Design Expo 2016

Wednesdays, 9:30-12 (2/17 - 4/6)
NYU ITP, Rm 20

PROFESSOR

Mike Dory | michael.dory@nyu.edu
Office hours: Tuesdays, 6:30-8:30 (or by request) | Signup form

TEAMS

  • Eldsafe - Druv, Joakim, Ondina
  • Warren - Jia, Lirong, Fengyuan, Peiyu
  • Birthline - Shir, Franchesca, Michelle, Dalit, Lindsey
  • Rally - Francisco, Lutfiadi

OVERVIEW

Design Expo is an eight-week design challenge — seven weeks during the semester, and one after. Students will work in groups to understand, and then respond to, a brief from Microsoft Research (MSR), and then present their work for feedback and iteration. Each week will also feature guest presenters from the likes of Google, Microsoft, Kickstarter, and more.

This year's theme is "Achieving Symbiosis and the Conversational User Interface (CUI)," and allows for a wide variety of interpretations. Given the scale and range of the topic, it will be critical for students to focus in on a particular community, type of interface, and problem that has impact. Students will form their own small groups of 3-5 people (before applying), and each group will research the challenge, propose possible innovations or solutions, and then iterate those proposals. A successful proposal can be a demo ("We've imagined a new possibility, and this is what it would look like") or a prototype ("We've imagined a new possibility, and we built a small version of it.")

At the end of the workshop one group will be selected by outside reviewers to travel to Redmond, WA in July to present their proposal at MSR's Faculty Research Summit along with other students from top institutions around the world.

This workshop will run from 9:30-12 for seven sessions, and will meet for one additional session in July, prior to the trip to Microsoft.

COMPENSATION

Design Expo is an extra-curricular workshop. As such, accepted groups will be awarded a small research stipend, pending a successful completion of the program.

SPECIFICATIONS

Students will submit their proposals as a group by February 8th, and selected groups will be notified of their acceptance by February 12th.

ASSIGNMENTS

The majority of the assigments given for this workshop are group-oriented, and focus on the definition, evolution, and presentation of each team's concepts. As such, each group should come prepared to not only discuss the assignments each week, but to give updates on the progression of their projects.

While most readings are available online and/or will be distributed by the instructor, the following text is required:

The following texts offer great insights into the the subject matter, and are recommended, though not required:

PROGRAM OUTLINE

Week 1: 2/17 - Why are we here?

Speaker: Clive Thompson, Wired/New York Times

  • The plan for this program
  • The topic
    • The details
    • The thought behind it
    • Relevant examples

Assignments

  • Think about the brief, and how it relates to your ideas
    • Read the brief and guidelines. Seriously, read them - it will help!
    • Come armed with questions for next time
  • Read about the area
  • Prepare for your first presentation
    • Give a 5-10 minute presentation on what you want to make
      • What are you proposing, and why?
        • Use images, storyboards, system diagrams, etc., to help explain it
      • What do you plan to do by the end of the workshop?
        • How will you show your concept, and what will it be?
      • Take a swing at how you'll address the following questions
        • What's your idea, and why is it a good idea? (can it pass the "so what" test)?
        • What does your market look like? Who would use this/who would this benefit?
        • What does the market look like? Who else has done this?
        • How might it work? What form will it take?
        • What do you plan to produce for this class?
        • who it is for, how it might work, and what you will produce for this class?
  • Start a group log/blog
    • Send me the link(s)
    • Add your first post

Week 2: 2/24 - What's your idea?

Speaker: Vikram Tank, Google

  • Present your concepts (5-10 minutes per group)
    • Group critique
    • Research suggestions
    • Discuss next steps
  • Where to go from here
    • Points of inspiration around the topic
    • Ways to vet/poke at the idea
    • How to work as a team
  • Start a project plan
    • Figure out what you'll do and make, and when
    • Determine when to do testing, prototyping, and presenting

Assignments

Week 3: 3/2 - What did you learn?

Speaker: John Dimatos, Kickstarter

  • How's your project plan
    • What are you going to build
    • What are you going to present
    • Who will work on what
  • How'd your explorations go
    • How did your mission/vision evolve
    • How did your explorations (user stories, personas, etc.) work out
      • Do they vet the concepts
      • Do people seem to agree/disagree
  • How is your idea evolving
    • How does it work within the theme
    • What will you do/make next
      • As a reminder, the thing you "make" doesn't need to be a functioning prototype
      • Successful projects in the past have included mockups, videos, and other presentation tools, rather than live demos

Assignments

  • Prepare a 10-15 minute progress presentation for next week
    • What have you done so far?
    • How as your idea evolved
    • What are you working on
  • Begin lo-fi prototyping
  • Read:
    • Glass Cage, Chapter 1
  • Update your class log

Week 4: 3/9 - Research and Prototyping

Speaker: Allison Parrish, Fordham University

  • Where are your concepts now
    • What's changed
    • What are you worrying about
    • What to refine
  • How'd your lo-fi prototyping/testing go
    • Did it vet the concepts
    • Do people seem to agree/disagree
  • How to do more robust prototypes
    • Group discussion
  • How to conclude your research
    • Vetting your concepts
    • Testing with users
    • Learning from your mistakes
  • Read:

Assignments

  • Prepare a 10-15 minute presentation for next week
    • What have you done so far
    • How has your idea evolved
    • What are you working on
  • Work on your prototypes
    • Mockups
    • Clickable visuals
      • InVision
      • Balsamiq
    • Video
  • Explain how it might work
  • Update your class log

--- Spring break: no class 3/16 ---

Week 5: 3/23 - How do you present it?

  • What it means to present well
    • Good presentation examples
    • How to communicate your ideas
  • Revisit the brief and the rules
    • What will you present
    • How will you be judged
    • What will you work on between now and then
  • Discuss evolution of concepts
    • Group presentations (10-15 each)
    • Group discussion

Assignments

  • Prepare a full presentation for next week
    • Treating this more as a "real" presentation, you should cover:
      • Who you are
      • What you're doing
      • Why you're doing it
      • What you're proposing
      • What you've done so far
      • What you plan to do next
    • Practice this a few times, both on your own and in front of others. It will help, I promise.
    • Decide who will talk about which piece(s), and how you'll make this feel like a fluid presentation.
  • Watch at least two of the previous presentations for Design Expo
  • Update your class log

Bonus - Check out Ignite presentations for inspiration - Read How To Give a Great Ignite Talk - Watch some Ignite videos

Double-bonus - Record your own talk - Send it to me if you want — I'll happily give you feedback

Week 6: 3/30 - Bringing it to life

Guest Critics: Jeff Gray, Benedetta Piantella, Corey Menscher, ChanMi Park

  • Each group presents their work
  • Guests provide feedback and critique

Week 7: 4/4 - Presentations

NOTE: this session is on Monday, not Wednesday
Guest Critics: Lili Cheng, Cindy Wong, Dan O'Sullivan, Nancy Hechinger

  • Each group presents their work
  • Select our winners!

--- Break for thesis ---

Week 8: 7/6 - Dress rehearsal/workshop

  • Feedback and recommendations
  • Workshop

Trip to Redmond: 7/11 - 7/14

  • Final presentations at Microsoft!