, just as focussing someones attention. The end of chapter 2 pays attention to general design principles for user interfaces. Some keywords are simplicity, structure, consistency and tolerance. In chapter three the guidelines of chapter two are being translated into three divergent concepts. The design of interface 1 provides a lot of freedom to discover things by yourself. Userinterface 2 is a more structural and informative one. Userinterface 3 finds its connection with the target group by using a game element. These concepts are all generated using a scenario. This scenario was then translated into a set of tasks and a navigation scheme. Of all the screens in each of the userinterfaces, a visual representation has been made. As well as a visual representation of the total set up. To research the effectiveness of the concepts, a usability test has been set up and executed in chapter 4. The most important outcomes were that the first userinterface required a certain pattern of thinking, which is not very suitable for the target group. The interfaces 2 and 3 did not totally succeed in presenting the information in steps, as well as focussing the attention to the right details. Some visual limitations resulted in a wrong way of thinking among the test persons. The outcomes of chapter four gave a reason to make a total redesign. This redesign is more interactive to involve the user more into the theory. It also includes the game element of the third concept. The presentation of information happens in a more stepwise manner. The appearance of the redesign is based on the looks of interface 1 and 2. The appearance of the total set up has the characteristics of the set up from interface 3. The final design finds its connection in a cognitive way, as well as with the social environment of the target group.
Item Type:Essay (Bachelor)
Faculty:ET: Engineering Technology
Subject:20 art studies
Programme:Industrial Design BSc (56955)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/66612
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