Students will investigate the needs of real audience members and performers to understand how light, sound, and simple machines can make a Pinocchio stage production engaging, safe, and exciting. Through interviews, observation, and empathy mapping, they will gather firsthand evidence that will ground future design decisions.

Students will synthesize interview notes and empathy maps from real audience members to identify patterns in user needs, define a focused stage design problem, and craft a research-based "How Might We" statement that will guide their solution ideas for lighting, sound, or simple machine stage elements in the Pinocchio production.

Students will generate a wide range of stage design solutions for Pinocchio that integrate simple machines, light, and sound. They will move from divergent brainstorming to structured idea refinement and finally select and storyboard top concepts grounded in real audience needs identified in earlier phases.

Students will build, test, and refine low- and medium-fidelity prototypes of their Pinocchio stage devices, using simple machines, light, and sound. They will document user testing with real audience members, analyze feedback, and create improved versions that clearly connect design changes to user needs and scientific principles.

Students will conduct a final round of user testing with new audience members, refine their light, sound, and simple machine stage devices, and present their complete Pinocchio performance and design journey to a community audience. They will clearly connect their scientific decisions to user feedback and demonstrate how iteration improved their solution.