Process

To track the process of the kits, I am including an email I received today to show what questions emerged in their delivery. This inquiry is as much a part of the project as are the physical kits and their contents.

Finally went to Gashora, yesterday. It's been crazy busy trying to coordinate the trip. The women loved the projects. They thank you for the portraits, the stamp and thinking about them. They said they miss you too.

I have 2 quick questions:
1. I know they will return the photos back to Canada for processing.
Where do you want the dots to be placed on?
2. Are there any specific photos you need for the interaction during
the cultural probe?

What was interesting to me is that there were questions about the dots exercise (which I had assumed would be clear).



This could be due to the stress of getting to the village, the issue of time or any other possibility. But something to consider in creating a communication tool.

Presenting my work

The design stream took a trip to Portland to experience some "industry connections" (and of course, have a little bit of fun!). I had the opportunity to present my research at Ziba, which was a great experience of sharing work with those who do and value design research.



More photos here

And in a completely different environment, after presenting my work to those in my program today, I found these images (they actually felt inclined to engage with the activities - the notepad specifically). What can I learn from this?

On making a milestone

The visual guidebook: This essentially shows how to use the kit with images only (minor text was added for the title and the final two pictures that suggest what the user can keep and what I'm asking them to return).


I can hardly believe it. The kits are done, packed up and will be picked up by FedEx tomorrow (to be taken to a team of people who are heading to Rwanda on Monday).
I am both elated and a tad freaked out (letting your labours go without being able to follow their process is a strange feeling, to say the least).

Now I wait (and focus on my writing!). What will become of all this? Hmmm.

Translated

The translations are done! The kits are ready!
All I need to do is take my ideas for the instruction manual and photograph that process to create a non-textual guide. Countdown to courier: T minus 4 days. Zoinks.

Field Kits

I spent my Christmas holiday learning how to sew again. Thanks to my mom and her new machine, we were able to produce my ideas into a workable prototype. The bag is made of a wool blanket and is secured on the inside by a button and loop. The top flap has a cardboard insert to act as a drawing board while in the field. The other side of the bag holds what you need it to: pencil crayons, pencils, cameras and notepaper.

I still need to create the belt for the back loops (as the women might have to carry children, I opted to create a kit that would go around the waist). But I have that concept sorted - just need to do the work of stitching them up. Ironically, at the end of all this thinking, some may end up carrying it on their heads (since I witnessed people doing this with backpacks).

Prototype

I am working on getting a cultural probe (Gaver) developed to send out into "the field". This probe is meant to use creative activities to see how people process the information. I'm curious to know if this concept could be developed into something that helps the periphery in areas of governance. To me, the idea of governance relates to Ideo's work on Design for Social Impact.

Enzio Manzini references the ideas of 'governance toolkits' in a wonderful book, Design Research Now . Beat Schneider is also quoted:

"With the trend towards a globalised, standardised cultural mishmash, people have an ever-greater need to communicate their own regional cultural identity (for example) to others. What part can visual communication play in this process? How can international communication between different cultures be structured in a way that primarily employs images rather than words? And how does non-paternalistic visual imagery in local development work look at the level of development cooperation?"

My only wish right now is that I could fund myself back to Rwanda to be in the field working on this. I'm giving these probes (Lord willing) to those who work in the development arena to see what comes of their process. My hope is that by asking the people they work with about their needs, desires and beliefs that they might find creative communities that already have some good ideas about their own futures. And I'm seeking to do all this where language is not shared so the notions of image, texture, shape and color become new forms of language investigation for me.



(These all have to be translated. While I'd love to get away from language in all forms, it simply isn't possible. Thankfully, I have support!)