The effects on wellbeing of participating in digital fabrication sessions

This paper explores the role of digital fabrication or digital craft participation in improving wellbeing, particularly for those from disadvantaged groups. CNC Craft, a small company based in the South-West of England, collaborated with the University of Exeter to explore how to quantify the wellbeing gains of participating in digital fabrication/craft sessions.

A feeling star was used to capture participant responses measuring six key attributes; happiness, hopefulness, skilfulness, confidence, health and inclusion. Analysis showed that the average scores for each of the six attributes increased, with feelings of skilfulness and confidence increasing most. The results indicate that digital fabrication/craft sessions can have a positive impact on wellbeing, including for those with low levels of computer confidence.

Although a small study, the results indicate the wider social value that can be gained from creative digital skills training. The work also demonstrates the value that small businesses can gain from working collaboratively with Universities. The paper goes on to propose the adoption of similar evaluation techniques to build an international evidence base, and support other FabLabs and Maker Spaces to develop these opportunities.