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A makerspace is an open community space in which people gather to create, invent, tinker, and explore ideas to bring to life. Makerspaces provide access to a wide variety of software, tools, and materials for building projects – for example, 3D printing, electronics and robotics, metal/woodworking, and more. People who use makerspaces are often called “makers.”
Partico is a mobile platform for members of the University of Washington makerspace communities.
The University of Washington hosts two makerspaces:
CoMotion Makerspace and Area 01 Dabble Lab.
Partico will empower makers of all skill levels to learn new skills and hone their existing ones. Through the access of educational resources and one-on-one help from makerspace staff and other makers, our application will encourage discovery, creativity, and community. While inspiring makers to explore new possibilities in the makerspace, Partico will provide makers the resources to access the equipment they desire, giving them the freedom to just create.
Project Overview
Background & Inspiration
Partico was created for HCDE 318, an undergraduate course in user-centered design at the University of Washington. The project took place over 10 weeks in Winter 2017. In this short period of time, we were able to conduct user research, build personas, sketch designs, create storyboards and scenarios, develop an information architecture map, and build and test prototypes at three levels of fidelity.
Being engineers and designers, we were inspired to create Partico because of what the on-campus makerspaces represent: community and creativity. Some individuals on our team had firsthand experience working in the makerspaces and were aware of specific issues that affected the community. We saw the makers at the University of Washington as an underserved community, and felt there were many opportunities to improve their experiences in the makerspaces.