What can I do before I receive coursework project theme 2022?

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If you desire a good outcome for your coursework, firstly you should know that you are not alone. You teachers works with you. Next you'll have to

1. start early
2. start well
3. continue confidently
4. end early with a BANG!

Here you will find all the resources you need to produce an excellent, meaningful design journal. But if you need additional consultation to super-charge your progress. getting an expert help is also available as a value-added service available to you.

Back to "What can I do? I have not gotten my coursework theme yet."

There is nothing worst than wasting the first three weeks of Term 1 in anticipation for the design theme. You can always START your design journal. From as soon as... NOW.

There are at least three things you can do in advance. 

1) Start thinking about which Target User(s) you wish to engage in your proposed design. So when you begin your exploration into identifying design NEEDS when you get your design theme, zoom immediately into the issues and needs for your target user(s). No beating around the bush. Also

2) start thinking about which Target Location you wish to explore regarding needs & design opportunities for your proposed design. You cannot be looking everywhere on earth for a design need. This is wasting too much time. Just like you zoomed in to the group of target user(s) decide and zoom into ONE location, e.g. PlayGround or HOME, or more specific the KITCHEN, etc. Be very focused. 

There is no need to worry about not covering enough ground to search for design needs or opportunities. If you do it well the specific target user(s) and location you have decided in advance is more than enough. What you need for success is CUT THE BULLSHIT.

And last but not least,

3) Complete your first cut of the Planning and Monitoring Gantt Chart (and here for Part II of the post). Complete your preparation phase with Planned Schedule worked out and recorded. 

Want to work 90% faster? Supercharge your starting point with ready-to-use templates (full customisation options available).

If you need more help, you can always count on expert consultation.

Hope you have a GREAT NEW YEAR 2022. 

Situation and Problem and the differences, and how to identify the best NEED to solve

Welcome to another new year of coursework in 2021. In this post we will look at what a situation and a problem is. And end with three simple questions you can ask yourself, so you may know if you have identified a design need that you can solve.  

A Situation:

A Situation is set of events that are happening (e.g. someone sweeping the floor in a windy condition), and the conditions (e.g. peacefulness, frustration, chaos, anxiety, etc.) that exist at a particular time and place, in which one finds oneself. Something is happening. What is it? Who is involved? What’s the atmosphere like?

Situations happen everywhere, all the time. A Situation is just... a Situation. Something involving someone took place. There is no good or bad Situation. Just Situation. When and how does a Situation become a Problem?

A Problem:

When one have yet to know how to handle a Situation, the situation becomes a Problem. When we have a Problem, unpleasantness / uncertainty is a natural consequence of that. People get anxious, irritated, or frustrated. 

It is very IMPORTANT to establish which is the real Problem? The Situation or the Person or the Product he is using (or should not be using), etc.? If you cannot get the Problem right, you aren’t solving any anything even with the best Solution. 

You can use the 5 Whys to help you get to the root cause of a problem.

When a root cause is found, we have an identified the NEED - the Solution to the Problem for the Situation.

A Need:

(Verb): refers to when someone requires something because it is essential or very important rather than just desirable, 

(Noun): a circumstance (in the Situation) in which something (e.g. a Solution to the Problem) is necessary.

THREE Questions you use to figure out if you have the BEST Design Project

Before you sprint all out with mindmaps after mindmaps with your newly found Theme you need to understand that there are so many unlimited situations you can identify. 

So where do I begin? How do I manage my work to be concise, precise and down-to-earth? 

You can answer the following THREE questions below to help you decide what is best:

1) Is the situation where I spend most of my time in? / Am I familiar with the situation?

    If no, consider choosing another situation. 

    If yes, move on to question 2.

2) Will I be able to realistically and conveniently test & evaluate my model(s), mock-up(s) or prototype? 
 

    If  no, consider choosing another situation. 

    If yes, move on to question 3.

3) Will I be able to gather researched information conveniently, truthfully and readily?

    If  no, consider choosing another situation. 

    If yes, go ahead. Or you can choose another one or two for consideration and comparison, and  

    finally find the best project for the best bang for your time.

If you do not choose a situation from which you spend most of your time in, or often enough, what chance do you have to be familiar with the situation? The exception is that you must be very good with your research to study an unfamiliar but equally promising situation and its concerns very well. Otherwise stick to what is closest to you according to your experience.

If you chose a situation where it will be very challenging for you to gather sufficient data, e.g. very difficult to get an appointment to observe / interview / talk to your target user(s), the place is too far or out-of-bounds or very limited accessibility, etc, again what is your chance of knowing your situation well enough to solve a problem?

Finally, if are not competent to complete the project within the deadline then you are not being realistic and not ready to take on the identified need - regardless if it is a good or bad one. You need to know your strengths and weaknesses. The graduation year is not a time for your to learn how to do things for most of the time. You ought to be applying what you have learnt and practiced instead.

Start well, maintain your momentum and end your coursework well.

All the best. mrdanielsos

Research - P.I.E.S. (To Identify Products and Design Opportunities)

Physical . Intellectual . Emotional . Social 

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NEEDS

P . I . E . S . is a convenient tool for surveying and covering four basic area of NEEDS.

P    Physical NEEDs
I      Intellectual NEEDs
E    Emotional NEEDs
S    Social NEEDs

Each of the acronyms (P, I, E and S) can be used individually, combining two or more selectively or as a whole depending on your desired research outcomes.

But in any case, focus on one acronym at a time when you use them.

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How to use P . I . E . S . in your research to identify NEEDs? Simple. You ask questions.

You ask questions related to each of the acronyms aiming at finding out what each of the NEEDs may be.

First of all, you cannot do this exercise in a random manner. It will lead you to no where. You must have in mind your target audience (targer user or target group) to begin and end effectively.

Secondly, this target audience must be doing something in an identified location.

Thirdly, you can begin crafting questions related to each of the acronyms in  P . I . E . S .

For example:

Target Audience: Elderly Folks (Male / Female / Mix)
Location:               Satay Club Singapore / Void deck
Activity:                  Looking for place to sit / Ordering / Eating Satay / etc. 

Background:
A group of elderly folks about the age of 65 plans to meet up on a Saturday evening for 'Satay' to chit chat and talk about the good old times. Now the group has arrived in Satay Club, and they are about to look for an empty table to start ordering the mouth watering Satays and enjoy each others company.

P    Physical NEEDs

Question: What are the Physical NEEDs? The following are examples of some Physical challenges: Getting around and navigating through the crowds. Getting around and navigating through the crowds with people and chairs juttting out all over the place. Place may be dimly lit means harder for elderlies to naviagate. Finding an empty table quickly enough with faster and more agile youngsters. Eating in a hot and humid condition and feeling sweaty and uncomfortable.

I      Intellectual NEEDs

Question: What are the Intellectual NEEDs? The following are examples of some Intellectual challenges: Finding directions and navigation to the location / the nearest toilet / etc. Font size in ordering menu. Languages printed in ordering menu. Language spoken by the vendors. etc.

I      Emotional NEEDs

Question: What are the Emotional NEEDs? The following are examples of some Emotional challenges: Low service standards may affects ones mood. Foceful touting from vendors can cause emotional stress. etc.
I      SOCIAL NEEDs

Question: What are the Social NEEDs? The following are examples of some Social challenges: Does the arrangement / configuration of the tables and seats encourage good interaction? Is the environment condusive for a group gathering. If surroundings are too noisy, the elderlys cannot listen to each other effectively and they may have to resort to shouting. Which may in turn disturb the other customers. etc. 

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Apart from using P . I . E . S . for exploring and identifying need areas, the approach can also be extended to identify products related to those needs. After which should prompt you for further and more in-depth research.

Design Opportunities can then be derived from them. The Activity Mapping technique can also be used concurrently here but it will be explained in another post.

The following are suggestions on how the P . I . E . S . technique is used to identify Design Opportunities:

1) have in mind who your target audience (or target user / target group) is,2) Go through P.I.E.S. to identify the various NEED areas within the activity context.
2) identify the product(s) that they interacting with under each NEED areas,
3) assess the user : product interaction within the given environment.
4) identify problems, improvement areas or invention opportunities.

Throughout the whole process, you need to be clear about the objectives (what the user want to achieve or experience) before, during and after the use of the product.

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A quick recap:

The reason for  P . I . E . S .'s existence is for understanding NEEDS. But you do not stop at just knowing NEEDS. So what do you do next after you identify the NEEDS? 

NEEDS identified from P . I . E . S . are in turn used to explore the various

other NEEDS and/or LIMITATIONS of the related products.

Here is how. Identify:

1) the product(s) involved, and

2) study the performance of the product  (e.g. how did the product perform to its expectations), or

3) could it be the user's problem in using the product. (e.g. product mis-handling)

4) etc...

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