Alëna : Balanza Verde Testing

Phase 3 has brought about many changes in my project, the most crucial one of which is switching to a different target audience for the proposed recycling unit. Although, most of the relevant research has been outlined in my Phase 2 report, further research had to be conducted on the interests and lifestyles of elementary students in Lota.

As briefly described in my last post, one of the most touching experiences I’ve had in Lota was a visit to Escuela Adventista. Speaking with the children about their future, listening to one of the girls play violin, and laughing with them has influenced me greatly. The interviews with the children of Lota indicate that they are concerned with the lack of waste management in the city. This includes improper disposal of waste on the streets of Lota, lack of community engagement in the cleanup process, and aggravation of the problem after the February earthquake. Children feel powerless and lack information or incentive on proper disposal of waste. Since children will ultimately be the decision makers for the community, teaching personal responsibility for solid waste early on can only benefit Lota in later years.

Thus, I have decided to invest my time in waste management education program within schools of Lota that teaches about waste reduction, re-use, and recycling strategies, while engaging the students in the process. The project will address a waste management device for schools of Lota to encourage and educate children about benefits of recycling system.



As a result of my shift in focus, the purpose of the device, its aesthetics, and additional functions have been rethought in a more playful way to encourage children to engage with in the process. The user testing will be conducted on the premises of York Street Public School, with the permission of the parents and the principal. The issues to be addressed are:

• Unit form and its dimensions. This will be tested through a game, in which two teams run to different containers and place respective recyclable/non-recyclable items in them.

• Anticipated mistreatment of the unit. Obviously, it’s a school environment - a child’s creative mind can think of million ways to misuse an introduced artifact.

• Determining the fun and educational factor. A swap-box, in which children can place their newly created recycled art for an exchange of another hand-made masterpiece, is one of the key elements of the unit. Ideally, the model will be left at school over several days after other experiments have been conducted and children are familiar with the idea of a swap-box and its function.

• Maintaining the unit. This test will be conducted during the design charrette in Toronto with my fellow students from IwB and DuocUC. The main purpose of this study is to determine how an adult might clean the unit and refill it with clean bags.

• Understanding the meaning of instructions, labels, and general purpose of the unit. This test will be done with both my fellow students and the children of York Street School. I hope to conduct unstructured interviews with students by placing different labels on the unit and asking them what they want to do when they see this label/colour/picture.

I have built a life-sized model out of cardboard, which I can use in some of the testing. The other three tests will need to be conducted with a wooden model for a sturdier effect. I hope to gain many insights by the end of February.