Tasks and Duties
Task Objective
Your objective for this week is to build a strategic foundation for design innovation by understanding the principles of design thinking. You will conduct research on current industry trends, develop a comprehensive strategy using design thinking methodologies, and define the problem statement for a potential design challenge.
Expected Deliverables
- A DOC file titled 'Week1_Strategic_Foundation.doc'
- A detailed strategic document (minimum 2000 words) that includes research findings, problem statement, and a strategic outline for addressing the identified challenge.
Key Steps to Complete the Task
- Research Phase: Spend about 10 hours researching current trends, user needs, and emerging technologies relevant to design innovation. Use publicly available resources and articles.
- Problem Definition: Dedicate 5 hours to synthesize your research into a clear, compelling problem statement. Explain why this problem is significant in today’s context.
- Strategic Planning: Invest approximately 10 hours developing a design thinking-based strategy including empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test phases. Outline potential ideas without needing to execute them fully.
- Documentation: Use the remaining time to format your findings and strategy into a professionally structured DOC file. Include an introduction, methodology, findings, strategy, and conclusion.
Evaluation Criteria
- Depth of Research: The analysis should be thorough, insightful, and critically engage with available public data.
- Clarity and Structure: The DOC file must be well-organized, clear, and coherent in presenting the strategic plan.
- Innovation and Relevance: Your approach must reflect innovative thinking and relevance to current design challenges.
- Completeness: All sections must be completed within the expected format and word count guidelines.
This task is designed to require approximately 30 to 35 hours of dedicated work. Ensure that your DOC file is self-contained, includes clearly labeled sections, and reflects individual insight without requiring any external attachments.
Task Objective
This week focuses on the ideation and concept development phase of design thinking. Your goal is to generate a set of innovative ideas that respond to the problem statement defined in Week 1. You will need to use creative techniques and tools to explore potential solutions, and document your ideation process in detail in a DOC file.
Expected Deliverables
- A DOC file named 'Week2_Ideation_Concept_Development.doc'
- A comprehensive document (minimum 2000 words) outlining the brainstorming sessions, concept sketches, visual aids, and descriptions of at least three distinct solution concepts.
Key Steps to Complete the Task
- Brainstorming Sessions: Allocate about 10 hours to generate a variety of ideas individually or using virtual brainstorming techniques. Document the sessions with written notes and any sketches drawn.
- Concept Development: Spend 10 hours selecting the most promising ideas and developing detailed concept descriptions. Each concept should include a rationale, expected user benefits, and potential design elements.
- Visualization: Use 5 hours to create basic visual representations or diagrams to communicate your concepts clearly.
- Compilation and Documentation: Conclude with 5 hours of work to integrate all ideas, sketches, and rationales into a structured DOC file. Ensure you include an introduction, methodology, idea development process, and conclusion.
Evaluation Criteria
- Creativity: The ideas should demonstrate originality and a high level of creativity.
- Detail and Clarity: Concepts and visual aids must be clearly explained and well-documented within the DOC file.
- Application of Design Thinking: The process should reflect a methodical application of design thinking principles.
- Presentation Quality: The final DOC file should be professionally formatted and easy to navigate.
This assignment is expected to take about 30 to 35 hours. Your documented reflections and detailed concept explorations will be key indicators of innovative thinking in design.
Task Objective
The aim of this week’s task is to translate your chosen concept from Week 2 into a practical prototype plan. You are required to outline the conceptual framework for executing the design prototype, focusing on practicality, feasibility, and user-centered design. This task reinforces the execution phase of the design thinking process.
Expected Deliverables
- A DOC file titled 'Week3_Prototype_Execution.doc'
- A detailed document (minimum 2000 words) outlining the prototype's design framework, implementation plan, expected user interaction, and success metrics.
Key Steps to Complete the Task
- Concept Selection: Begin by revisiting the ideas from Week 2. Dedicate 5 hours to select the most viable concept based on feasibility and impact.
- Prototype Framework: Spend 10 hours developing a comprehensive prototype plan. Detail the design elements, functionality, user flow, and interface considerations.
- Implementation Planning: Allocate 10 hours to draft a step-by-step implementation plan. This should include timelines, required resources, risk management strategies, and success metrics.
- Documentation: Use the remaining hours (approximately 5 hours) to compile all information into a well-organized DOC file. Ensure that your text includes all necessary sections: introduction, design rationale, prototype details, implementation plan, and evaluation criteria.
Evaluation Criteria
- Feasibility and Depth: The plan should demonstrate realistic viability while being detailed and thorough.
- Methodological Rigor: Your approach should reflect a strong adherence to design thinking phases and systematic planning.
- Clarity of Presentation: The final document must be clear, logically structured, and free of ambiguities.
- Innovative Execution: Insights into potential user benefits and creative navigation of possible execution challenges will be considered.
This project is devised to occupy roughly 30 to 35 hours, emphasizing practical and visionary prototype execution planning.
Task Objective
In this final week, you will focus on the evaluation phase by planning user testing and compiling a comprehensive reflective analysis of your design project. The goal is to simulate user feedback, assess prototype performance, and reflect on the design process to identify improvements and learning outcomes.
Expected Deliverables
- A DOC file named 'Week4_Evaluation_Reflection.doc'
- A reflective analysis document (minimum 2000 words) that includes a user testing plan, criteria for successful prototype evaluation, and a detailed reflection on the design thinking process and outcomes.
Key Steps to Complete the Task
- User Testing Plan: Take approximately 10 hours to design a hypothetical user testing plan. Detail the user groups, testing methods, data collection approaches, and feedback mechanisms. Even if actual testing is not performed, document a thorough plan with clear assumptions.
- Evaluation Metrics: Spend 10 hours defining clear, objective metrics that will assess the usability and functional performance of your prototype. Include both qualitative and quantitative indicators.
- Reflective Analysis: Use about 10 hours to reflect deeply on the overall design process, challenges encountered, decision-making rationales, and lessons learned. Articulate these insights in a well-organized analysis.
- Compilation and Submission: Conclude by compiling your user testing plan, evaluation metrics, and reflective analysis into a professionally formatted DOC file.
Evaluation Criteria
- Comprehensive Evaluation: Your document should capture an in-depth approach to user testing and performance measurement.
- Reflective Insight: Reflections should demonstrate critical thinking, self-assessment, and actionable insights for future improvement.
- Structured Presentation: The DOC file must be well-organized, logically formatted, and use clear sub-headings for each section.
- Practical Relevance: The methods and metrics proposed should be grounded in realistic scenarios using publicly available information and best practices.
This detailed assignment is set to take approximately 30 to 35 hours. Ensure that every section is fully developed, providing a holistic view of the user testing phase and the overall design journey from ideation to evaluation.