A Reading Break Message from Jesse

At this time, you should be engaged with Part 3 of Project Two, namely:

Develop six concepts for a toy or game in sketch form. Solicit feedback on your concepts from one of your colleagues, and deliver feedback to them in return. Your feedback should consider how each concept relates to our notions of what constitutes fun, and how the course material presented to date could be employed to improve the concept. Your six concepts must be posted to the blog by February 18 at 11:59PM, and your feedback must be posted to the blog by February 20 at 11:59PM.

The course material presented to date could include any number of things: material from the presentations, such as those entitled Establishing Structure, Maps and Diagrams, Conveying Information or Basic Principles of Experience Design; material from the Saffer or either of the Norman readings; material from our in-class deconstruction of fun, from our textbook, or from some other research you may have done for your own toy or game. What I'm not-so-subtly suggesting here is that you should take some time to review the first half of the course before you provide feedback. This isn't to say that you shouldn't express your gut feelings about your partner's concepts - you most definitely should - but that you should attempt to back these feelings up with some knowledge.

In support of this, I've picked some headings in Universal Principles of Design that are relevant to this Project. Please consider this assigned reading. Feel free to reference this material in your feedback.

Things to consider about the design process we're engaged with:
Development Cycle
Iteration
Prototyping

Things to consider about the nature of fun:
Archetypes
Hierarchy of Needs
Storytelling

Things to consider when constructing your prototype:
Aesthetic-Usability Effect
Iconic Representation
Inverted Pyramid
Ockham's Razor
Mimicry

I'll be providing feedback to all students who have posted to the blog by the end of the day on February 20th. I'd like to wait until you've received feedback from your colleague before I contribute.

Remember, these concepts constitute 5% of your final grade, and the feedback you provide constitute another 5%. If you haven't already posted to the blog, please do so. There will be a 25% penalty applied to all late posts, but that's better than nothing. I will be exceptionally critical of any prototypes presented next week that haven't had the benefit of this process.

If your partner hasn't posted anything to the blog, and you're unable to determine whether they plan to do so, please pick one of your other colleagues that has posted to the blog and provide feedback to them. Pick someone who hasn't already received more than one person's feedback.

Hope you're all having a good reading break. Don't hesitate to email me with any questions or concerns.

-Jesse

ps. I will be sending all of you your mid-term feedback, including your marks for Project One by Sunday, February 24 at 11:59PM.
pps. Your psychogeographic maps are beautiful. Thank your for your efforts.