In order to translate research insights into design concepts, we first used the “what we heard/what we learned/what this means” framework to summarize insights from different workshops. Then we created an affinity map of the “what this means” column and identified multiple themes:
Concept 1— Responsive feedback loop for better classroom communication
This concept allows students to share their feelings privately with their teachers and request help if needed. They can also share their emotions anonymously on a public digital board. This artifact helps students to understand their peers and teachers to better understand their students.
We started our generative research this week after presenting the exploratory research findings.
As a first step, we had a brainstorm session in which everyone proposed potential design directions and artifacts based on what we learned so far. Each of us sourced several inspiration images and shared them in Figma. This helped us get on the same page about what the team is interested in as well as having a sense of what the artifact might be.
We found four themes in the proposed ideas:
After identifying “Future-Ready Learner” in the graduate portrait as our focus area, we realized that the primary task is to have an operational definition of future-ready for the Santa Clara Unified School District (SCUSD). What skills do students need to have in order to be adaptable to the changing job market? Should the main focus be on getting prepared for future work or individual resilience and agency? What does future-ready mean for students from different backgrounds, including the privileged and unprivileged?
We then came up with a more focused and structured research question to guide our research and help identify…
Learnings and reflections from CMU’s Communication Design Studio in Fall 2020
For this project, I’ll be investigating climate data to explore and visualize sources of greenhouse gas emissions and how might each contributor help to reach net zero carbon emission.
We started the project by analyzing existing visualization on the website Information Is Beautiful. Questions to consider include:
Based on our interviews and research on remote theater performance, we worked on refining our ideas in areas including the problem context, target users, and what technologies are involved. We first listed all the potential options and then discussed the pros and cons of each.
Our discussion led to several consensuses:
In this project, we are tasked with explaining an abstract concept in a short video. And the topic I received is — Internet Cookies
I began this project by researching how internet cookies function. Understanding internet cookies first requires an understanding of the client-server model of the internet. This model is the standard method of communication between a browser on a computer and the web server. The web server is a centralized location where data is stored. It distributes data to each individual client, or browser, after receiving the request from the client.
An internet cookie is the means by…
Week 1 — Tue 9/1 Course Overview
Kicking off the semester in the time of quarantine is both challenging and interesting. Especially for a class on communication design, the pandemic limits our ability to communicate the way we are used to but in the meantime challenges us to reflect on what is communication and how we can improve it for people living in this new reality. I am looking forward to taking on the challenges and exciting opportunities in this studio.
Activity 1: Exploring the appearance and mechanism of different toys
We started the first class by virtually exploring the…
Written by Team Resilience:
Hillary Carey, Alex Klein, Nandini Nair, Yuchuan ShanRacial Inequity in Pittsburgh, Transition Design Seminar 2020, CMU
For Assignment #3 of the Transition Design (TD) Seminar, we use Sohail Inayatullah’s framework, Causal Layered Analysis, as a new frame to understand our wicked problem of racial inequity in Pittsburgh, PA. The TD instructors encourage this method because it is a way “to ‘deconstruct’ the problem” in “the way in which the problem is viewed/accepted in mainstream society as well as the deeper, less understood (or even hidden) roots of the problem (TransitionDesignSeminarCMU.net, 2020).” …