Low floors, high ceilings, wide walls are the principles of tool development espoused by Professor Mitchel Resinck and his colleagues in the Lifelong Kindergarten Research Group at the MIT Media Lab, where Scratch and Octostudio are being developed.
They use the metaphor of a programming tool as a room.
First, the threshold is low enough to make it easy for anyone to enter. Then, the ceiling is raised so that once you enter, you can do advanced things. The even wider walls are meant to allow for a variety of activities so that each person using the tools can do the activities that are of interest to them.
I myself use this principle when designing workshops.
The first step is how to lower the threshold so that participants can easily enter the workshop environment. For example, the moment they enter the workshop venue, I make it possible for them to see sample works, videos, and various materials used in the workshop. I also always try to talk to participants as they enter the venue, hoping that this will help to lower the threshold. In my case, I often try to communicate more through things, such as talking to participants with sample works.
The high ceiling among the three principles is difficult to achieve in a workshop with limited time.
In the workshop, I try to introduce the functionality of the tools in several stages, so that the participants can expand the use of the tools to expand with ideas for their works. In some cases, we hope that the workshop will lead to the next workshop, or to the creation of a new work of art on your own after the workshop is over.
I try to provide a wide variety of materials to allow for a wide wall of work. We support participants to create works that they want to make, that they are interested in, and that interest them, not only with tools but also with a variety of materials.
Of course, there are limits to what we can do in a workshop with limited space, time, materials, and people, but I am working every day to apply the three principles to the workshop itself.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)