Project 1

Description

In this project, you will work in small team to produce a design process, digital media, and documentation. Your team will build its own project by setting meeting agendas, creating a concept pitch, develop and use a design process/sprint structure, track and document progress using a project blog, and produce project documentation. The project outcomes can take the form of any combination of digital media formats including 2D, 3D, video and motion design, interactive and web, UX/UI app design, and product design. The projects could emphasize a wide range of approaches including tool building, product or service, marketing or awareness campaigns, calls to action, open-source tools, traditional or experimental digital story telling, speculative design, wayfinding, identity systems, toolkits, educational materials, etc.

Avoid basing your project around existing intellectual properties (movies, comics, games, etc.) unless you do something conceptually sophisticated like a parody, deconstruction, etc.

Please read through project categories to learn more about the types of projects possible to produce and their production needs. While the media and form of your project is up to you, the following focus word should be used as a jumping off point for your project's concept.

Objectives

The purpose of this project is to help you:

• Gain experience working in a design team, including use of collaboration software and timely communication
• Practice developing a design process
• Practice evaluating and reflecting on the effectiveness of a design process
• Select and test design methods, techniques, and tools to produce digitally designed, critically engaged, and systemically considered creative explorations and outcomes
• Produce a detailed project document
• Practice publishing skills by keeping a team project blog
• Strengthen connections with peers for long term networking and support

The conceptual focus word for this project is: “Inclusive”

Inclusive Design is a methodology, born out of digital environments, that enables and draws on the full range of human diversity. Most importantly, this means including and learning from people with a range of perspectives.

— Microsoft Inclusive Design Toolkit

Inclusive design doesn’t mean you’re designing one thing for all people. You’re designing a diversity of ways to participate so that everyone has a sense of belonging.

— Kat Holmes for FastCompany

"Inclusive design" is a specific methodology related to accessability (an attribute of any design) and univeral design (one-size-fits all); the FastCompany article above addresses the differences between these terms.

For this project, you can interpret the theme of "inclusive" however you see fit. You don't have to follow existing guidelines for inclusive design, but may wish to read about them. Think about unique perspectives, diverse audiences, and edge cases. Products like the Swiss Army Knife and the OXO Good Grips peeler were developed for specific users, but proved desireable for larger audiences.

Further Inspiration:

• Xbox Adaptive controller
• Humaaans illustratin design library
• Braile Neue font
• How to begin designing for diversity by Boyuan Gao and Jahan Mantin of Project Inkblot
• The 7 principles of inclusive design by the National Disability Assocation
• Microsoft Inclusive Design toolkit
• Design is diversity by Fabricio Teixeira (and related articles at UX Collective)
• The Moral Responsibility of Cinema: The Politics of Representation and Expectation by Tat Wei Lee
• Design for All documentary film by Target; poorly named because it's about inclusive design for specific needs more than universal design. Watch the trailer or check out the film on Hulu.
• Gender-neutral design system by TurboTax described in a great blog post.
• Gender, like language, is fluid by Jennifer Daniel, about inclusive emoji sets.

Project overview

The project will consist of five phases:

• Phase 1: Gather and organize (one week)
• Phase 2: Develop a design sprint (one week)
• Phase 3: Pitch (one week)
• Phase 4: Sprint! (three weeks)
• Phase 5: Document (concludes the Sprint)

Team Dynamics

Collaborating with a team is an essential skill for designers to practice. Synthesizing various people's ideas, articulating your intentions and critiques, and participating in a shared workflow are all invaluable to professional work.

Finding a team that meshes immediately and is good at resolving internal conflict makes for a very productive and gratifying project experience. Unfortunately, when this doesn't happen, team dynamics can be counterproductive. If you run into any issues with your team members that cannot be resolved, please communicate with them with your instructor so they may step in and help mediate the situation.

This project will move fast (it's a sprint, right?), so try not to spend too long discussing ideas and struggling to make everyone happy. Just find an idea and run with it. Think about how you can help your teammates, and look for opportunities to utilize your strengths and interests.

Assessment

This project is assessed as a team, meaning that each person in a group will receive the same grade — except for a 10% Participation grade, which will be determined by input from your partners, your own self-grade, and your instructor.

If a student has clearly not participated equally and not spent the requisite amount of time on the project, the instructor may further reduce your overall grade below that of your teammates.

Each person's weekly activity reports are graded individually.

All project deliverables must be met for the project to be graded. A non-submission or non-completion for any project phase is considered an incomplete project.

Rubric

More details available in Canvas.

• All deliverables and steps completed to appropriate degree: 30%
• Project concept: 20%
• Technical craft and aesthetics: 20%
• Research and design process: 20%
• Participation grade: 10%