Once upon a time: a kit of tools for reading and telling stories

Abstract

This paper discusses the contribution of Design in the development of a kit of tangible and multimedia tools for children to collaboratively read and create stories about the world. Here, we detail the design process, including the investigation of visual concepts, the prototyping and the user studies carried out during the development of the tools. We discuss the contribution of Design in the development of each step both through the adoption of theoretical concepts from the field, and by following a participatory Design and a User Centered Design approach. In the context of an investigation that combines a range of different fields, we argue that the Design has acted as the element that materializes and unifies the multidisciplinary contributions, leading to the creation of compelling engaging materials, which have the potential to involve users in the creation of multicultural narratives.