PLAYING IN THE PARK: OBSERVATION AND CO-DESIGN METHODS APPROPRIATE TO CREATING LOCATION BASED GAMES FOR CHILDREN

A series of co-design activities were carried out in response to a ‘real world design problem’ initiated by the Sussex Wildlife Trust. Investigations were focussed on how technological interventions could encourage outdoor play for older children (aged 8-12) who were less inclined to attend holiday clubs in the countryside than younger children. Studies have shown that spending time outdoors during formative years will encourage visits during adulthood and promote environmental awareness. The focus for the work was on developing participatory techniques for this age group that improve communication with adult partners and encourage creative thinking. In particular the use of character and story design activities facilitated open discussions about their preferences and opinions and avoided the constraints of a real design problem. Methods for this age group were adapted for the ‘Say’, ‘Do’, ‘Make’ method of triangulating data (Sanders, 2001). The children helped to co-create a series of Location Based Games that provided a useful design template for further development of the concept.