Year calendar
Seasons, school holidays, blocks with backup dates, and the YAC review.
Section 05 — Prototyping
A one-page offline calendar and progress record
What was prototyped and why, how it was made, and the test designed to check it.
5.1What to prototype
Why this, and not the pathway itself
The pathway cannot be prototyped without the community. The progress record can.
It is the only component a young person handles, and its failure mode is testable by a stranger: if someone cannot read the sheet and say what happens next, the design fails the clarity criterion. Paper was chosen over any digital tool because connectivity at Port Stewart is unreliable.
The best Ranger tools work offline and need minimal training.
Engineers Without Borders Australia, 2026, p. 38
5.2Construction
How it was made
Version 0.1 is one A4 sheet, printed in colour on an ordinary office printer.
Drafted on paper, then set at A4 with each stage panel sized for three tasks, a day count and two signature boxes. It was filled in by hand as a worked example so a reader sees it in use rather than blank (Figure 5).
5.3What it does
What is on the page, and why
Four stage panels
Three tasks to tick, days to fill in, notes, and two sign-offs.
Rules strip
Turn up, stay safe, respect culture, ask questions, and a named contact.
Partner flags
Trials and credit marked as needing approval.
5.4Test method
The paper walk-through
Hand the sheet to someone with no explanation, then ask five questions.
Giving no introduction is deliberate: on Country the sheet is often read without an adult beside it. Responses are timed and anything misread is circled. Participants would be Junior Ranger-aged, arranged through YAC.
- When’s your next day on Country?
- What if it rains?
- In Stage 2, what’s left?
- How do you finish a stage?
- Who do you call?
Pass criteria
- Four of five questions answered unaided
- Next day on Country found in under 30 seconds
- No partner-approval item read as a promise
Planned response
- Rewrite anything two or more testers misread
- YAC and Elders choose the real stage tasks
- Add language and artwork only with permission
5.5Results
Results and modifications
The walk-through has been designed but not run, so no results are claimed and v0.1 is unmodified.
Testing with Junior Rangers needs YAC consent and ethics approval the team does not hold; approaching young people without it would breach the cultural authority this proposal depends on. The method is therefore specified here for YAC to authorise.
To be completed by the team
Replace with results once the walk-through has run. Record:
- Who tested it, how many, and when
- Questions answered unaided, and time to find the next block
- Anything misread or circled as confusing
- What changed, and the new version number
Photographs and marked-up sheets go in Appendix 5.
Running this test before the pilot is listed as a recommendation in Section 7.2.