ReflectTok
Building on my experience in education and goal to combine Industrial Design with Science Education, this project aimed to enhance media literacy among students aged 12 to 16 by fostering critical use of TikTok.
ReflectTok is an educational tool combining a physical tool and application, in which students engage in ‘Visualize your Bubble’ and “Challenge the Algorithm’ to reflect on their TikTok feed and understand the algorithm. This social constructivist approach helps students enhance their set of knowledge, skills and mentality needed for critical TikTok use.
Through this project, I learned to apply empirical supported user-centered design techniques and self-developed co-design workshops (U&S, C&A), and prototyping techniques like laser cutting and 3D modelling (T&R). Despite positive feedback from the educational field, the project overemphasized educational aspects at the expense of the design, leading to a redo of the project.
Reflecting on this, I recognized the need for greater flexibility and confidence in my design approach (D&RP), focusing on choosing appropriate research and design activities, making decisive design choices, and validating through user testing. This experience helped to address my weaknesses and refine my approach to creating impactful educational designs.
