Design Week 1 Summary

DAY 1:

• We started off by introducing ourselves and discussing what the design class will include for this bootcamp.
• Then we looked at the different ways to create a mind map to help you in your design process.
• This was followed by a brainstorming group exercise where we all started a brainstorm and then switched places and expanded each other’s brainstorm maps. Then in the end you can see how everyone has almost similar maps and some key domains can be highlight and it helps in categorising your domains.

DAY 2:

• We discussed examples of good and bad designs.
• Introduction to research and how to use different resources to conduct research
• Video watch – Abstract: Art of Design, Ep2: Footwear Design:
  • The concept of this video was that oftentimes, we cannot achieve what we set out to because of lack of technical ability or resources available, but this episode shows that you can always go back to old ideas and materialize them later on when you have the means to do so, and just because they aren’t possible at a particular period in time doesn’t mean they are bad ideas. This is demonstrated by the self-lacing shoe example.
• Research Methods:
  • Background info: domain, target audience, secondary data
  • Precedents
  • Material used in the past
  • Always use citations wherever the research is not first hand

DAY 3:

• Everyone presented a problem and a way to solve it. My presentation focused on the problem of navigation in a city such as New York, where you have a plethora of different apps that you use in the process of getting from point A to B and how that takes you away from the real world and into the digital and you cannot look ahead while you are walking, rather you’ll be looking down at google maps on your phone for example.
• The different stages of the design process were discussed as well

DAY 4:

• Everyone presented a design statement about a previous project they did and that sort of helped define everyone’s domain, target audience and focus while also indicating the areas that need to be explored.
• Discussed how to storyboard a scenario and then did a group exercise where we all created a small part of the bigger story and then later we illustrated someone else’s part of the story to create a complete storyboard.

DAY 5:

• Everyone presented a previous project that they had done and explained the whole design process behind it. Getting feedback from the perspective of individuals from different academic fields was good, and also viewing projects from different backgrounds was very interesting.