ahandrewh teaches IAT-235information design

P2: Research and Present (due February 12)

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Introduction

Performing effective research and presenting your work are both important to becoming an effective designer. In this project you will practice doing some initial research and present it.

This project is completed individually.

P2: Research and Present is worth 15% of your final grade.

Weekly instructions

This project spans multiple weeks. Please read the weekly instructions carefully.

From January 29 to February 5

The first week of this project is about selecting a visual design culture you are unfamiliar with, stating your assumptions, and performing initial research into that culture. You are not permitted to research aspects of:

  • Dutch design
  • Swiss design
  • North American (Canadian or U.S.) design

Please complete the following:

  1. Select a visual design culture you want to explore. For example "Japanese mobile chat app interface design" or "Indigenous type design."
    • This cannot be a design culture you are familiar with.
    • There must be enough visual design material to discuss — make sure there are at least eight sources.
    • This design culture should have visual evidence of graphic, information, web, or interface design.
    • The more specific you can be about the culture you are looking into the better.
  2. Come up with a list of assumptions you may have about the design culture chosen. Write it down.
  3. Rephrase the list of assumptions as questions. For example, if one of my assumptions is "Japanese mobile chat app interface design is very visually complex and dense," my question could be "What are patterns in the visual composition of Japanese mobile chat app interfaces?" and "Why are these patterns used?"
  4. Pick one of the questions to research. Collect resources that you believe will answer the question, use a proper citation format (i.e. APA or MLA) for the list. We recommend:
    • Use the SFU library's collection of online resources as a starting point.
    • Exploring media — designs, videos, interviews — that are specifically about the culture being investigated.
    5. Bring to your February 5 lab

    A URL to a document (i.e. Google Docs) or a PDF that contains:

    • The chosen design culture.
    • The assumptions.
    • The assumptions turned into questions.
    • An initial list of resources that try and answer the question.

    We will discuss your deliverables in lab.

From February 5 to February 12

This week is about trying to answer the questions and presenting on the research. Please complete the following:

  1. Working with feedback from the prior lab, revise the question and list of resources as necessary.
  2. Review the resources to try and answer the question. Take notes on material and save images that seem relevant to the questions.
  3. Create a summary of what you believe helps to answer the question. Use the notes and saved images to show what may answer the questions.
  4. Assemble a presentation on the research. This presentation should:
    • Answer the following:
      • What design culture is being researched?
      • What is the question?
      • What has the research uncovered?
      • How did the research answer (or not answer) the questions?
    • Aim for no more than ten slides.
    • Use evidence from the research to show findings.
    • Include citations for any material quoted or visuals included. Use a consistent format (APA, MLA, etc).
  5. Rehearse the presentation. We are expecting a two minute presentation.
    6. Bring to your February 12 lab

    A PDF that contains your presentation. Please be prepared to give your presentation in the lab.

Grading rubric

Grading for this project focuses on process and the presentation of process. Please email Andrew with any questions about the rubric.

A B C D/F

Presentation design (5 points): 'Does this look professionally done?'

The presentation provides an exceptional design — legible, clear hierarchy, excellent use of space/composition, images, and a consistent visual language.

The presentation provides an effective visual design — legible, clear hierarchy, good use of space/composition, and a consistent visual language.

The presentation provides a somewhat problematic visual design — somewhat illegible, unclear hierarchy, somewhat ineffective use of space/composition, and/or an inconsistent visual language.

The presentation provides an ineffective visual design — illegible, unclear hierarchy, ineffective use of space/composition, and inconsistent visual language.

Effective presentation (5 points): 'Does it show and tell about the research effectively?'

The presentation uses supporting artifacts effectively — i.e. images, quotes, process material, etc. — to present an easy-to-understand narrative from start to end of the research without extra, un-related materials.

The presentation uses supporting artifacts — i.e. images, quotes, process material, etc. — to present an easy-to-understand narrative from start to end of the research with some extra, un-related materials.

The presentation uses some supporting artifacts — i.e. images, quotes, process material, etc. — to present an understandable narrative from start to end of the research with some extra, un-related materials.

The presentation uses few supporting artifacts — i.e. images, quotes, process material, etc. — to present a confusing narrative of the research with materials that are not clearly related.

Research (3 points):

The research completed shows a strong exploration of the questions posed, and uses eight or more high-quality cited sources.

The research completed shows a good exploration of the questions posed, and uses six to eight cited sources.

The research completed shows an okay exploration of the questions posed, and uses up to six cited sources.

What research was completed is unclear due to how it is presented and/or an unclear number of sources.

Polish (1 point):

  • Presentation is proofread and edited with few errors. It consistently follows the rules of Standard English.
  • Completed between 1:45 to 2:15 (mm:ss).
  • Document is proofread and edited with few errors. It consistently follows the rules of Standard English.
  • Completed between 1:15 to 1:45 or 2:15 to 2:45 (mm:ss).
  • Document contains many errors that interfere with meaning. It generally does not follow the rules of Standard English.
  • Completed in under 1:15 or over 2:45 (mm:ss).

Citations (1 point):

Citations to the original sources are provided in a consistent format (i.e. APA, MLA, etc).

Citations to the original sources are provided in an inconsistent format.

The presentation is missing citations.

Final submission requirements (February 12)

The final submission for P2 is a PDF of your presentation slides and a presentation given in lab on February 12.

The PDF of your presentation slides is due to Canvas before your February 12 lab.

Please make sure double-check all your submitted files and URLs to ensure they can be opened. We want to avoid late or problematic submission penalties whenever possible.