ncase

Poll Results + How To Design Explorables

Added 2018-06-21 20:03:22 +0000 UTC

Last week, I posted a survey for you to help me decide which explorable to make next. And, the people have spoken: you want to LEARN HOW TO LEARN!

📊a short write-up of the survey results (5 min read)

The results were:
#1. Learn how to Learn
#2. Statistics (without the scary formulas)
#3. Science Writing
#4. Web Programming

I was astonished to see how popular statistics was, and how unpopular web programming seemed to be! (I may get around to the other ideas some day, but for now, you've helped me prioritize what's next) I also liked your suggestions for other skills you want to learn, such as: critical thinking, time management, persuasion, AI, and... how to make explorables.

Funny you should say that, because just yesterday, I wrote this!

🎨Explorable Explanations: 4 More Design Patterns (7 min read)

This is a tour of some of the most inventive explorables I've seen so far, and the design techniques they used to teach through play. I hope this not only gives you insight into how to make explorables, but also about how the mind learns!

And speaking of blog posts, yes, I still owe you that write-up on Dynamicland.

. . .

Up Next:

A blog post on Dynamicland
A test-prototype for the Learn-How-To-Learn project
A simple webpage to announce the Explorable Explanations online "game jam" (don't know the specific dates yet, but it'll run for three weeks in August)
Hand-drawing the custom character Patreon rewards
(if time allows???) A simple experiment using explorables, to find out how much interactivity helps people learn, if at all.

Cheerio,
~ Nicky