What are the biggest key insights you’ve gained for your project?

• About half of the students walk, bike, or scooter home
• Kids carry around more than 1 bag
• Kids move from class to class without backpacks, but with bags or binders
• Kids carry all their supplies because they don’t want to forget anything
• School doesn’t allow backpacks in classrooms
• Lockers and cubbies exist but are very small
• Backpacks are not allowed in the classroom because they take up a lot of floor space and students trip
• Teachers all have different systems
• Average weight carried around school is 9.926
• Straps are hurting their shoulders
• The binder breaks easily (zipper, velcro)
• Binders are expensive (~$30-40)
• Disagreement between students and teachers on what the cause of people carrying so much is
• Students do not easily find necessary materials around desks
• Significant portion of time each day devoted to students gathering materials
• Students have too many materials to fit in their backpacks and a lot are unnecessary
• Frequently use paper assignments; rarely have digital assignments
• Students complain about heavy backpacks often
• Students like to share materials with one another
• Large bags enable kids to carry more stuff
• Compartments are good
• Two straps are good
• Average weight/height of male 10 year olds: 88.3 lbs, 56 in
• Average weight/height of female 10 year olds: 90.7 lbs, 56.9 in
• Typical daily load is 8-12 kg (17.6-26.5 lbs) for 12 year olds
• About 5,000 kids visit emergency room each year because of backpack related injuries
• At least 14,000 kids treated for backpack related injuries

What is your new HCW statement?

How can we help 5th grade students at West U Elementary School to easily organize and carry around all their necessary materials in a single consolidated manner?

What are your hopes for your project?

We hope to have a low-fidelity, working prototype by the end of the semester after 2-3 iterations.