Tasks and Duties
Task Objective
Your task this week is to explore and research current trends in automotive design thinking and generate a comprehensive ideation report. This task requires you to focus on how design thinking has influenced automotive design innovations and how emerging technologies are reshaping the industry.
Expected Deliverables
- A DOC file that includes a detailed research report.
- An ideation section summarizing your findings and creative directions.
Key Steps
- Research: Start by researching recent publications, public articles, and case studies related to automotive design thinking. Identify at least three major trends that are currently influencing innovation in this area.
- Data Synthesis: Organize your findings into clear categories such as technology evolution, user-centric design, sustainable practices, and market adaptation. Include proper citations from publicly available sources.
- Ideation Development: Based on your research, brainstorm at least five new design ideas or strategies that could help shape the future of automotive design. Describe the potential impact each idea could have on user experience and industry standards.
- Documentation: Compile your work into a well-structured DOC file. Ensure that the document includes an introduction, methodology, detailed insights, brainstorming notes, and a conclusion summarizing your thoughts.
Evaluation Criteria
- The depth and breadth of your research.
- The clarity with which trends and ideas are articulated.
- The organization and professional presentation of your DOC file.
- Creativity and feasibility of the design ideas generated.
This task is designed to take roughly 30 to 35 hours and should reflect a robust understanding of how design thinking can be applied to revolutionize automotive innovations. Ensure that you cite publicly available sources and provide a structured, detailed narrative that could stand as a professional report in the field.
Task Objective
This week, focus on establishing a strong foundation through stakeholder empathy and problem identification. You will learn how to map out the needs, challenges, and aspirations of various stakeholders in the automotive ecosystem, from end-users to manufacturing partners.
Expected Deliverables
- A DOC file containing a complete empathy map and stakeholder analysis.
- A section that precisely defines critical problems faced by these stakeholders in today’s automotive environment.
Key Steps
- Stakeholder Identification: List out key stakeholders relevant to automotive design, including drivers, passengers, designers, engineers, and aftermarket service providers. Explain why each is critical.
- Empathy Mapping: Create empathy maps for at least three different stakeholder groups. Consider what they say, think, feel, and do. Identify pain points and unmet needs.
- Problem Definition: Based on your empathy maps, pinpoint two or three core challenges that these stakeholders experience regularly. Describe these issues in detail, and propose potential areas that require a design intervention.
- Documentation: Compile your empathy maps and problem definitions into a well-organized DOC file. Make use of diagrams and bullet points where applicable to enhance clarity.
Evaluation Criteria
- Comprehensiveness in identifying stakeholders.
- Thoroughness and clarity of empathy maps.
- Relevance and specificity of the identified problems.
- The overall presentation and structure of the DOC file submitted.
The expected completion time for this task is about 30 to 35 hours. Strive to integrate design thinking principles with practical analysis, ensuring your work is insightful and professionally presented to communicate deep empathy and a clear understanding of stakeholder challenges.
Task Objective
This week’s task centers on creative ideation to design innovative solutions to the problems identified in the previous week. You will employ design thinking methods to generate and refine multiple concepts for addressing key challenges in automotive design.
Expected Deliverables
- A comprehensive DOC file documenting all brainstorming sessions, sketches, and concept iterations.
- A clear narrative detailing the flow of creativity and thought processes as you iterate through ideas.
Key Steps
- Brainstorming Session: Conduct a series of brainstorming sessions where you generate a wide range of ideas without immediate judgment. Use techniques such as mind mapping and SCAMPER to stimulate creative thinking.
- Concept Development: Select and refine at least three promising concepts from your brainstorming session. For each concept, provide detailed descriptions, potential benefits, and impact assessments.
- Visualization: Where applicable, create simple sketches or diagrams to visually represent the concepts. This will help in articulating your ideas more clearly.
- Documentation: Arrange your ideas, sketches, and reflections into a structured DOC file. Include sections for brainstorming notes, concept evaluations, and a final recommendation on the preferred design strategy.
Evaluation Criteria
- Diversity and volume of ideas generated.
- Depth of concept explanation and innovation.
- Effective use of visual aids in the DOC file.
- Quality of documentation, clarity in communication, and adherence to a structured format.
This task is estimated to require roughly 30 to 35 hours of work. Your deliverable should showcase not only the creative process but also a systematic approach in moving from raw ideas to refined concepts. Ensure that your final DOC submission clearly explains each step taken during your ideation process.
Task Objective
This week, you will transition from ideation to the execution phase by developing low-fidelity prototypes and visual concepts. Your objective is to create preliminary visualizations that capture the essence and functionality of the automotive design concepts you generated previously.
Expected Deliverables
- A DOC file that contains images or diagrams of your prototypes, accompanied by detailed descriptive text.
- An explanation of the prototype’s functionality, user interaction, and design rationale.
Key Steps
- Prototype Design: Choose one or two concepts from your previous task. Develop low-fidelity prototypes using sketches, diagrams, or digital drawing tools. Focus on key user interactions and functional features.
- Visualization: Ensure that your prototypes visually communicate the core idea. Include multiple views and user journey flows to provide a complete picture of the design.
- Detailing the Prototype: Write a comprehensive narrative explaining how the prototype addresses the user needs and solves the identified problems. Detail the key features and user journey in your DOC file.
- Review and Consolidation: Organize your visual and written content neatly into a DOC file, subdividing the document into sections like concept overview, prototype visuals, functional explanation, and design rationale.
Evaluation Criteria
- Creativity and clarity in prototype design.
- Effectiveness of visual communication in demonstrating design intent.
- Depth of detail in explaining how the prototypes address design challenges.
- Overall document organization and professional presentation.
This project is expected to take around 30 to 35 hours to complete. Throughout this assignment, you should aim for clarity, creativity, and the effective translation of abstract ideas into tangible visual representations that capture the design intuition underlying automotive innovations.
Task Objective
The focus this week is on simulating a user testing environment and gathering iterative feedback on your proposed automotive design solutions. You will develop scenarios that mimic user interactions and perform a detailed analysis of potential improvements.
Expected Deliverables
- A DOC file summarizing your simulated user testing scenarios, feedback collection processes, and iterative improvement strategies.
- A section that outlines modifications made to the original design concepts based on feedback insights.
Key Steps
- Test Scenario Development: Design realistic scenarios that represent how typical users might interact with the automotive design concepts. Focus on common usability challenges and critical interaction points.
- Simulated Testing: Based on your scenarios, simulate user testing either through role-playing or by hypothetically documenting expected behaviors and outcomes. Record detailed observations regarding ease-of-use, functionality, and user satisfaction.
- Feedback Integration: Analyze the simulated feedback and identify areas that require iterative improvements. Propose actionable steps to address the observed issues.
- Documentation: Create a well-structured DOC file that walks through the testing scenario, simulation processes, feedback analysis, and iterative design modifications. Use tables, flowcharts, and bullet lists where necessary to clearly represent your findings and proposals.
Evaluation Criteria
- The realism and depth of the user testing scenarios.
- The clarity and practicality of the simulated feedback process.
- The quality and creativity of the iterative improvements suggested.
- The professional organization and presentation in the DOC submission.
The assignment is expected to consume approximately 30 to 35 hours of your time. Your work should clearly demonstrate an understanding of user-centric evaluation in design thinking, highlighting the importance of testing, feedback, and continuous refinement within automotive design projects.
Task Objective
Your final task for the internship focuses on the strategic evaluation of your design process, a comprehensive reflection of the design thinking methodology applied, and the development of a future roadmap for your automotive design innovations.
Expected Deliverables
- A DOC file that contains a strategic report detailing the process you followed throughout the internship.
- A reflective section on lessons learned, challenges faced, and improvements for future design projects.
- A proposed roadmap outlining next steps for further refining and implementing your design strategies.
Key Steps
- Strategic Review: Revisit each phase of your design thinking process from ideation to testing. Critically evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, successes, and areas for improvement.
- Reflection: Write a detailed reflective narrative discussing what you learned during the internship. Consider aspects such as creative problem solving, innovation, and stakeholder engagement. Identify any challenges you encountered and articulate how you overcame them.
- Roadmap Development: Based on your evaluation and reflection, propose a detailed future roadmap for your automotive design strategy. Your roadmap should include strategic goals, implementation tactics, timelines, and milestones for further development.
- Documentation: Compile your strategic evaluation, reflective discussion, and future roadmap into a professionally formatted DOC file. Use headings, subheadings, diagrams, and bullet points to ensure clarity and coherence.
Evaluation Criteria
- The thoroughness of the strategic evaluation and reflection.
- The clarity and viability of the proposed future roadmap.
- The depth of critical insight and learning demonstrated throughout your report.
- The overall presentation, organization, and professional quality of the DOC file.
This final task is designed to be completed in roughly 30 to 35 hours and serves as a culmination of your learning journey. You are expected to provide a narrative that not only highlights your design process, but also demonstrates your ability to critically assess your work and plan for future innovations in automotive design thinking.