While working with @mathew on cutting out some new spectrometer prototypes, an interesting question came up:
What kind of design strategies for DIY Kits are best for community engagement?
There seem to be at least two dimensions to this question:
How easy is it to 1) build your own tool form scratch; or 2) modify the tool?
Apparently, open source hardware designers think about this a lot, and now that I'm tuned into this question, I can see why. The first version of the Public Lab spectrometer was designed to be made out of cheap, readymade items like conduit boxes that are easily obtainable around the world. This can be referred to as a "found object" strategy, which can reduce barriers to getting started. The new version is designed to be cut out of paper, which is more complicated to replicate from the ground up but is arguably easy to modify/add to it with little bits of paper. This can be referred to as a "crafty" strategy".
Which of these two design strategies do you think is most engaging for you, "found object" or "crafty"?
Check out the examples below and answer in the comments!
Two notable hacks on found object conduit box spectrometer housings:
Chris Fastie's "Ebert", from http://publiclab.org/notes/cfastie/2-19-2013/ebert
Scott Eustis' long range flare spectrometer, related note http://publiclab.org/notes/eustatic/07-31-2013/can-we-kick-it-yes-we-can-flickering-flare-signal :
and the inside: http://publiclab.org/notes/eustatic/10-08-2013/modification-of-older-desktop-spectrometer-kit-for-flare-spectrometry
Two notable hacks made from crafty paper spectrometer housings:
Marc Dusseiller's Hackteria version, via Facebook:
Jeff Warren's Oil Testing Kit prototypes, see publiclab.org/wiki/oil-testing-kit
6 Comments
Hrm, I'm not sure if there is a "best" for community engagement as a general subject.
I think improvization might be key to the question of engagement.
If the community in question has a lot of folks who are comfortable and willing to improvize, that favors build from scratch. Communities with a lot of nearby scrap materials and storage for such (more likely in rural than urban environments) are probably also better equipped to build from scratch.
If the community is in tight urban quarters with little access to tools or storage space, or communities where the individuals tend to shy from improvization in favor of exact materials and methods (biological scientists like explicit M&Ms), then I think modifications of preexisting kits would be favored.
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Markdown I think that found object and crafty go together, or occupy much of the same space. If you can do one, the other is required to some extent. This is verses off the shelf turnkey products. I just found this site and plan to use it with gusto. Thanks for all who have made this site what it is and for the incredible amount of work that has gone into it.
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