We’ve been up to a lot since we returned from Cape Coast. We spent the rest of last week recording graphically all the information we had collected during the trip. Have a look at the Gallery section to see some of our work, not just from the last week but from the project so far.
We also finally got down to some designing! We decided to start at the small scale with the layout for the sewing teams, and scale up from there. There was a fun afternoon spent sketching out different ideas and working out how much space will be needed for a team of three people working together to make the garments. Then we moved on to making some models that the Mamas could use to show us their ideas for the layouts. Using simple cardboard shapes, we modeled the components needed for the sewing workstations, and also all the spaces needed on the site as a whole.
On Tuesday this week we took the models to Ashaiman, and continued our participatory design by asking focus groups of four women to arrange the components as they would like the real site laid out. We did the activity with four groups in total. The Mamas got really into it and were soon enthusiastically discussing different layouts. It was great to find out what they thought, and they came up with plenty of ideas we hadn’t considered!
The rest of this week has been spent analysing and testing the different layouts. I’ve been focusing on the sewing workspace and Kofi has been looking at the site plan. We’ve done some 3D modelling of different options, and now we can start designing the buildings in more detail.
Emily
We also finally got down to some designing! We decided to start at the small scale with the layout for the sewing teams, and scale up from there. There was a fun afternoon spent sketching out different ideas and working out how much space will be needed for a team of three people working together to make the garments. Then we moved on to making some models that the Mamas could use to show us their ideas for the layouts. Using simple cardboard shapes, we modeled the components needed for the sewing workstations, and also all the spaces needed on the site as a whole.
On Tuesday this week we took the models to Ashaiman, and continued our participatory design by asking focus groups of four women to arrange the components as they would like the real site laid out. We did the activity with four groups in total. The Mamas got really into it and were soon enthusiastically discussing different layouts. It was great to find out what they thought, and they came up with plenty of ideas we hadn’t considered!
The rest of this week has been spent analysing and testing the different layouts. I’ve been focusing on the sewing workspace and Kofi has been looking at the site plan. We’ve done some 3D modelling of different options, and now we can start designing the buildings in more detail.
Emily
