What's your opinion on spending $50 on your kids education?

Projects Discussion and Showcase Education and Teaching
29

@liudr

I think your reaction to fkeel might be a bit too fast, let me explain. I see two things: the message and the form of the message. The form is what "triggered" you, without paying enough attention to his message. The form is just the carrier of the message and I have learned (as requirements engineer) to look through that. It is the difference between HOW people say WHAT they mean. So lets just focus on the message.

The message of fkeel is : "listen to the people you want to reach by looking at their context". Similar statements are made earlier in this thread an it means that (other recent post) if you want to reach girls in the age 12-15 you must understand about what in their context/mindset is important. Think everyone will agree on that as it is basic marketing - excuses for using the M word on a tech forum :wink:

The discussion should focus on how to reach them (boys and girls). The answer comes also from marketing (did it again :wink: and the word is seduction. The (not allways educative) power of commercials. If you can get a "I want that too" feeling, people go far to reach their goal. Seduction is about showing end-results, called products, and their benefits. A technique I often used to gather requirements was the persona. - read the book: The Inmates Are Running the Asylum, Alan Cooper -. Basically you describe a fictive customer in as much detail as possible and that person is the archetype for your whole customergroup. We often used 2-6 in projects, archetype per role.

A minimal persona: archetype Girl, 13 year - Linda, has one older brother Jason (bully), and a younger sister Kate (who wants to borrow her ..everything), live in a suburb, she does horseriding, is interested in makeup and clothing, wants a blackberry like her mother has, and an Ipad!. She is sloppy, forgets things and appointments ("You see, I really need that blackberry and all girls in class have one, please daddy?") Likes to shop for clothing, worries are about puberty and the first kiss she wants from justin Beeber, she listens to his music all day, goes to movies with schoolfriends, with whom she socializes a lot, tell them her secrets, write her secret secrets in her diary, she like pizza pepperoni, and dino's, she hate to do the dishes, likes drawing, etc ... [Got a picture?]

How can we seduce Linda for technique? What would she like to have to make her live happier?

Ok from the persona profile I can think of the following product concepts (that might include Arduino tech)

  • A detection system that shows that her sister Kate was in her room. Actually it shows if anyone was in her room. Better if someone is now in my room !
  • RFID tags in make-up to end discussion about "that is my lipstick Kate",
  • A detection system that warns when Jason is around,
  • A handbag she will never forget,
  • A something thingy to share secret messages with her friends,
  • A diary that only she can open ("Mom, that stupid Kate got my diary!!!")
  • ...
    (think you allready have ideas how to make these)

So with the help of the persona, we quickly identified six possible products that might seduce all 12-15 year old girls. They can buy it (10 minutes of fun in the mall) or you can make it yourself (hours of fun) and mind you, all those secret devices you buy in the Mall have the same password!!, they aren't secret at all!

By building these products and show them - they should look good, we're talking girls here - you might attract them into some tech.

I hope this does help your quest a bit ,

regards,
Rob