Exercise Six: Deconstruct a Toy - What is Fun?

PART 1 (Before Class):

Please bring, beg, borrow or steal (OK, don't steal) one or more toy from home or elsewhere to class next week (February 4). Our definition of a toy is as yet undetermined, so feel free to challenge our preconceived notions. The only restriction is that the toy not be something that you already have in your bag (i.e. not your cell phone).

PART 2 (During Class):

Exchange toys with your collegues. Ethnographically observe your assigned partner (note that this is your partner for Project Two) playing with the toys. As noted in Class Two's Ethnography presentation:

• Take detailed descriptive notes of what you observe.
• Where possible, capture your partner's views of their experience in their own words.
• Clearly separate description from interpretation.
• Include in your notes your own thoughts, feelings and related experiences - these are also field data.

With your partner, analyse your field observations by distilling them into a series of answers to today's fundamental question: "What is Fun?" Record these answers on the sticky notes provided. Collectively we will use these sticky notes to interpret the structure of fun.

PART THREE (After Class):

Post an image of your toy to the blog. Post the transcript of your field notes and your analytical distillations as a comment on your partner's post. I will post an image of our collective interpretation to the blog.