The Finale

Reflection post

17/10/2015

Define, Empathy, Exchange, Ideate, 

What was your biggest learning that you took from this paper.

Maybe teamwork isn't so bad after all. A job shared is a job halved and after seeing so many amazing projects i think mine could of benefited from outside influence. 

What aspect of your project are you most happy with?

The concept. It's something i'd like to manifest into reality. 

What would you do differently?

Work less hard. To keep up I pushed myself too far and my health suffered. The irony of doing a project on Well-being, I know I know. And i'm still pushing myself. I would tackle less time. I've just ended up resenting the project (present time).

Almost there

16/10/2015
Final iterations
Define, Empathy, Ideate,

I've dropped a lot of the textual information and taken an almost exclusive visual direction. I was daunting the change but am glad I did it. The visual system is much more cohesive and the hierarchy is clearer.

I do regret sending so much time on it though. I need to prioritise what I need to do with the details.

Tutor feedback- change of direction

09/10/15
$%&@#
Prototype, Empathy, Define, Ideate,

After showing Nanns what I had so far and the difficulty I had explaining my direction it is clear I need to define my idea and create more hierarchy in both the presentation and the dossier.

I need to focus on my delivery in terms of structure and supporting evidence. This means bullet pointing what i need to say (clear heirarchy) and explaining it some some kind of journey map.

I need to start out with the
context- Audience, issue
Big idea- how to address the problem
explanation
-Touchpoints
-Journey maps

Interim

1/10/2015

Interim critique

Define, Empathy, Exchange, Ideate, Test, Prototype,

In groups of four (projects) we presented what we had so far. It was great to see the variety of ideas out there and take note what made the pitches successful.

To get to the point of my project i need to define what is it, how it works and why i'm doing it, in concise statement.

I also really need to work SMARTER, not HARDER. Pulling 16hr days at uni is killing my creativity. Spending those extra hours means sacrificing my mental clarity in class time. I was a bit miffed when I put in the hard yards to get as much of a response as possible and only recieved one feedback.

I need to prioritize what work should be done first.

I also really need to take a break.

If only my app were real....

Exchange

25/09/2015
What we're up to
Empathy, Define, Exchange, Ideate, Prototype,

In the exchange I repeated my pitch to the group but added structure and a clear emphasize on how it was a solution.

I think this really helped get across the idea both for myself and my audience.

It was also great to see how the other disciplines were interpreting the problem and to give and get feedback to different design perspectives.

Iterim de iterim

25/09/2015
Feedback and where to now
Define, Empathy, Exchange, Ideate, Prototype,

Seeing the progress of my peers and the creative genius they've put into their solutions is really inspiring. I keep thinking how far we've come from first year.

I still don't think i'm ready to be a forth year yet though :o

However, after presenting, i feel my project was well received. I managed to get across my solution and draw curiosity as to how it could all work. The feedback was to incorporate a social element or an events structuring for Facebook or the likes of. I'll look into the social element and theorise on how to include FB, but I feel this may be a battle I don't want to pursue. I'm more focussed on getting people off FB and into the real world.

I also need to work on my presentation as I found I skipped over some of the more important details. Whoops!

Jason really spelled out how the presentation is crucial as you're pitching an idea, and it's not necessarily complete, so you have to convince your client to have faith in you to work out the details.

From here I will do a more detailed user map and identify what slides I will need to show.

I'm also thinking of making a journey map like the complex one we worked on in class to show the different options/touchpoints/needs of the user.

Feedback

24/09/2015
Aesthetics
Test, Protoype, Empathy, Exchange, Ideate, Define,

My feedback- carry on with aesthetic, stick to bold, clean and resolved.

Keep it exciting!

Maybe add an interactive element? Like users propose or add to poster concepts- enabling a personalised Facebook post- encourages user to share

Lecture and in class exercise

24/09/2015
A food journey
Define, Empathy, Exchange, Ideate,

The excretes was to go through a contextually rich user journey, pick a branch/outcome and find a creative solution.

Our problem was how to address a family that had scarce food, causing the mother sacrifice her meal for her children.

Our group identified the problem as a two part special

We needed to address the mother's need to feed herself to create a healthy environment for the whole family.

- This could be done by educating her on the importance on keeping herself healthy as it effects her children aswell, e.g. having less energy, poorer decisions etc.
- We also proposed a nutrition plan for living on a budget, focussing on low cost, nutritionally dense foods


Our immediate solution was to flip scarce food and source excess food

Our proposition was to approach restaurants and ask them to donate excess food.

We theorised a system where volunteers would collect this food and either deliver it to the families or to an independent distribution centre (by passes wait time at food bank).

The project could be community or business funded, where the donation of the volunteers is time.
Ideally there would be an individual/ business that organised the pick up and delivery for one night of the week, thus sharing the workload.

Other sources of food could include supermarkets and farmers markets and community gardens.
Possible clients would include local businesses, churches.



Feedback

Good work for thinking of a journey
- discussing the elements of the solution
- possible trajectories





Why was this exercise useful?

It reiterated the importance of the design process and how valuable creative thinking is. Yay! Go Design!

Tim's presentation - Prototyping

17/09/2015
Why prototyping is important
Empathy, Exchange, Ideate, Define,

Tim's presentation outlined the necessity and positive outcomes of prototyping as part of the development of a project/idea.

What is it? 
Prototyping is about showing your ideas, bringing the intangible to life.
It provides the means to user test, enabling the investiation of how the product functions within it's environment
- this inform how the concepts should develop to advance/facilitate its intended purpose.

From here it's easier to test strengths/weaknesses of the product, and instigates new questions to facilitate a resolved system.

How to get started
Identify what you want to find out
Identify what system is most important to user test
Address how the user can interact with the product and give feedback
Try and try again if it's not working ( refine if needed )

Methods
Paper
Space
Digital
Role play


Testing
20% you talk - %80 they talk
Ask open ended questions
interact but don't overwhelm - get the audience taking
Record information


Did I learn anything?

Hek yeah!

I feel bringing my ideas to life will help me identify how to better resolve the issue.

My solution could be theoretically solid ( in my mind at least ) but the audience is a consistent variable and user testing will enable the solution to better empathise.

Prototyping and feedback

16/9/15
Where to from here
Define, Empathy, Exchange, Ideate, Test, Protoype,

After prototyping and testing both directions with my user audience in class, there was a clear winner.

The feedback was positive for both ideas but the app was by far the most popular.
It took the thinking out of what to do and challenged the user to get out there.

Feedback I had to improve the experience was to be able to update the profile and add filters each time you logged on.

Suggestions for filters

Weather
Transport
How many people
Money
Time

Categories-
Adventure
Food
Inspiration



Non specific and advanced searches-

e.g go to the library vrs go to the library, check out the first book in the last row of (insert interest)

I'm thinking this would be a pretty big project as the app would work best with an intuitive design and system, and a larger database.

Next task- how to make an intuitive app

Direction 2

18/09/15
App for user experience
Define, Ideate, Empathy,

My other direction focusses on the user experience of the things they may be taking for granted and the excuse they 'don't have time'.




Theoretically it would draw from a personal data base determined by the user when they installed the app. e.g. The user would have answered questions such as do you like the outdoors, have access to a car etc, and have created a personal profile.

When the user had spare time they would load up the app, add filters such as weather, or topic, and the app would cross reference a database of activities with the preferences of the user.

E.g. Weather- sunny, location- wellington, Time- spare afternoon, Feels like- adventure----------
-------Go for a walk, no? next option, yes! walks in area- pick one- directions

NB: there would be the option of an advanced search for things like distance, transport, difficulty etc..


So pretty much access to a database of activities filtered to student use.

Why???

From the survey, students had time but wasted it procrastinating or talked themselves out of doing something productive, and led to the conclusion they had not done anything to satisfy the need for time out.

I feel like the app will hit two birds with one stone. The user gets out there and experiences those things they may have neglected but have access to (as decided in profile), and presents options on how to best spend their time according to their preferences.

Week 8- Direction one

16/9/2015
I'm grateful for.......
Ideate, Define, Empathy,

Today was my first chance to meet up with the tutors and discuss the foundation I had built so far.

Before class I had added a few directions on where I could take the posters/ how they would pose as effective lures.

My directions are to either get students to focus on being grateful for what they have by prompting them to think of the small yet readily accessible things that make them happy, e.g. spell check, tutor feedback, cheaper tuesday at the movies.......

The posters would be bold and simple- To draw attention and be simple enough to pass the message without the viewer needing to linger.

e.g styled like above.

The question is how to get students thinking of these things for themselves.

Possible prompts- Things starting with M
Situations (at home)
Good times/ experiences

SLIP

14/9/15
S.l.i.p. exercise

Sort
- Read and identify value information collected through previous design team on brief
- Research relevant info/sources
- Build foundation
- Tailor info to design direction

Label
- Identify key topics and headings
- Context, background, issue, audience, needs, client, barriers, desired action etc.

Integrate
- Design direction to information
- content to be intellectually informed
- find a relateable platforms and visual solutions

Prioritize
-Audience needs- research/survey
-Build on foundation
-brainstorm
-concepts
-developments
-solution
-repeat- double diamond

Using slip enables a wire frame of a timeline and clearly identifies tasks.

It gives the project an organised direction and order

Point of view statement

11/9/15
Class exercise
Define, Empathy, Ideate, Exchange

In class we were asked to reframe a design challenge into an actionable statement.


By identifying the user needs I can begin to synthesis a statement that will inform my design solution.

Needs and trajectories that I will focus on are-

time
grattidue
awareness
opportunity
cost
value
perspective


Early statements

Emotionally and physically taxed students needs to identify the virtues they take for granted as they have the means and opportunity for a satisfied Well- being, yet are mislead by the shallow or unrealistic values.

/

Dissatisfied students needs to refresh their perspective on life because they are in a position of great opportunity and are well within the means to a healthy balance in personal Well-being , yet are unable to identify realistic personal virtues vital in a hollow societal environment.


I found this exercise useful as it creates an informed direction and a relative foundation for creative directions

Key Topics

11/9/15
Worth investigating
Define, Ideate,

Step two of refining and redirecting the research is identifying key topics/features-


We have everything we need
-We have the means to be happy, NOW

Undervaluing the small stuff
- Not fully appreciating what is present

Dramatizing the trivial
- reassessing our perspectives
- hollow society
- shallow mindset

New perspective
- think positive
- reassess situation
- understand the drama is self inflicted
- embrace  physical and emotional needs

Colllective Research

11/9/15
Pooling resources
Empathy, Exchange, Define,


To lay a well rounded foundation I plan to interview the group who created the brief and document their direction and understanding of the issue.

So far I've made contact to source the original research and have downloaded and picked through the brie on stream.

I hope cross referencing directions and out comes with narrow the visual direction, solution and content.

Brief breakdown

10/9/15
Going over the Brief
Define, Ideate, Empathy,

To kick-start the project I've rewritten the brief topics in a simplified state that concentrates on the elements I plan to focus on.

Issue
Lack of appreciation
feelings of fulfillment
negative mindset
stress
unhappiness
- in students

Background
not meetings physical and emotional needs
feeling unsatisfied
inability to identify needs
distortion of values
drowning in the shallows
surviving the fast paced machine


Audience
Students in NZ
-possibility to focus on wellington students
-tertiary as main audience though solution is applicable to wider student population

Audience Needs
To appreciate what we have
reassess personal values
think positive
advertising that is relatable
time to be happy

Clients
Apple
Massey
One percent collective
Wellington city council

Barriers
Hollow values in society
disillusionment on what is really important

Desired Actions
Grattitude
step back, reconnect
understanding, positive perspective
reassessment of values


Where to from here?

From here I want to identify the common threads and brainstorm and overarching solution.

+Further research into each topic and their possible  directions

This will help me to begin to flesh out the platforms for the solution and an effective aesthetic

Audience

21/08/2015
The little things- Audience
Define, Empathy, Ideate,

My target audience is students.
The term is not specific to an age brackett but due to the ethical limitations of the paper (not talking to persons under 16), I'm directing my study and response at tertiary students.
However, I'm hoping the solution will be applicable to the wider demo/psychographic.


The response will also be targeted at privileged students, e.i. first world, able to afford study and basic luxuries such as a bus ticket, coffee or outsourced meal.

The little things

21/08/2015
What do I mean?

Define, Empathy, Ideate,

When I hear the term the little things I think of three major trajectories.

-A greater appreciation for the things we have
-An opportunity to create a more positive environment
And the literal interpretation (visual rhetoric)

The brief I'm working from targets students and addresses the concern they are under appreciating what opportunities they have and leading unsatisfied lives inconsequence.

The way I'd like to address the issue is through creating a ripple effect, or at least getting the ball rolling by addressing this really is an issue and students are selling themselves short.

Week 6 New Direction

20/08/2015
The little things
Define, Empathy, Ideate,

I've decided to go with a different brief. I really enjoyed the introversion brief and am grateful to have worked with Kat and Jamie, but feel I could tackle another topic of relevance.

My top three were
- Sugar and its effect on the body
- Divorce and the effect on children
- The little things- How students are unsatisfied with life and a renewed appreciation of the things they take for granted could do the trick

Kicking Sugar is something I'm pretty passionate about, i'd be very willing to commit to a year long project surrounding it so i'm saving this one for my major project.


The effects of a messy divorce/domestic fallout is something i've personally been through and i'm not sure I'm ready to tackle. There's also the no go of talking to children and they are the audience i'd be trying to reach. I think the length of this project has limitations for a topic like this also.

So little the things is the way to go. I feel like this is one of things that doesn't seem like a priority in our lives and that's what's kick started the issue. I'm a repeat offender myself so a Guinea pig in the making. As far as designing for good I think the topic has the potential to be successfully applied within the demographic (students).

A new Brief

13/08/2015
A new direction
Empathy, Exchange, Define,

I'm happy with our final design and thrilled at the team effort but there are so many engaging briefs i'm finding i'm looking at other possible projects.

The areas i'm most interested in are nutrition, body image, stress and divorce.

I feel strongly about all these areas as they factor into my personal life, so the empathy is already there.

The hardest topic to tackle would be the divorce brief as it's something I've been self eternalising my whole life and am just coming to terms with. It means digging up the past and probably wouldn't be something i'd be comfortable sharing with others (group project). At the same time I feel a responsibility to tackle the issue as it needs to be addressed and I have personal experience.

El Finite!

10/08/2015
Part 1 done and dusted
Exchange, Test, Ideate,

Tonight we put the book together. It was trickier than we though so we had all hands on deck.

It was really satisfying to see the book come together physically.

The way we all worked together retired that I was part of a great team. Hitting the wall like we had had me doubting our compatibility but as far as team work went- i think we did really well. We've all pulled our weight, the communication was solid and commitment spot on.

I think delegating the tasks really helped us reach the end and hitting the wall but getting over it helped us grow as a group.

Test, test,

9/08/2015
Prototype and testing
Define, Empathy, Exchange, Ideate, Test, Protoype,

We all meet up to get to the grit of things and trial the document as printed at massey.

First we proof read the information and reiterated what we wanted to get across. Next was putting the book together. This meant test prints on multiple stocks, navigating massey's quirky sense of 'centred document' and gradient test prints to determine which level of grey was most legible yet still conveyed the transparency metaphor.

We choose a matt white and a semi gloss off white to work with and an 87.5% grey.

The semi gloss looked nicer with the acetate and visually connected the pages without transparency.

The massey printers were consistently 3mm out on the either the top or bottom of the document but his was the closest we could navigate through the printer settings. It's something we can account for in the trimming of the finished document.



Being at this stage a couple of days before hand-in took a lot of the stress out of the job. I feel like this made our thinking clearer and the work less hurried.

Finalising our direction

07/08/2015
Delegating is awesome
Empathy, Exchange, Ideate, Define, Test, Protoype,

Today we made progress. We've dropped the visual aesthetic of cats, trialed our transparency idea, and are refining the body copy. We've all had our set jobs but also sat down to collaborate.

I'm still working on the body copy and almost at the point of placing it within the proposed layout.

I think the most difficult group to work in can be both people you totally identify with as well as those that are on the other end of the spectrum.

But by dividing the jobs we're getting there.

The Pit presentation

05/08/2015
Design Thinking Presentation
Define, Exchange, Empathy,

The presentation in the pit today fleshed out an opinion that what we call design thinking is the new regular thinking and we need to look for more to progress. As design facilitates change, we need to change design.

Step 2 is to get everyone on the same level - everyone is a designer
Which sounds great but would be a pretty big job - Our current education system  would need a serious make over and only the few and fortune can afford an education.

We are ultimately aiming to naturalise design.



We also explored empathy and how it is subjective to your personal ideological baggage.

Personally, i've been told this before, and see the benefits of stepping back and analysing from another perspective, but also feel that perspective is informed by our ideologies also.

I guess that's where the user testing comes in.
To lessen that subjectivity.


Mostly like I was a little over whelmed with all that information at 9am in the morning,

Tip to take away- On thursday mornings double up on caffeine before uni.

Week 4. Interim

05/08/15
Where we should be: Clever  = Work smarter not harder
Where we are : Clever = pulling off something complicated
Define, Empathy, Exchange

Today we had interim and were given feedback from another group. It went a lot better than I had expected as I felt like we've been floundering. The feedback was aimed at our aesthetics but also translated to the text. We need to nail what we want to say in fewer words and create a document people actually want to read. Then work on the visual/ supporting imagery.

The other group had a much more fleshed out concept and brilliant ideas but there were too many. Instead of picking one they had run with three. I thought any one of those ideas would make a convincing brief.

I feel like we've been heading down the same path of taking too many angles at once.
What we need is something that is simple, effective and straightforward.

Where we should be: Clever  = Work smarter not harder
Where we are : Clever = pulling off something complicated

Creativity- A blessing and a curse

01/08/2015
This shoudn't be so difficult
 Define, Empathy, Exchange, Ideate,


I honestly feel like we're over complicating the situation. The brief/task is fairly straightforward, yet our eagerness to find a solution has us chomping on the bit. I'm hoping by approaching the topics like I would in an essay i'll be able to see a more direct course.


At the same time i'm also beggining to appreciate how a designer "works from the outside in"- It's al very well being given a brief when the client knows exacty what is it they want, but by working on a brief i feel by deconstructing that 'want', it'll help to identify what is 'needed'.

Week 3- Lesson 2

31/7/2015
The struggle is real
Define, Empathy, Exchange, Ideate, Test, Protoype,

As a group we've identified our points for each topic and what we're wanting to say, but are having difficulty with the wording.

I think it's as we're splitting the topics between us and each taking a skewed direction in articulating the topics.

I feel as though this is OK, but for the final text copy we will definately have to write the information as one voice.


As my two pages  are text heavy, i'm looking to create an overall explanation with a
S: Statement
E: example
E: explanation

Feedback informs direction

30/07/2015
Where to from here
Ideate, Define, Empathy


Our feedback was our project didn't have a clear identity so we've decided to create a word bank for each of the eight topics and synthesis a visual and textual response from there.

To contextualise our topic we've also created a character that would empathise with our target audience.

I feel this exercise has been really helpful to understand where our audience is coming from and the barriers they may face.



My focal topics are Barriers an Background-

From here i'll focal on misconception, choice/opportunity and social independence.

Less is more

30/07/2015
What is working
Define, Exchange, Ideate, Test

Today we presented to our peers and investigated what other projects were being tackled.

Only having 5 min to look at them all meant glancing at the topic statement and focussing on the image to provide context.

I feel this was an effective way to identify what projects were cohesive and which had an unclear direction. The projects paired with a stylistic approach to their statements were most effective as they embodied an identity and facilitated a decisive direction. I also felt less was more in many cases- The strongest projects had a clear statement and supporting image. Projects with to much text just became background information.

Week 3 Photography lectorial

30/07/2015
Photography ft Jason
Exchange, Ideate, Empathy

Today we started the lesson with Jason iterating the rules/tips of commercial photography.

I found the talk really useful and inspiring as it provided an insight into how powerful/individual a photo a can be. Jason's work reiterated for me the complex role of an artist/designer and how every action has a association and value.

I'm pumped to go back to photos i've taken in the past and see if my photographic identity has developed.

Pre formative formative

29/07/2015
Sort it out
Exchange, Ideate, Empathy, Define

We've met as a group before class tomorrow to better define the direction we're headed in and what we'll present to the class.

We've decided to go with the trajectory of introversion as positive. I'm a little worried we've narrowed  our topic/our opinions are too biased and am looking forward to the feedback of our peers and tutor.

Finalising our topic and exchange initiative

24.07.2015
All By Myselfie
Exchange, Empathy, Define, Ideate,Test

Today our group finalised our idea/direction under the topic of isolation. We were having difficulty nailing a title to navigate our direction, as we were focussed on the the concept of introversion (as a positive), but found the term had negative connotative value. We wanted to address the issue without bringing with it the negative connotations that come with being by yourself/introverted and so decided to use humour as a way to ease our audience into the topic.

We decided on the title all by myselfie. I'm a little worried the use of the word selfie will narrow our audience to youth who use social media, but also feel we can keep our brief broad by the way we execute our research and the topics visual element.

Our aim is to promote self acceptance, in the act of being by oneself and comfortable, through taking the time to get to know yourself through an intimate personal reflection. We'll investigate these reflections in situations relating the the four major elements of Well being- Emotional, social,physical and spiritual. This is where we link back to isolation, but use the connection as an opportunity for self reflection and acknowledgement.


We also had our first exchange where each person (from different disciplines) presented the ideas
from their particular briefs. Im excited to see what developments will have been made by the next meeting as alternative disciplines are tackling similar issues. I think that their direction and the effectiveness of their execution will be useful in informing our own.

Week 2- Collaboration on Topic

23.07.2015
Lectorial and group discussion
Exchange/Empathy/Ideate/Define/Test

We began the lesson with a presentation from a former member of Amnesty of international where the speaker illustrated there is a position for designers as contributers of global wellbeing (design for good). He talked of his experience and where/how a designer can contribute.

In class we shared our research on various topics and began to identify the many trajectories under an audience/field. From here we organised yourseles into groups that identified to a certain topic. Our aim is to research these topics, identify the 8 factors contributing to a defined issue, and present a possible solution. I think many of us we a little confused on the outcome of the first brief- our focus is to focus on a solution rather than the issue, therefore addressing the issue indirectly.

I'm beginning to realise the potential designers have to do good, and how they fit into a big picture. All advertising doesn't have to be selfish.


I'm trying to keep my topic (isolation) open, researching multiple trajectories to present, and as a group identify what specifically we're most interested in pursuing. We have two opposing arguments, positive isolation- self acceptance, balanced introversion, and negative isolation- imbalance, socially, mentally, culturally etc.