research

WDKA STATIONS BUTTONS

INTERVIEW WITH RAYMOND

Questions for Raymond

When is the busiest time for you as a tutor in the station?
Term 1 and end of the school year April until end of year

What are the things people need the most help with from you? What are the most common questions you get?
Simple to complicated

Do you ever feel that students are uncomfortable or intimidated in the stations?
Yes, hope so
Think the stations are dangerous
Metal more scared
People who are not scared are not good because they are reckless with the machines
Too scared and don’t come in

Do the PALs take off some of the workload you have as station tutor/coordinator?
Yeah for sure especially if its very busy
More eyes in the workshop for safety
Wood 1 pal and 1 student assistant
Student assistant to assist instructors and PAL has more jobs but also help with technical drawings or if you’re scared of something etc.
Emil as assistant, easy to approach and talk to etc.
Always good to have more help
Both get paid
Volunteering might not work because they are also busy and might not commit as much

Do you think the PAL system is working?
Yes

What do you think of students helping newcomers in the station?
Are they allowed to help?
Don't mind, sometimes he gives other students jobs
Video tutorials
Students learn more from students
Are there any health and safety risks?

What do you think if experienced students would wear a bracelet around their arm so that newcomers know that these students are offering their help?
Could work
New students: everyone gets same attention, you’re first one to get out
Always go to instructor first
Test in one station and maybe try in other stations
Ask Lisbeth

CROSS-FIT ETIQUETTE

We looked up cross-fit etiquette because we heard that there is a rule to always welcome new members. We thought it could be interesting to implement some sort of "station etiquette" to welcome new students into the stations and make them feel less alienated.

Rule 1: Put. Your. Crap. Away.
Rule 2: Don’t drop the barbell when you’re stripping the plates.
Rule 3: If you’ve sweated on the equipment, bled on the equipment or cried on the equipment, wipe it down.
Rule 4: Don’t steal other people’s equipment.
Rule 5: Don’t be late.
Rule 6: Check in/Sign up for class.
Rule 7: Pay attention when the coach is giving instruction.
Rule 8: Don’t have a conversation with someone in the middle of a workout.
Rule 9: If you ask to borrow an athlete’s gear—give it back when you’re done
Rule 10: Don’t move the chalk bucket mid-WOD.
Rule 11: Respect an athlete’s space.
Rule 12: Try to avoid ghost riding.

Rule 13: Introduce yourself to newcomers.
Hopefully your coach will take the initiative and announce a drop-in or a new member when you turn up for class. That’s the first step. But you should view it as your duty as a member of your box to make sure that the new athlete feels welcome in a new environment—especially if it’s their first taste of CrossFit. Furthermore, the new member will probably give a positive review of your box to their friends, which will bring in new business for your coach and help the community grow.

FEEDBACK FROM THE PROTOTYPES

Overall, we received very positive feedback for our prototypes. Raymond was very optimistic about it and wants to implement the idea in the material station. It's really important for him to delegate certain tasks to others in order for him to keep an eye on the safety of everyone using the machines.
We also received a lot of positive feedback from the students who were wearing the buttons, they also think this would be a good way to increase communication across all stations at university. However, the day we tested our prototype, we almost only had expert students in the wood workshop, so almost everyone was wearing a button. It was too many people with buttons, so the button almost lost its meaning/power. In order for the button to stand out, it has to be something rare, that not everyone has, otherwise it just seems like a standard thing everyone wears. Some people also said to only focus the button system on the PAL coaches, rather than all expert students, because even the expert students don't know everything.

Former PAL coach of the wood station helping a student out