A Design Project
A STEP-BY-STEP OVERVIEW
from the course lectures….
|
< STEP 1 TO DO
|
|
< STEP 2 TO DO
|
|
< STEP 3 TO DO
|
|
< STEP 4 TO DO TalktoeitheranexpertORa potential user about your design Writedowntheircomments, insights, and critiques |
|
< STEP 5 TO DO Writedownyour nalthoughts, re ections, and insights on your design process |
good inquiry makes for good design!
STEP 1
initial design
STEP 2gleaning sparks
STEP 3prototpe
STEP 4feedback
STEP 5re ection
A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE
STEP 1 | initial design
Start with finding a problem or project in the world that
resonates with you…
• You may already have something in mind that you’d like to try or a problem in the world you’d like to address.
• Better yet, start with something you’ve already done in the mini-exercises (or seen from someone else – don’t worry, by the time you’re done it will be all yours!)
o Perhaps going further with an unuseless object?
o An inspiration from the Griins word combinations?
o Making one of the new uses come true?
o Turning your ‘tip of the iceberg’ insight into a real thing?
• Then, check if your idea already exists! You’re good to go
if a 2 min Google test doesn’t reveal someone else has al- ready had the same brilliant insight. If they have, you must distinguish your big idea from theirs in some clear way.
Or, start over!
< STEP 1 TO DO
- Comeupwithatitleforyour project
- Writeaproblemstatementtodirect your process and guideyour design. What problem does it solve well? What problem couldit solve better?
- Survivethe5minuteGoogletest
- Includeapictureofyour rstsketch idea (this can be one you’ve already done from a previous mini-exercise)
watch out!
You need to do more than just have an inital idea – it has to have some real pres- ence that you can present in visual form.
How do I write a helpful problem statement?
Remember that one of the hardest part of designing is knowing just what you’re doing. A strong problem statement can help you define waht you’re setting out to do.
It might help to think of it as a ll-in-the-blanks rst:
1. My object’s name ____________________
2. Who does it help/aect? _______________
3. What problem or missing opportunity am I addressing? __________________ 4. The way I think this issue can be addressed is by ________________________ 5. The aspect or feature of my design that does this is ______________________
Now, you’re ready to put it all together:
“I noticed that elderly people have trouble when they need to use an umbrella becuase they are unwieldy to hold and they wind up having to hold both an umbrella and a cane. My canebrella combines the cane with an umbrella so they’re one unit. The umbrella folds up into place when it is required.”
A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE, CONTINUED
STEP 2 | gleaning creative sparks
Having new ideas is a diicult process because once you have something in mind, it is really hard to not think of that thing. This limits your creative process, making you feel stuck.
Luckily we now live in a glut of information: much of the world’s knowledge now lies literally at your fingertips via the internet. For this step in your design project you will sally forth into that wide world of information.
You are challenged to expand upon your initial design ideaby searching the Web and returning with seven new insightsfrom what you’ve found that change your initial design in some way.
- Three can be related to your design in some easily recogniz- able way, perhaps as similar items or a feature.
- Three should be unlike or distinct from your inital design – a stretch to connect and thus a stretch from your initial direc- tion. They might be analogies or parallels: just not as obvi- ously linked as the first three.
- The last is your wildcard: it can be as abstract, obtuse, or simply weird as you want. This should be the one that makes someone think, “Huh…I hadn’t thought of it that way.” You are our guide who makes the connection for us.
Your finds do not have to be artifacts, per se, though that is of- ten helpful. They can be artworks or fragments, or even images you “misread” in some way that prompted an insight. Remem- ber that you’re looking for inspirations!
Remember…
- Some things you find promote divergent exploration: stretching ideas, creating choices, thinking out of the box
- Other finds help you to clarify or converge towards a well-defined end product by focusing your idea or helping you sort out pieces of your project.
watch out!
Your project should develop in some meaningful way from this process. It can be a refinement of the original idea (think v1.0 to 1.1) or, better yet, change more substantially (v2.0 or even v.bananas).
The key is that you explore, develop, and refine the inital design, not just validate the thing you thought of in the beginning.
Where do I even start?
1. A SEARCH ENGINE ON THE WEB Many are available; pick your favorite and go!
– try entering the general words asso- ciated with your project (“cane” and “umbrella”, or better yet, “elderly” and “umbrella”)
2. AN IMAGE SEARCH ENGINE
A really fruitful method is to use the ‘Image Search’ option on a search engine such as Google.
– don’t stop at the first page of results!
– follow a thread by choosing the ‘more like this’ option at your image.
– some browser extensions allow you to pick an image on a page and search by it (look for “Google search by image” for your favorite browser)
3. A DATABASE
Penn State’s Libraries give you amazing access to a world beyond the free inter- net (which is free for a reason!) Instead, try these:
– Art and design on ARTstor
https://libraries.psu.edu/eresources/ PSU01279
– historic public domain at HathiTrust
https://libraries.psu.edu/eresources/ PSU01600
3. A PATENT SEARCH
See how your idea fits into the world of inventors!
– http://pat.uspto.gov/
– http://www.google.com/?tbm=pts
– http://www.freepatentsonline.com/
< STEP 2 TO DO
- Perusetheinternetto ndsevennewinsights-threelike, three unlike, and one wildcard. Save pictures of each, to accompany…
- …abriefdescriptionofwhateachnewdiscoverybrought to your design development.
- Writeaparagraphsummarizinghowyourinitialdesign idea developed farther.
A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE, CONTINUED
STEP 3 | prototype
Now that you have a well-considered solution in mind, it is time to test it by making a simple artifact. Prototypes need not be overly complex or elaborate, but they should allow you to engage the design directly.
- You’ve seen some examples in the prior mini-exercise fol- low-ups (and some of you did them already!). Take inspira- tion from them!
- Recall that there are dierent kinds of prototypes:
o Some prototypes are proto-versions of things.
o Some prototypes are mock-ups that allow you to expe- rience how it would be to use the thing. For example, an app is hard to ‘make’ but a couple of key screens can show someone how it’d be to use it.
o Some prototypes test materials or physical qualities – can you actually make the thing, and how specifically would that work out?
- Try to make a working thing, not simply a model re-pre- senting the design. While you wouldn’t build a full size World War I tank, simply making a scale model of it won’t be helpful either since it’s a re-presentation of the thing, not the thing itself.
- Be thoughtful as you do this. In the next step, you’ll ask someone else to comment on your design, so keep in mind the tips above.
< STEP 3 TO DO
- Makeasimple(orcomplex!)working prototype of your design.
- Photographyourprototypefor your nal presentation.
- Jotdownyourinsights,surprises, gripes, and observations. Whatdid you learn by actually making the thing?
watch out!
Don’t just make a demonstration of what you already know will work. Make a thing in order to test something or figure something out. And don’t worry: a prototype doesn’t actually have to work out the way you expected;
you oen learn more by having it fail!
A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE, CONTINUED
STEP 4 | feedback
So far, good ideas have led to a first test via a simple proto- type – now it’s time to see what happens when it meets the real world. In this step, you are asked to talk to one other person about your design and to let them try your proto- type. You should talk to one of two people:
• A potential user of your design
Someone who will be the target audience for what you have in mind. Let them try your prototype for them- selves, then tell you what’s working and what can be improved. Perhaps you can photograph them interacting with your prototype!
• An expert in the eld
Here’s your chance to approach that expert who’s doing the sort of thing you’re interested in with an excuse to talk to them! It can be a professional whose work you admire, a professor who knows about your subject…. Anyone who has knowledge, experience, and wisdom about what you’re doing.
(This is a great excuse for you to get close to someone whose work you’ve admired. Remember that you’re not the competition, and everyone loves to impart their wis- dom to striving students. This can be your way in for that internship or next job!)
< STEP 4 TO DO
TalktoeitheranexpertORapotential user about your design
Writedowntheircomments,insights, and critiques
STEP 5 | critical re ection
By this point you’ve created, refined, prototyped and tested your design. Now you’re ready to write down your final thoughts about how the design worked out and your thoughts on the process overall.
< STEP 5 TO DO
Writedownyour nalthoughts, re ections, and insights on yourdesign process
LAST STEP | submit your project
The last step is to submit your project. You’re asked to do by putting everything in a Word doc (since I reformat some projects to share, an editable format is handier than a pdf, especially because images don’t get scaled down). Feel free to use the handy template provided!
Assessment
Per the syllabus, this assignment is worth 22 points.
In this sort of open-ended creative as- signment, there is no practical way to make a point value for every possible permutation. Instead, in assessing the projects we’ll follow this framework:
20-22 pts
A truly excellent project. The object is well-considered, the process is fruit- ful, the commentary is insightful, and the images are evocative, well-consid- ered, and clear.
15-19 pts
A good project, but with shortcom- ings in content and/or presentation, including missing elements. Modest changes would make it great.
12-15 pts
A passable eort that satisfies the requirements in a minimal way.
All the elements are present but lack quality, depth, or insightfulness.
The presentation is general and descriptive rather than providing an original critical insight, or suers from a lack of care in aseembly or produc- tion. An overall ‘meh’ quality; it is not something you’d share with friends and family via social media.
11 or less
Significantly incomplete, with multi- ple elements missing or overlooked, including content, production value, and a lack of insightful analysis.
TL;DR Ballpark* Assessment
up to 3pts up to 7pts up to 5pts up to 5pts
up to 2pts up to 2pts up to 2pts
Initial design
SCAMPER process
revised/new design
prototype & what it reveals
feedback
reflection presentation quality
* every project is more than the sum of
its parts, so don’t take these numbers too literally. A project with a great process whose outcome totally bombs is as strong as one which works out. It’s the journey, Grasshopper, not the destination.
ITEMS REQUIRED FOR FINAL SUBMISSION
Steps 1-5 completed, includ- ing write-ups and images, in a well-presented Word doc
Previous answers to this question
This is a preview of an assignment submitted on our website by a student. If you need help with this question or any assignment help, click on the order button below and get started. We guarantee authentic, quality, 100% plagiarism free work or your money back.
Get The Answer