Tse Pei
Industrial Designer . Illustrator
PLAY PIXELS
For this project, we collaborated with Ang Mo Kio Family Services Centre (AMKFSC) and worked with the residents of 206A Punggol Place, a rental flat for vulnerable families, to develop solutions that can help enable community bonding.
Service Design Studio Platform
with Maggie Seah & Felicia Koh
206A PUNGGOL PLACE
Being a rental flat, 206A does not serve as a permanent home for its residents. As such, the transient nature of the community poses challenges in establishing strong ties within the community.
RESEARCH
To better understand the needs of our stakeholders, we conducted face-to-face interviews with parents, residents of 206A who are actively involved in the community, as well as the AMKFSC staff. We also conducted value mapping activities with the residents and organised an activity session for the children to observe their interactions.
FINDINGS & INSIGHTS
*Due to the sensitive nature of the project, I am not able to share photos from our activity sessions, research and user testing online.
Due to the lack of infrastructure at the void deck, the vast open space makes it difficult to sustain the children's engagement in the activities. Also, the lack of seating space for the parents near the children causes parents to worry constantly about their children, rather than to socialise with their neighbours.
There is also a lack of storage space at the Family Services Centre for communal activity equipment. If residents were to store the equipment themselves, we have to consider that they don't have much space at home either.
DESIGN SOLUTION
With the insights we gained, we designed Play Pixel, a set of modular, stackable, functional blocks that allows residents to structure their own activity space. The modularity of the system allows Play Pixels to be distributed to individual residents, giving them ownership over the activity space. Residents combine their Play Pixels during the activities. The more Pixels there are, the more possibilities for structuring the activity space, emphasising the value of collective effort and encouraging participation.
 Play Pixel fits seamlessly into the home environment, serving as a functional stool or side table. |  |
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 It is easily disassembled into its compact state for easy transportation and storage. |  At the void deck, Play Pixel can be used for sit-down activities. |
 It can also be used to mark out spaces for games. |  Children can even get creative and build their own playscape. |
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SCALABILITY
Play Pixel can also be adapted for use in larger venues should the residents have activities at the community centre event halls. Outside of the 206A community, Play Pixel can also be used at the Family Service Centre offices during therapy sessions, and AMKFSC's various other programmes held at void decks, such as the Achieving Kids and Kin programme, providing the flexibility for staff and clients to structure their own space according to their needs.
PLAY PIXEL USE-SCENARIO
Collaborators:
