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ITGM 705 Project A Design Thinking (vs Scientific Method)

Project A: Midterm Project, Digital

Objective

Design and produce a digital interactive game, story, information system, or artwork (possibilities are wide open). The topic and area of exploration is up to you, although it is recommended that you select a topic related to your interests and your intended degree focus.

Process

Part 1: Proposal— DUE: Present on Monday, Sept 20 (Class 03)

Present a proposal that includes the following:
+ One to two paragraph proposal that describes the topic you’ve chosen to investigate and the motivation that will draw your audience to the solution
+ One paragraph problem statement based on your topic
+ An initial How Might We question

  • Create PPT (or presentation of choice, i.e. Figma) file for presentation, be prepared to present.

Review the feedback provided by your professor and peers and make any desired revisions to your work.

Part 2: Research, Exploration, and Definition— DUE: Present on Monday, Sept 27 (Class 05)

(This can be done in Parts 1 & 2) — First begin by exploring and researching your topic or concept. Use any of the following:

  • secondary research (any existing research that can shed light on your topic or users)
  • interviews with stakeholders
  • interviews with users
  • surveys/questionnaires
  • observation (contextual inquiry)

Part 3: Visualization and Conceptualization— DUE: Present on Monday, Oct 4 (Class 07)

Begin realizing your project through visualization and conceptualization. Depending upon the nature of your project, this phase may involve creating any of the following:

  • sketches
  • storyboards
  • wireframes
  • flow diagrams
  • wireframes or mock-ups

Create PPT file (Continued from Part 1) for presentation in ZOOM, be prepared to present.

Review the feedback provided by your professor and peers and make any desired revisions to your work.

Part 4: Prototype, User-Tesing , and Final Presntation— DUE: Present on Monday, Oct 11 & 13 (Class 9 & 10)

Develop a prototype for your project. Depending upon the nature of your project, this might take the form of any of the following:

  • Develop a polished final version of your project as a prototype.

Create PPT file (Continued from all previous parts) for presentation, be prepared to present AND place as a post on your blog.

Run at least one test session of your prototype. Test it with at least five different people within your target audience. You are encouraged to use observation and/or a feedback form to help you collect data and focus audience feedback. Feedback gathered during the testing should be included as well, particularly as it impacted your design decisions.

Add description(s) for use or game rules to your original proposal document.

Evaluation Criteria

  • Your proposal should define a project appropriate in scope for a five-week graduate project.
  • Your proposal should speak to an appropriate audience and context for use, given the focus of the project.
  • Your revised proposal should accurately reflect the final state of your project and should logically discuss any major design changes made between the initial proposal and the final product.
  • Your proposal should clearly introduce the use and experience of your project to someone who has never encountered the project before.
  • Your proposal should be well written and free from grammatical and typographic errors.
  • Your final project should be polished and fully realized. This means that, for the purposes of this project, visual design is as important as interactive design.
  • Your project should be appropriate to the medium of choice and the experience level of your intended users.
  • Your project should be based on interaction model(s) beyond well-known examples.
  • Your project should show development and refinement as you move through the production phases.

Materials and File Formats

This is a digital project that may contain many files. Be professional in your file organization and file naming conventions. Place a representation of your process on your blog and place all file in your drop box.