Hanzi Storytelling Box Poloka Meataalo by Jiayu Yao

Hanzi Storytelling Box Poloka Meataalo by Jiayu Yao is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2023 A' Design Award Uʻamea in A'oa'oga Competition Category.

UʻameaA'oa'oga· 2023

Hanzi Storytelling Box Poloka Meataalo

by Jiayu Yao

Client: Zhejiang University

A' Design Award Uʻamea Winner in A'oa'oga Category

23,202

Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #149040

View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Hanzi Storytelling Box Poloka Meataalo

O le Hanzi Storytelling Box o se poloka meataalo fou e fa'afiafia ai le a'oa'oina o mata'itusi Saina ma fegalegaleai mo tamaiti laiti. E fa'aogaina le natura fa'aata o mataitusi, fa'atasi ai ma elemene va'aia ma su'ega, e fesoasoani ai i tagata a'oa'o ia iloa ma manatua lelei. O le app o lo'o tu'uina atu e tu'uina atu ai punaoa fa'aa'oa'oga fa'aopoopo, e pei o upu, fuaiupu, ta'i tusitusi, ma ata fa'atasi, e mafai fo'i e tamaiti ona fa'amaumau a latou lava tala fa'a-Saina e tu'u i poloka.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award Uʻamea

O le A' Design Award Uʻamea na manumalo ai Hanzi Storytelling Box Poloka Meataalo, o se faamaoniga mamalu e tuuina atu i mamanu lelei e faataunuu ai manaʻoga faapolofesa ma pisinisi e faamoemoeina mai galuega ua mamanuina lelei. O ē manumalo i le Uʻamea e faaalia ai le tomai tele, le faapitoa maualuga, le malamalama o tagata poto ma le mafai fatufatuaʻi o ē na faia. E faamoemoeina Hanzi Storytelling Box Poloka Meataalo e avea ma mea ua matuā vivii, mataʻina ma pelepelea e aogā ma fou. O lenei mamanu na manumalo i le A' Design Award Uʻamea e tuufaatasia ai faiga sili o le pisinisi ma e iai uiga faatekonolosi mafai ua fesoʻotaʻi ma le poto ma le taleni. Ona o lona faatuatuaina, e tatau ai Hanzi Storytelling Box Poloka Meataalo ona faaaloalogia ma ua mamanuina e tuuina mai ai faaleleiga o le olaga e fesoasoani e faia ai e le lalolagi se nofoaga e sili atu ona lelei.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Hanzi Storytelling Box is a meaningful block toy that supports young children to engage with Chinese characters in a more friendly way. The toy kit uses the pictographic nature of characters, blending visual and auditory to help learners recognize and remember them. The toy divides characters into three categories by theme: nature (yellow), people (blue), and artifacts (red). Young children are encouraged to appreciate the beauty of Chinese characters, explore their mysteries, and find learning fun and engaging.
Dimensions & Packaging: Chinese character module: 50mm*50mm*6mm and 70mm*70mm*6mm Speech recognition module: 140mm*140mm*70mm Specifications: LED, Speaker, RFID Tag and Reader, Button, Battery
Tags: Education, Young children, Block toy, Chinese characters, Electronic toys
Production Technology: TECHNOLOGY: UX design process, Rhinoceros, Keyshot, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Arduino, Electronic circuit technology MATERIALS: Wooden
Design Challenge: The first challenge was to categorize and classify the Chinese characters that preschoolers need to learn. The toy divided these characters into three categories based on their meanings and used different colors to show the distinction. The second challenge was to visualize the characters by creating easy-to-understand patterns that fit their meanings. To do this, the toy described the meaning of each character through a one-sentence story in relation to its pattern.
Research: By combining Montessori's sensitive period for senses and Piaget's constructivism theories, and conducting a user study with children aged 3-6 years, the toy uses common objects in daily life as visual representations of Chinese characters. The existing knowledge of the children was utilized to assimilate new knowledge of Chinese characters. The radicals are key to learning Chinese characters, and the Hanzi Storytelling Box allows for free combinations between radical blocks to form different Chinese characters with clear visual elements that present the role of different radicals in the overall Chinese character.
Inspiration: Children often consider Chinese characters to be complex, boring, and irregular, which leads to children's anxiety about learning Chinese characters. By analyzing the cognitive characteristics, age characteristics, and literacy rules of lower-grade students, the Hanzi Storytelling Box is designed based on the "child-oriented" design principle.
Project Duration: The project started in March 2022 and finished in October 2022 in Ningbo.
Operation Flow: First, the child can freely play with the character blocks. They can place a single block or combine two blocks to form a specific character on the Storytelling Box. After pushing the box button, the description of the Chinese characters and the related fable will be broadcasted by the box. Secondly, the accompanying app allows users to record their own Chinese character stories and play them with the physical toy. The app also provides additional learning resources, such as words, sentences, writing strokes, associative drawing, and review. These resources can help children learn Chinese characters holistically and easily.
Team Members: Jiayu Yao
Jing Zhang
Jiayi Ma
Yuqi Zhang
Weijia Lin
Sheng Yang
Shuyue Feng
Cheng Yao
Image Credits: Jiayu Yao、Jiayi Ma、Jing Zhang，2022