Phase 1: Gather and organize

Meet with your team and begin to establish meeting times and meeting agendas.

Synchronous meetings can be very productive and are recommended for weekly check-ins with your group, but you can communicate with whatever tools use like, such as email, Discord, Whatsapp, Google Chat, etc.

Create a Brainstorm document

Each group should prepare a brainstorm document using one of the following templates. This will help you share reactions to the prompt and to articulate your interests, goals, and strengths.

You can do this with either the visual whiteboard app FigJam (recommended) or a traditional text document.

FigJam (recommended)

For this option, you will need a Figma account (apply for a free education account).

View the FigJam template file (external link) and duplicate it to create your own copy (click the little 🔽 arrow next to the filename at top center, or right-click the file in your dashboard).

Then invite your teammates to the file or send them a share link with editing enabled.

This file uses the simplified FigJam app, which is distinct from Figma design files. As you continue the project, you may want to create a Figma design file and collaborate with your peers on visual designs, interactive prototypes, and more. Within a single file, you can create multiple pages to organize your work. Groups have had success with this workflow in the past because it lets you keep everything in one place and easily comment and collaborate.

Read more about Figma's meeting tools, including synchronous cursor chat, voting, timers, and asynchronous comments.

Text document (alternative)

If you would prefer not to use Figma...

Download the Word template file (right-click and save as) and edit it as desired. You can paste the text into another text app like Google Docs or Notion, or edit the Word doc in the cloud through your PSU OneDrive account. Just make sure everyone can edit the file.

Submission

You will submit a file or share link to your instructor, but feel free to continue using this document throughout the project or to expand it as desired.