Understanding the User Experience for Novel Makerspace Users: Personality Factors and Resilience
Hallett, Kimberly.
2019
-
Makerspaces have
captured global attention for providing access to expensive manufacturing technologies,
tools, materials, and education in communities where they would be otherwise limited. An
ongoing challenge has been sustaining a diverse user population. This thesis attempted
to discover how the individual motivations of the user ultimately affects their user
experience and participation ... read morewithin a system intended for anyone to use. An initial
survey between people who use makerspaces and those who do not found makerspace users
were likely to be older males or younger females who are not married, don't have
children, score higher in the personality trait of openness, and tend to schedule
themselves with more free time. A following experimental study examined how these
personality drivers affected participants using a makerspace for the first time. We
found participants were more likely to stay at our makerspace if they were female and if
they scored higher in the psychological characteristic of resilience. We also found that
the way users utilized resource materials during a typical makerspace experience was
correlated with their resilience scores and user experience outcomes. In addition to
providing recommendations on attracting and retaining a diverse makerspace population,
this thesis adds to a small, but growing body of human factors literature that examines
how the individual personality drivers of the intended user should be taken into
consideration as part of the design of a system, product, or
service.
Thesis (M.S.)--Tufts University, 2019.
Submitted to the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.
Advisor: Daniel Hannon.
Committee: Kristen Wendell, and Jean-Michel Molenaar.
Keyword: Mechanical engineering.read less - ID:
- b56454529
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- TARC Citation Guide EndNote
