Assignment 10: due 4/22

Hi class! Great to talk with you today. I really appreciate that you're willing to share your concerns regarding project 2 with me since it will help me to optimize the structure of the rest of the course to fit your needs. However, I want pass along this important message: take a deep breath and grab a cold one - the class is performing well on the whole.

Please remember that the goal of this project is not necessarily to solve a problem for your non-profit.

You are working with these organizations primarily so that you can interact with and learn from the people who run the orgs and the communities that they serve.

You should use this information to help you conceive of a proposal for a product, service or system that will sustainably benefit your target community. Your proposal may or may not involve the non-profit you are working with, and doesn't need to be implemented during this course.

Once you have design concepts in hand, you should focus on getting informal feedback from the folks in your organizations and your target communities, rather than treating them like clients per se.

Here is a generic schedule that you could use to guide your work for the rest of the semester:

April 21 - 29

• Continue to research and interact with your organizations target and communities.
• Build a set of potential problem areas to address and early design concepts for each problem area.
• Solicit feedback on these concepts from your orgs and communities, as well as your fellow designers at RISD.

April 30 - May 7

• Choose problem area to focus on and conduct problem-specific research
• Brainstorm on possible solutions and solicit feedback from orgs and communities
• Send out invites to final crit on 5/24
• Research prior art and create a matrix that compares the strengths and weaknesses of your concept to those of precedent projects

May 8 - 14

• Choose and develop one final design solution
• Solicit feedback from orgs and communities

May 14 - 19

• Review and refine all design concept models, diagrams and business plans
• Solicit final round of feedback from orgs and communities prior to presentation
• Package design solution into a persuasive presentation

May 20 - 23

• Presentation preparations for final crit

May 24

• Final crit
• Party

For Thursday 4/22, please complete one or both the following:

Option A

Produce a set of preliminary design sketches exploring the issues you are researching (opportunities for design interventions) and concepts that suggest possibilities for products, systems and/or services that address these issues. Don't be afraid to sketch! Have fun and enjoy the process, really! Have these ready on your laptop, on a USB key or as a hard copy for review.

Option B

Brainstorm on the potential problem areas for your target community that you will address in your project and produce lists, mind-maps and conceptual diagrams and other visual records of your thought process. Have these ready on your laptop, on a USB key or as a hard copy for review.

See you on Thursday!