Design your parent’s outfit

Your Child Designs Your Style Today

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Build your child's design thinking skills while they dress you today

How to Play

Maybe wait until it's a holiday: your child will be your personal stylist for the day.

You'll be asking them to plan out your outfits and shoes for the day.

But they have to do it like a designer -- with empathy, brainstorming, and experimentation -- to get you in the best outfit!

Step 1: Time for fashion plan: Let's begin with the weather

Tell your child -- today is the day that they get to dress you. Beware, it might be slow going -- so choose a weekend or holiday morning when there's no rush. And prepare yourself to cede your power. The more you can give them the decision-making power, the more you can encourage them to empathize with your needs. How to begin? Ask them to think about today's weather, and what clothes would fit. Maybe go outside to explore, or at least look at the thermometer or the newspaper's weather page. Have them think through: what kind of clothes would be best for the parents to keep them safe, healthy, and protected?

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Step 2: Interview your parents!

Now we want to work in constraints: Set a timer for 10 minutes.

Tell your child: now it's time to be an interviewer. They are responsible for interviewing you about what you need and want around your clothes.

For example, what is the best dress if you are going to work? Or for hiking? Or for gardening? More questions: what kind of clothes make you happy? Which are the most comfortable or the least comfortable? Do any clothes have memories that are attached to them?

Help them ask questions if they struggle. Tell them a good question is always Why?

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Step 3: Lay Out Your Supply for Prototyping

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Provide your child with plenty of options: make it visible and accessible for them to make a new match for you.

It's likely your child will have their own likes and dislikes for your outfit -- but re-emphasize what you talked about in the interview. What is the purpose of the clothes? And what will make you, the user, the happiest?

Try (within reason) to go with their choices for you -- they are in charge as the designer.

Step 4: User Test + Iterate The Outfit

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Now that you have an outfit planned, and put on -- then it's time to talk it through. You should talk through together: is this outfit really a good match? What could go wrong? What could be better?

You can also pull in some other people as testers. Does this outfit look good? What could be improved?

If you get any critiques, time for iteration! Ask your child to figure out a way to deal with the criticisms -- with a new combination of clothes, or swapping something in.

Now it's your day to wear the design thinking creation!