GSK
The GlaxoSmithKline team exhibited enthusiasm and great team spirit on their “home court.” After hearing the problem description, the team divided into user researchers and designers, with two members interviewing members of the audience while two began design. GSK was also the only team to bring an audience member into the end of the process for evaluation.
Their final design was focused on simplicity and addressing the problem of motivation—how to get children to pick up after themselves. The proposed storage was designed to be child-friendly, and to make a fun sound when an item was dropped into it. The limitation of this design was that it didn’t solve the entire problem—in particular, it didn’t address the organization and retrieval needs of parents, or the specific characteristics of computer games and books.
IBM
The IBM team was well-organized and communicated effectively, with dry humor and good use of the whiteboard. They took a “blue sky” approach to the design brief, arguing that all content will soon be available digitally. Based on this assumption, they designed a set-top device that could provide unified access to this digital living room. The drawback of this approach is that it might be very difficult to create an interface for 3 – 5 year-old children.
N.C. State
The N. C. State team came out strong with good teamwork, and managed their time effectively. The team solicited design ideas from parents in the audience, and focused on organization of physical materials. They developed a combination of color-coded shelves and wheeled organizing bin. This design was both practical and realistic. Its major limitation is that it does not address the need to organize and retrieve materials based on specific characteristics, such as title or author.
UNC
The UNC team also came out with a strong focus on teamwork and audience interaction, with two team members interviewing audience members while two others clarified assumptions. Similar to IBM, the UNC team pushed the limits of living-room technology. Their design integrated a personal library kiosk (with a touch-screen interface) into shelving. The shelves supported both adults (high height, lockable cabinets) and children (low height, open shelves and bins). The limitations of this approach included cost and implementation, and the usability of the kiosk for children.
The audience speaks…
Here are the results of the audience voting:
1st 2nd 3rd 4th
GSK 48% 16% 16% 20%
IBM 0% 32% 20% 48%
UNC 20% 16% 44% 20%
NC State 32% 36% 16% 16%
Triangle User Experience 