Prototyping Journey

Our Process 

Leading up to the building of our current prototype has been quite the journey. As depicted from our visualization above, we hit various roadblocks that changed our human-centered design concept - more than once! At the beginning of this project, we came to the idea that in order to address the problem, we had to actually find the problem. Our team first developed a basic survey focused on the performing arts that was sent out in hopes of receiving some insight from other students, friends, and family. We received 54 responses over the course of 6 days which created a rich and stimulating starting point to launch the scope of our project research. The questions within the survey asked about participation within the performing arts, what’s considered performing arts, and specifically what prevents the respondent from attending these kinds of events. The different reasons we came across from the results were: cost, no time, no one to go with, and location. 

With our initial survey data combined with each of our own experiences with the performing arts, we decided that we had only skimmed the surface of understanding the performing arts cluster in Calgary. We learned that this art form includes much more than originally expected, such as non-traditional performance arts including drag shows, attending an elementary school play, and even busking.

Our next step was meeting with coaches, subject-matter experts, and people within the local creative economy. From these, we came to the conclusion that the performing arts are segregated into silos and Calgarians are prone to being risk-averse - stepping outside of silos to experience diverse art forms. Along with our research, we came across certain stigmas that deemed the local arts “costly” and “inaccessible”. There was also the repeated “I didn’t hear about it” that individuals felt as though there wasn’t enough awareness about local events going on. The truth is that there are a multitude of local performing art events, and that many Calgarians are getting involved.  

After making several prototypes, testing, receiving feedback, redesigning, and retesting, we now have come to our current design. We have incorporated elements to inform participants of what's happening in the city and where. As well, we have included a price comparison between performance arts and other activities in Calgary to break down perceptions of performance arts as being too expensive.