Part I focuses on forming a team, identifying a space of interest, and doing initial needfinding observation.
Form a team of three from your studio. We suggest that you seek out teammates who bring together complementary skills and who have compatible schedules and priorities. If your studio cannot divide evenly into groups of three, talk to the studio staff about options.
You are welcome to choose any direction that fits within the studio theme. You may take ideas from lecture, or brainstorm your own. The expectation will be that this round of needfinding in class will give you deeper insights into user needs than the last one, so it may take some time to set up the interviews and the trip. We'd also like to be able to give you feedback and connect you with relevant user groups when we can.
Decide on a rough needfinding plan, focusing on with whom and where you want to do your needfinding. Post a (private or public) note on Piazza describing your topic of interest and your needfinding plan, so we can give you feedback on the plan, before you go out to the field.
The d.school bootcamp bootleg has some good ideas about different ways to needfind and capture observations.
Execute on your needfinding plan and gather your observations. Capture a mix of sketches, text, and when appropriate, photo and video.
Compile your team's observations together into one PDF. Now, filter your raw materials into five pages of your most interesting observations that the course staff can look at, and copy them into another PDF, alongside a couple sentences each of explanation if you'd like. Bring these selections to studio.
As part of your synthesis, generate three people profiles to capture different stakeholders or user groups. (See a template here that you can copy and edit for your submission.) People profiles ensure that you have enough depth on a perspective from your conversations to tell a story. They help your results become more emotionally resonant.
Next milestone will be to produce interpretations of these observations.
Pull everything together into your submission folder labeled "P3-1". This includes:
Bring a full-page color printout of 1) your selected observations and 2) your people profiles with you to studio.
Each milestone is worth five points. You will receive five points for completing the assignment satisfactorily, submitting it, and your whole team bringing your sketches to class for feedback.