Design for Children Longido, Tanzania
Athletic Playspace for Learning in Longido (LIL)
Project Overview
A group of Industrial design and Business students from the Sprott School of Business teamed up to address problems the Maasai community in Longido, Tanzania face everyday.
My project addressed the problem surrounding the lack of safe play and recreation spaces for children of the community.
My Contributions
In depth research of the issues surrounding children, social constructs, play, etc. Along with the responsibilities of completing my personal project I was also working with 2 other students to complete a secondary initiative to design and engineer a rope making machine for the community and the NGO: TEMBO.
Process: Primary/ secondary research, Prototyping, Ethnographic research, observation, User testing, model making
From first hand experience visiting the Maasai village in Longido, recreational activities and equipment for children is extremely limited. Children love to play sports such as soccer, basketball and volleyball however there are many barriers to sports and as a result kids were often found wandering streets or playing with scrap metal on the side of roads. A playground was installed at the local learning institute called Learning in Longido (LIL) years ago but was made entirely from wood which degraded quickly by roaches and environmental elements.
Designing for Longido requires careful consideration of manufacturing limitations. For this reason, it is critical for the design solution to be manufactured simply, using common methods. This consideration must also extend to cost effectiveness as well as long term durability.
Designing for children required safe ergonomic thinking. My design intention was to target children of older ages to challenge and build their physical motor skills.
Project Identification
Because I was designing for a different culture, I had to do research to ensure that my design intentions were culturally appropriate and suited the needs of the local people. I conducted secondary research in the form of literature reviews, as well as doing primary research through expert interviews and focus groups with locals. I also worked with classmates to summarize our findings in a mindmap. I identified the lack of safe play spaces as where I wanted to focus my design solutions.
Design Direction
I wanted to replicate the same motor skills learned from playing sports within my design of a play-structure. To achieve this, I chose to combine swinging rings and a horizontal climbing net. These versatile activities provide a physical challenge while maintaining room for creative deviance for the user.
The above graphic compares skills which individual sports build vs skills a singular play structure can potentially offer.
Ideation
My ideation began with simple activities and rudimentary play methods. I focused on combining simple play practices. As my exploration converged I began to simplify the design taking into account factors such as durability, construction and cost.
Research and Testing in Longido
Testing included presenting design ideas to the Maasai community elders, touring the village and examining built structures to understand general manufacturing capabilities. We also facilitated a research workshop with the children to better understand their desires.
Prototyping
In the prototyping phase I strived to prove my concepts. This included net tying and installation, ring and rope securement, durable structural joints. The challenge was finding these durable solutions using low cost easily accessible methods such as welding.
Final Design Assembly and Construction
Below shows the final play structure featuring a horizontal climbing net and swinging rings. Components designed with ease of assembly in mind.
Design Solutions
Final Design
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