Chanua
A serious board game to engage young girls of a low-resource setting in Kenya in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education.
Master's thesis project (individual)
10/2022 to 03/2023
Immersion in the local context of Lamu island to understand the socio-cultural norms, beliefs and lifestyle.
Field research
1.
school visits and observations in class
context mapping with generative exercises
low-fidelity prototype testing
Co-creation
2.
Collaborative and iterative design iterations with the users and stakeholders.
with the girls to ensure desirability and suitability
with the teachers and Red Cross makers to create ownership
The board game is designed to use local resources: expertise and machinery from the Red Cross maker space, and materials found nearby.
Local manufacturing
3.
CHANUA is a Kiswahili word which, directly translated means “enlighten”. It implies elevating someone’s mental state to become curious about a certain topic.
Often associated to technological advancements, that someone goes through a learning journey at the end of which they will master the related knowledge and skills.
CHANUA is a fun game that engages young girls of the Lamu Island in STEM education. It mirrors real-life situations on the island and encourages critical thinking and scientific curiosity. The game promotes teamwork, builds knowledge and confidence, and sparks important discussions about girls in STEM.
The final user test conducted with girls from a local school allowed to evaluate and confirm the feasibility of making the game with local resources, desirability by all stakeholders and viability of the design intervention on the long-run. Furthermore, the exposition to the game contributes to enhancing female community resilience.
Personal reflection
learn to conduct research-through-design
design with and for children from a different culture
conduct a multi-stakeholders project
dive into game design and create my own method
