Toystore Affinity

Free instructions and downloadable materials

This activity is offered free of charge for your use in educational settings or World Usability Day events.

On this page: Activity Summary | Learning Goals | Preparation | Setup | Moderating

Activity Summary

Description:

This is an affinity diagramming activity, geared toward older kids, and asks kids to help design a website for an online toystore. Participants write down suggestions for toys to carry on sticky notes/notecards, then they are asked to group those cards logically into categories. The categories will be the basis for the website navigation. After the categories are listed, a moderator will label boxes with the category names, and place the sticky notes inside. Other participants will be asked which boxes to "click" to find the toys on the list and the moderators can discuss how the organization scheme can make the "website" easy (or difficult) to use.

Activity type:

Table-based activity

Good for:

Individuals or groups of persons 8 years old or greater

Requires:

10 shoe boxes, adhesive labels, colored markers, large sticky notes, a tri-fold poster with an overview of the activity, 3 foamboards, and tape.

Minimum activity time:

5 minutes

Docents/Moderators:

One or two

Equipment:

• A table to lay out the boxes, display the tri-fold, and tape the foamboards to (hanging off the front.)

Signage:

• Download the Activity Signage (485K PDF)

Learning goals

This activity helps participants to think about navigational structure and its importance in creating an ecommerce site. Understanding how a logical layout can lead to a positive user experience, and how poor design leads to confusion and frustration with the site.

Activity Preparation

1. Cover shoe boxes to hide shoe brands, make them uniform.

Activity Setup

1. Set up table by laying out 10 boxes and trifold.
2. Tape foamboard to display lists of toys to hang off the front of the table.
3. Layout materials to hand out, including sticky notes and markers.

Activity Moderation

Group participation

1. The moderator asks participants to list 20 toys on 20 index cards.
2. The moderator asks participants to put the toys in groups, then give category names to each group.
3. The moderator labels the boxes with the category names and places the index cards inside, then writes all 20 toys on a master list on a board visible to all.
4. The moderator asks new participants to identify which category they think each item from the list is in, and let's kids check to see if they are right by opening the boxes.
5. Repeat 1-5 w/ other passing groups.
6. The moderator may suggest ambiguous categories to point out ways that sites can be difficult to navigate (ie Electronics and Games could both house a handheld video game) and compare the results from each round.

Found a Better Way? Question? Comment?

If you have a variant, enhancement, or comment on this activity, send an email to: volunteer@upaboston.org.