25. In keeping with the rules of the experiment – the final
assembly of the flag requires: 14 volunteers to open
~100 parcels and lay out the contents Volunteers will
be selected from the audience of the TEDx 798 Factory
event through “For the past 6 months have been run-
ning a design experiment involving 100′s of people
across China. We would like 14 Chinese volunteers to
help with the final assembly of the design. This is non-
technical work. The process will be recorded on video.”
These volunteers won’t be told what they are making,
but prior to the commencement of The Assembly Task
that that they need to “unpack the parcels and con-
struct the design within the space provided”.
Prior to the assembly – the ~100 parcels will be piled
up in one spot and the 14 volunteers will be provided
with a box-cutters to unpack them. Cues will be provided
to ensure a sense of gravity and to nudge appropriate
behaviour: a 12 x 8 meter ‘workspace’ will be taped
off, and overshoes provided to protect the mats from
dirty shoes.
While the process will be videoed – every one of the 14
volunteers will have the right to demand that the record-
ing be deleted (something called going full-circle in field
research – essentially it puts participants in control of
their own data, and how they are portrayed). However –
prior to any deletion other volunteers will have the op-
portunity to persuade this person (or persons) to change
their mind. Deletion of this video will be final. The video
will be made available to each of the volunteers at some
point after the event, and will be posted online.
Observers drawn from the TEDx event, and the volun-
teers are allowed to video the proceedings.