Our offering

Some different kinds of materials i had looked at and sourced from different locations some from family and my own home. Tried to think about different patterns and also different feeling fabrics.

Our Offering Presentation to the Class

Our Third Coffee Meeting

We all met up for coffee at Enigma and discussed what our user experience would look like, what our preferred structural system for the market would look like, what roles we would need, and what the pros and cons were. We then created a visualisation for the class so that we could easily present our ideas and they could be understood. 

~ Cushla

Reading summaries

Group Study - New York Times Magazine - The Work issue

Summary/ Main bullet points

This reading focused on researching what makes a good/ successful group and what makes a bad/unsuccessful group, and looking into the traits and habits of each group and how certain personalities worked together, and it wasn't necessarily the smartest people that made the best groups.

Positive

• Studies show that groups tend to innovate faster, find mistakes more quickly, find better solutions to problems.
• Studies also show that people working in groups tend to achieve better results and report higher job satisfaction.
• Two behaviours that all good teams generally shared include, members speaking in roughly the same proportion ( equality in distribution of conversational turn-taking)
• The good teams also had a high social sensitivity, skilled at intuiting how others felt based on their tone of voice, their expressions and other nonverbal cues.
• refer to traits such as conversational turn taking and average social sensitivity as aspects of whats known as physiological safety.
• enthusiasm for one another ideas joking around and having fun - allowed everyone to have fun and feel relaxed and energized.

Negatives

• Always feeling like you have to prove yourself, team dynamics putting her on edge.
• when she talked to her members of her group their responses were friendly and warm, when they gathered as a team things became fraught
• If only one person in a group spoke or a small group of people spoke it lowered the collective intelligence.
• people in ineffective teams had less social sensitivity towards their colleagues.

Affective labor - Michael Hardt

Summary/ main points

• The primary point of this essay is to put into context the changing role of affective labour in the capitalist economy.
• The processes of economic post - modernization that have been in course for the past twenty - five years have positioned affective labour in a role that is not only directly but at the direct pinnacle of the hierarchy of labouring forms.
• Affective labor is immaterial labor.
• Shift towards services is most recognizable in the dominant capitalist countries.

Immaterial Labour

• The passage toward an informational economy involves necessarily a change in the quality of labour and the nature of the labouring processes.
• The primary structural change between these models involves the system of communication between the production and consumption of commodities, that is the passage of information between factory and market.
• Factories will maintain zero stock and commodities will be produced just in time, according to present demand of the existing markets.
• Most services indeed are based on the continual exchange of information and knowledges - results in no material and durable good.
• Symbolic - analytical services - tasks that involve problem solving, problem identifying and strategic brokering activities.
• Manufacturing is material labour of the production of durable goods, immaterial labour of analytic and symbolic tasks, which itself breaks down into creative intelligent manipulation, on one hand, and routine and symbolic tasks, on the other.
• The production and manipulation of affects and requires (virtual or actual) human contact and proximity.

Biopower

• Biopower is the power of the creation of life, it is the production of collective subjectivities, sociality, and society itself.

Experience Prototyping 

Summary/ main bullet points

This reading talks about 'Experience Prototyping' as a form of prototyping that enables everyone to gain a first hand at existing or future conditions / experiences through active engagement, asking questions like what is prototyping, and looking into the practice or experience prototyping.

Introduction

• We find ourselves stretching limits of prototyping tools to explore and communicate what it will be like to interact with the things we design.
• 'Prototypes' are representations of a design made before the final item exists - this informs both the design process and design decisions.

What is experience prototyping?

• The concrete sensory experience of using an item - what the user looks at, feels, hears when they use the item.
• We can say an experience prototype is any kind of representation. In any medium that is designed to understand. explore or communicate what it might be like to engage with the product, space or system we are designing. 

Why is experience important? Why now?

• We find ourselves more often designing complex and dynamic interactions with converging hardware and software, spaces and services.
• The tools we use to design - e.g. prototypes, influence the way we think.

Experience prototyping in practice

• Three different activities in the process where experience prototyping is valuable - Understanding existing user experience and context - Exploring and evaluating design ideas - communicating ideas to an audience.

Understanding uses experience 

• Experience prototyping is applied here to demonstrate context and identify issues and opportunities in the design.
• Questions to ask at this stage include, what are the contextual, physical, temporal, sensory, social and cognitive factors need to be considered as you design, What is the essence of the existing user experience? What are essential factors that should be preserved?

The patient experience

• Builds upon peoples own imaginations and the use of other proxy devices to recreate essential elements in a personal experience.

The ROV pilot experience

• Use a proxy device to provide the team with specific insight into an experience that was not readily available to them.

The role playing a train journey experience

• informative and fun for a designer to find out what experiences would be like in a particular context through dramatic improvisation.

Exploring and evaluating design ideas

• The main purpose is facilitating the exploration of possible solutions and directing the design team towards a more informed development of user experience and the tangible components which create it.
• Through experience prototypes of these items and their interactive behaviour we are able to evaluate a variety of ideas.
• early stages - multiple design directions need to be explored, efficiently prototyped and compared.
• A tactile immersive - represented by a palm sized pebble 
• a shared experience - where the control functions can be split by two hands or two players
• a full body physical experience - represented by surface of skateboard

Children's picture communicator

• A true exprinace prototype for users - providing a really relevant experaince - seems to require a level of resoultion and functionality such that it can be let loose into an everyday context and more fully intergrated into peoples lives

communicating ideas

• Understand the subjective value of a design by directly experiencing it - Usually done with the intention of persuading the audience. 

Create and Reflect - testing service concepts with small scale prototypes

Desktop Walkthrough

What is it?

A small scale 3D model of a service environment. Employing simple props like lego figures lets designers bring a situation to life, acting out common scenarios and helping develop prototypes.

How is it made?

Kept fairly simple, insights into the service environment. Simple lego buildings with labels

Why is it used?

Allow and iterative analysis of situations depicted. New ideas and refinements constantly being introduced to the simulation. Walkthrough models provide a common language, various people can assess and co-develop a prototype, or analyse and restructure a problematic touch point.

Service Prototypes 

What is it?

Simulation service experience. Informal role play style conversations . Detailed full scale recreations.

How is it made?

Usually some form of mock up of the service system will be created. The prototype will generally be developed iteratively, with suggestions and refinements being constantly incorporated. 

Why is it used?

Far deeper understanding of a service than is possible with written of visual depictions. - learning by doing -, focus on user experiance. Help iterate design solutions as they can quickly incorporate and test ideas and refinements they may provoke.

Our offering and what we are going to need

One sentence summarising. 

A collectively made quilt for charity, 

What kind of space, will you need? (how much , sunny, dark?)

We will most likely need some space that has a lot of light, more natural light

Facilities?

We will need at least 2 - 4 power plugs, we will need the use of some light, chairs, tables.

Sound spill?

We are going to have to look into how much noise the sewing machines are going to make

Charity

So after a lot of investigation into different charities and ringing around and finding out what their needs are, we have decided to donate the finished quilt to Wellington Hospital Children's ward.
After talking to the person in charge on hospital donations they did mention that their preference for the quilt to be as close to a single size bed as possible.

And we have also contacted them about any imagery we can use, and they have allowed us to use the imagery off of their website.

Reading Summaries

Learning to Exchange Time: Benefits and Obstacles of Time Banking - Ozanne, L.

Summary - 

This reading interprets the findings of a study done about the first Time Bank in New Zealand. This study differs from most other studies done around Time Banks, as most have studied socially excluded or low income groups of people, where as this time bank was in a relatively affluent community. 

Benefits of Time Banking:

- An alternative to money, which is often based around ulterior motives

- Believes that everyones labour is equal in value

- Believes that everyone has something of value to give. Makes people feel of use.

- Redefines work as based around people helping each other 

- Builds trust and the idea of reciprocity

- Makes people feel like they belong to a community 

- Encourages respect

- Makes people realise that their help is of value

- Creates a sustainable community 

- Creates a sense of security in the community because of connections and trust

- People feel like they can ask for help

- People who would normally be on the outside are now included, creating a stronger community

Obstacles of Time Banking:

- People often find it difficult asking for help. The system only works if people ask for help as well as offer it

- People find it hard to understand that they can go into 'debt' because of the idea of reciprocity and the promise to do something for another

- People find it difficult to offer their skills and they don't believe their own skills are of value

These obstacles can be overcome by working to change peoples frame of mind around trade and labour.


Diverse Economies: Performative Practices for 'Other Worlds' - Gibson-Graham, J. K.

Summary -
This reading suggests ways in which academic practices might change to make new or marginalised economic alternatives more credible and make way for new economic worlds.

The main three ways this reading suggests we could change our attitude are by:

- Being performative
In order to change the world, we must change our understandings. Our current understandings around capitalism are designed to reinforce it's power. If we re-orient our understandings from marginalising alternative economic systems to attempting to make them more real, there becomes possibility for change.

- Having an ethical understanding
By rejecting the assumption that capitalism underlies everything, we can take all the alternatives to capitalism that exist more seriously. Once we realise that our economic system is in fact varied and has multiple identities, we have a more politically enabling understanding. We need to be explorative of new ideas, rather than trying to explain their boundaries, therefore destabilising the discourse of capitalism. This requires a bringing together of ideas, diversity, complex dynamics, and the recognition of difference and possibilities.

- Having an experimental, rather than critical approach to research
Rather than constantly looking for limitations and faults in the logistics of new economies, which always lead back to the dominance of capitalism, we could adopt a new approach to theory. One which is open to surprise and co-existence. We need to be more interested in learning rather than judging.


Towards Better Group Work: Seeing the Difference Between Cooperation and Collaboration - Kozar, O.

This reading explains the differences between cooperation and collaboration. The differences explained are:

- Collaboration works towards a common goal, rather than shared goals
- Collaboration respects each individuals offering and contribution
- Collaboration requires mutual engagement, rather than a splitting of tasks
- Collaboration requires direct interaction throughout the process
- Collaboration requires an understanding of multiple perspectives
- Collaboration requires equal input of work, ideas, perspectives and talents

This is very relevant to how our team will work in collaboration. We need to be constantly meeting up and discussing our ideas, so that we are always in communication and understanding of each other. We also need to realise each others talents and what each member can bring to the group so that we can end up creating something that we would not be able to create on our own.

- Cushla 

Brainstorming What Our Stall Will Look Like

We have been discussing what kind of environment we would like to create, whether we will be around a table or on the floor. We will continue to think about what the participants would prefer, which option would be the most comfortable, and which would be the most social and enjoyable.

Looking at possible materials to use for our idea

Vegetable Prints
Glitter Glue
Fabric Pens
Sponge Prints
Sewing/ needle and thread / buttons
String
Ribbon
Felt
Stamps
Ink
Scrap fabric pieces
Fabric flowers / shapes

Class brainstorming

Lecturer feedback and points to think about

Think about how we can sustain it - using Facebook, snapchat ect, building hype somehow.

Create patches and leave them around uni promoting our stall at the market,

asking people weather they like our idea or not and weather they would get involved and how we could make it better and what would make them get involved.

Using the fabric patches we already have to hopefully create an excitement and curiosity for our stall and a want to come and try out our idea.

Use photos of the organisation that is receiving the gesture to promote feel good feelings.

have visual product there already started to be created so that people can see what they do and what happens to the patch they create. 

Possible things to use.

Fabric pens

Glitter glue?

Fabric off cuts

Sourcing materials.

Ask other people and peers if they have any snaps that can’t be used. 

Ring around for a bulk amount of fabric offcuts.

Offering

Who for?

Audience is the key, students at Massey are the audience -  we will need to further discuss our idea with more students who are in the other markets and also students who aren't in the paper if they will get into out quilting for charity idea.

Also for the children at the hospital who we are donating the final quilt to be used.

What exchange?

----------------------

What is your exchange?

the audiences labour is gifted to someone who needs to and the audience receives a positive feeling for doing a good deed, we are the facilitators of the idea, for the audiences.

What is your Budget? 

Our budget is about $25 each ( $100 for everything) are there things we can beg, borrow or repurpose.

The space - What do you need?

Potentially the use of a table and stools, preferably somewhere that is open and has a nice amount of light like by the windows, possibly the need to accommodate for a large group of people.

When - time management/ Planning?

Going by weekly schedules and who’s available to do an amount of work or not and help others with their portion of the work when it’s needed and expect the same in return to help balance the workload between each other.

Why? content/ Philosophy?

• look at readings as a starting point - Hartd

Charity research

After thinking of our idea to make the quilt i began looking into charities that would take donations in the form of a quilt over money, also looking into charities that are underfunded by the government and need that little but extra to help.

The charities and places to donate to iv'e narrowed down to

• Ronald McDonald house.
• Womens Refuge.
• Children's wing at Wellington Hospital.
• Starship Hospital.
• Sending to an orphanage overseas - E.g. Cambodia.
• Red Cross Refugee Centre.
• Homeless Shelter.
• Child Cancer Foundation.
• Te O Managa Hospice.
• Canteen - Cancer Kids.

http://www.projectlinus.org/about/

This was another project that makes all of these beautifully coloured quilts and sends them to children who are suffering from illness, trauma and devastating loss. (some of what they do for kids is shown below)

Artist Models

Artist Models for Charity Quilting Idea

Quilts for Kids

Quilts for Kids

Quilts for Kids is a Charity founded in 2000 which creates handmade quilts for underprivileged or ill children. 

Their mission statement:

"Quilts for Kids, Inc. transforms discontinued, unwanted and other fabrics into quilts that comfort children with life-threatening illnesses, as well as children of abuse."

They've saved millions of pounds of fabric from landfill and turned them into beautiful blankets for children all over the world. They support over 280 hospitals and Women's Refuges and had provided over 200,000 quilts in 2014.

http://www.quiltsforkids.org

With Heart and Hand

With Heart and Hand

With Heart and Hand was founded in 2006 by Michele Bilyeu and is a blog dedicated to creating 'fidget' or 'fiddle' blankets for people with Alzheimers. Michele was one of 200 who created 200 quilts in just two days for victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 - and decided to carry on her charitable work through craft.

With Heart and Hand offers quilting patterns, sources and advice on how to create a 'fidget' blanket, and once completed, Michele sends them away to those who need them. 

Michele is also well known for her creation and distribution of Prayer Flags, also featured on her blog.

http://www.with-heart-and-hands.com

Dress A Girl Around The World

Dress a Girl Around the World

Dress a Girl Around the World is a campaign under Hope 4 Women International, whose aim is for every girl in the world to own at least one dress. Dress a Girl Around the World is a Christian Charity who believes in the dignity and empowerment of women, and want every girl to feel she is worthy and respected. 

Dress a Girl Around the World was founded in 2006 and have delivered over 300,000 dresses to over 81 countries. Their website has sewing tutorials for the dresses, as well as extra's like finishing and decorating, where people can learn and sew these dresses for girls worldwide.

http://www.dressagirlaroundtheworld.com

 

 

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Idea Generation

We had our second coffee meeting today! 

(Sarah, Cushla and Georgia in Attendance)

We firstly discussed how we had, and could, be sourcing idea's for our contribution to the market. I (Sarah) talked about how I had discussed with my flatmates, of which there are 7 and none do the paper, how the market was proposed to work and what they thought would be successful in such a space.

They gave us a few ideas about what they would be interested in, however the most important points were that it needed to be interactive and hands-on (so that the audience could actually get involved) and that it had to produce something.

We also considered talking to friends, flatmates and asking other groups (perhaps from the two other markets) about what they thought Immaterial Labours could be - but we all agreed doing online surveys such as on Facebook doesn't really work and to avoid using those tactics.

We briefly touched on what our strengths were and what we could bring to the table in terms of organising and facilitating our actual contribution to the market. Cushla said she was best at researching and preparing for the market, while both Georgia and I agreed we were better at organising and orchestrating the market itself.

We then started brainstorming and bouncing around some ideas;

• We firstly discussed our previous ideas and which ones suited the physical requirement - specifically looking at the oversized games, temporary tattoo and painted mural ideas.

• Then we looked at how we could make them produce something, and maybe not just for the audience but for us or a wider stakeholder.

• Discussed how we could create a stall that "brightened someone's day" - perhaps as our purpose.

• Discussed how our painted mural could be given to charity e.g Cancer or Kids Wing at the hospital.

• Instead of doing a painted Mural, which we all agreed would be time consuming and messy, and we'd have to find somewhere for it to dry, we started talking about creating a community quilt in which each participant decorates, or writes on a quilt patch (square of fabric) and then we sew it together to create a quilt and give it to a charity or worthy cause.

The quilt idea seemed to stick, as having the audience participate in something that goes further than the University is an act of kindness (our currency) in which the labour of the Quilt is done by the marketplace audience, however in return they get to do something physical and creative and feel good about themselves as well.

Following will be some research into similar artist models and also quilting ideas that inspire our ideas.

Organisation Structure

This is a way we think would work well for the organisation of our market as it does not put too much pressure on any one team. We also think that there should be a Facebook group for the entire market so that is is easy to communicate between groups. 

What we Can Bring to the Team

Sarah 

Major - Fashion

Skills
- Researching
- Presentation
- Organisation

Cushla

Major - VCD

Skills
- Communication
- Time Management
- Documenting Process

Sheldon

Major - Industrial

Skills
- Research
- Facilitating
- Craft

Georgia

Major - VCD

Skills
- Communication
- Research
- Planning

Week 3 How will our market work?

-Sheldon

Systems of Exchange

There was a general consensus between all groups in our market that the system of exchange of our market would either be an experience or a service, rather than a usual currency. 

-Sheldon-