ShedBox: enabling digital storytelling in men’s sheds

Figures & data

Figure 1. Shed members designing the outer case of ShedBox and final design being discussed during a tea break.

Figure 2. ShedBox’s deployment at the men’s shed and its interface.

Table 1. Stories collected through the deployment of ShedBox.

Themes	Stories = 58	Sub-themes within each theme	Breakdown of stories
Kinship	16	Caring about the Shed and Helping Others in the Shed (Kinship within the Shed)	10
		Showing Affection to Family and Friends (Kinship outside the Shed)	6
Health and Wellbeing	10	Impact on Personal Health	6
		Comradery and Sense of Community	4
Material and Physical Engagement	32	The Fulfilment and Materiality	7
		Expertise with Tools and Machinery	12
		Projects for External Clients	11

Table 2. A story of kinship within the shed, by P8.

Story Title: Social	Verbal Account
	‘I generally come three days a week. I enjoy coming here. There are so many people with different skills. People come here to spend time outside of their daily routines. I am not much into making any furniture. I come here mainly for social engagement. I sit on these chairs and have chat with friends here. Our chats are about just everything that is happening around us’.

Table 3. Example story for kinship outside the Shed, by P9.

Story Title: Pig for Granddaughter	Verbal Account
	‘Hi, this is a little project that I’m completing for my granddaughter in Dallas, Texas. She has a fascination with pigs, mainly little pigs. I found this little shape, his name is Andercote. So, I’m going to paint it up and send it over to her’.

Table 4. Example story for comradery and sense of community, by P6.

Title: Story

Story Shared

‘Just coming to the shed is a highlight of my week. I come in Wednesdays and Friday mornings, and whenever I can’t make it, it’s a real hole in my week. When I come here, and people are just joking and chatting, it lifts my spirits up. I have met some people here who have been through some severe depression in the last couple of years, and just coming in to chat with them seems to help them. I think the shed is a very positive experience for myself’.

Table 5. Example story for personal health, P7.

Title: Health

Story Shared

‘I personally feel the shed is good for psychological reasons. Some people just come in for a chat and hardly involve themselves in woodworking or making. I think it would be worthwhile to assign somebody, much like the R U OK? Campaign^1 to go around and ask everyone how they are feeling on any given day. We all miss things all the time. Personally, I’m good at that, I pick up things: if somebody is not feeling well, I will strike up a conversation with them. Most people would be working 9 to 5 and just suddenly stop working. So, it’s a valuable space for them to come up and socialise’.

Table 6. Example stories shared related to the material process.

Title: Pool Table	Story Shared
	‘I built a pool table here at the shed a year ago. Someone taught me how to use the wood lave. I then made the four legs that were curvy-shaped. It worked out really well, and we put a drawer in it as well. It’s made of silky oak on the top, so it has quite a beautiful finish. It was a good feeling of accomplishment to be able to make those legs, and that table. Very positive’.

Table 7. Example stories shared related to the expertise with tools and machinery.

Title: Sinks	Story Shared
	‘Oh well, you win some and you lose some. I got one of them finished away last week in a way but this one was finished and ready to go as well, but when we got it out this morning, we used some old paint out of the cupboard, and it was absolute rubbish. It is still sticky after 3 days. Ugh, I have to take it all off and repaint it all now!’

Table 8. Example story for projects for external clients.

Title: Sink Painting

Story Shared

‘The actual cost of materials here is approximately $40. We do not have a specific donation price on this one, this is something that one of the members set up and put up an ad for on Facebook marketplace. In the case of a childcare centre or a community centre, we do not really care about the donation amount as long as we are covering up the costs of the materials. That’s pretty much what goes on here. The actual donation is quite small compared to the labour we put in. When we do repairs for people, drawers or tables, it is whatever they feel is appropriate. Something in the scale of $10. We are not too concerned with the financial amount as long as we cover up our material costs. If a childcare centre comes in and says hey, we want this, we would still be able to build it for them free of cost, but usually they provide a donation amount’.