ACE

Overview 🔎

Set the stage for your work, and provide some key details about this project. Introduce collaborators, and provide any context that will be helpful to keep in mind (ex. brand, company, or project owners).

The project of a lifetime where the creation of impact through words and connection led to success for my students in Cape Town, South Africa. I was given this opportunity at Dance For All (DFA), a dance school that focuses on the personal growth of their students in addition to dance.

It all started with a big question namely. "How can we use multimedia and storytelling to enhance children's personal development and help them create a new perspective for their future."


During my time in Cape Town at DFA, it was up to me to arrive at a meaningful solution and product based on the main question using the four phases based on the double diamond of design principles, namely the analysis phase, design phase, realization phase and evaluation.

To wit, it is essential for the children to be seen and heard. With and because of the children, we have developed a real life product called ACE which contains a lesson plan that meets their needs and provides a good foundation toward the future and allows them to continually develop. 
A reflective journal to write their feelings down and reflect on what they learned what will track their growth. Lastly we created a podcast with them which is called "Dance With Destiny" so that their voices could be heard. Since they have so much to share and most importantly to say.



Research has shown that students are tremendously searching for themselves, their own voice, place and purpose in life which makes them want to work for something with motivation but they don't quite know how. Because of the limited resources but also the limits they have placed on themselves, there is stagnation or total stagnation in their growth. Partly they are aware of who they are but on the other hand they hardly dare to dig deeper into their potential. This is caused by several factors in which self-confidence, shame, expressing emotions and safety and understanding their feelings play a major role. What they crave is a model or tool. It should be central to their lives but not take over their lives. They have multiple needs so there is hope to meet all those needs with different products that can complement them. In conclusion, it is important that:

- There is an overarching tool with different side products that can generate growth in an orderly manner.

- The tool both provides theory about growth and personal development and is also immediately applicable in practice.

- There is a tool in which they can reflect their knowledge and write down their emotions in order to understand them better.

-The tool provides the opportunity to bring out the reflection they have gained and make their voice heard to help others.





“What is required to move in the direction that I most want to go? To be that powerful and feel worthy, use my strength and find ‘it’ along the way. I am strong enough to make a move and will welcome the outcome when it presents itself to me.”





Problem & Solution 🤝

Problem

There were several issues but the most important was how can we work together to generate growth through storytelling and multimedia so that they can have a better life.

It has been shown in my research that the earlier we help children/students develop resilience, vulnerability and ownership over their thoughts, actions and growth, the less likely they are to feel fearful or burdened by life later on. We can conclude that there is less chance that they will stagnate in whatever situation they find themselves in as adults. With well-designed (lesson) plans built around these principles, students can learn how to value themselves enough to invest time in doing things that don't come easily, so they get better at what matters most: improving themselves.



Goals/Requirements: • To give the students of DFA a platform and firm foundation that allows them to consistently track their growth with these resources and work on their personal growth. Through the platform created for the students and by the students, we are shifting the focus of the organization to the children. This will hopefully make it more accessible for other children to join DFA and thus continue to grow impact within the community.

• Through the students' experiences and knowledge, the goal is to express their potential in order to chart their long-term goals. In the hope that they get to know themselves better, find out who they are themselves and grow into the persons and dreams they envision.

• To understand, embrace and transform their own story into the story they will write themselves. Aiming to create empathy what will lead to impact.



Process 🛣

Starting off, a situation sketch was made. Main questions were asked for the research which was divided into two parts; desk and field research. This was followed by 1-on-1 conversations with the students and then interviews where they could go into more depth about who they are and what is going on in their lives. Once a week, on Wednesdays there were classes taught by the designer, I said. In addition to those classes, the designer and the students did class co-creation. Lessons based on the literature review were conducted in practice. Lessons were based on the techniques, tools, knowledge concretely revealed in the sub-questions. Every two weeks we did the alternate co-creation lessons with the students to discover what they themselves would like to have in a lesson plan. These lessons asked what each person needs to provide growth for themselves. During those co-creation lessons, observations came up where empathy maps and personas were created. This allowed the designer to create a clear outline regarding the learners journey, another approach to the customer journey. From that, design requirements rolled out.

Through the design requirements, a clear concept emerged which became tested by the students themselves through low-fidelity, medium-fidelity and high fidelity. We tested the entire process, from the first lessons, looking at what worked and benefited, to assignments from the lessons that didn't really do much.

Then we reflected on their growth, what did the corresponding lesson do on their growth, mindset and is there an outcome. By giving them their own voice, we found out where their fears lay, what they needed and what motivated or unmotivated them. Moreover, the most important thing was to pitch the optimal lesson plan that would get the most results. Citing throughout the process the recurring problem statement and how we were able to formulate an answer together.Through formative testing, the concept also known as ACE became a real product.



Results 🎁

The main question of this project was;

"How can we use multimedia and storytelling to enhance children's personal development and help them create a new perspective for their future?"

Conclusion: The earlier we help children and students develop resilience, vulnerability, responsibility and ownership over their thoughts and actions, the less likely they will feel afraid or burdened later - the less likely they will stagnate as adults in whatever situation they find themselves in. With well-designed lesson plans built around these principles, students and children can learn how to value themselves enough to invest time in doing things that don't come easily, so they get better at what matters most: improving themselves.

I had the opportunity to work very intensively with the students in a unique situation. In which I tried, first of all,

• To create a role of safety and security;

The students and I laughed among ourselves about the fact that I took the role as fairy godmother quite seriously before I was a designer, coach and teacher. Because of the bond created with the students.

• I was in a unique position to find the right answer to the main question. To best provide the students with a meaningful solution.

ACE is the answer to that, it contributes to the growth of children through the diversity of the different products. Which are connected and ensure that through storytelling and multimedia, they not only grow in

• Their developments but also change their perception of the future.

With a lesson plan, they can work on their own and learn about personal development, goal setting and themselves. The assignments ensure that they encourage their personal development to get better and achieve their goals.

The journal provides that the lessons they have taken offer proper reflection that allows them to put everything out there and through this keep track of their own thoughts, feelings and growth. In this way, they learn to look at themselves better, understand themselves and a lot of self-expression comes into play.

As a result, they learn how to express their self-expression in the podcast. The podcast aims to express everything they learn in the lesson plan and reflect in the journal in the conversations they have with each other about fascinating topics and life.

My conclusion on the project and products have been happily validated given the students' reactions have been heartwarming. As a designer, I am delighted that the vision we envisioned together has become a reality. As a human being, I am most of all grateful that I was able to contribute to a new beginning for these students.



Roles Designer, Producer, Coach, Teacher, Writer, Podcast maker, Developer, Researcher



Takeaways of the project 📣

ACE is an all-encompassing product in which students can constantly continue to improve, learn about themselves and life, and continue to develop.

The lesson plan challenges students to get to the core of their being time and again through the assignments and theory. Where they learn more about themselves, their goals and their path to reach those goals and keep working on them motivated.

The journal allows for gratitude, visualization and an outlet in addition to the main goal; to reflect on the student in question and track growth. Thanks to the lessons and reflecting in the journal, students are positively triggered to express themselves through the podcast, representing and distinguishing themselves and their community.

For the future, it benefits as people or employers can listen to the podcast and get a picture of the person and dancer the student really is.

In conclusion, the strength of this project can be described in one sentence: it works, it creates growth and the students grow in their personal development - toward the ideal versions of themselves they desire to be.



Takeaways of myself 📣

In the four phases of the double diamond design principles, did each face provide me with a different lesson or what I might change in the future. Still, in the last phase, also called the deliver phase, I encountered myself the most as a human being, this was wholesome but also a burden at times.

With blood, sweat and tears I created ACE and learned a lot myself about personal development, growth and the person I am. I don't like to be pigeonholed and if you are 'ill' people look at you completely different. Which constantly makes me want to prove to myself that I can do it all. Through the conversations with the students, the assignments we did and the designing of the lesson plan itself, I found out that I don't have anything to prove to anyone.

For a very long time I was afraid of my own ability - because I couldn't compete in the way I wanted to. I was either too much or too little, and now I see that my capacity extends much further and I should be proud precisely for the mountains I want to shift and the world I want to change.

The work I have done in the past few months grips me and motivates me to continue to create social impact and difference. This is just the beginning, where every child is entitled to equal opportunities and a future they dream of.