Constraints:
For the most part, the design charette was challenging but enjoyable. It was an intense and fast paced way to start off the new year. The two week time constraint was intimidating, especially since it was for a group project. It can be a challenge to create a thorough and organized design processes for a project this big in such a short space of time. It can also make collaboration difficult. Different group members having different time constraints can affect the group dynamic and the pace that work is completed. Having a topic assigned was a bit of a relief. This is common in most design industries, having projects assigned to designers instead of designers creating their own projects. However, this took some of the guesswork out of creating a solution since we were given a basic framework of things that we could and couldn’t do. Working in a group can always present a challenge, as I mentioned before. For this group in particular I found myself realizing just how important collaboration and leadership within a group is. At some points it seemed like a lot was getting accomplished and at other points it felt frustrating to not know what was going on and to feel as though some members of the group had more of a voice than others. I learned a lot about the type of people I work well with.
Opportunity
This experience taught me what type of role I want to take on in a group, and really enforced just how important collaboration between all group members are. In some projects, dividing up work can be beneficial. However I think of a purpose of a charette it’s more important to continually hand off certain tasks and collaborate on others. A charette style project is intense, but provides a useful challenge. With such a short amount of time to work on a project of this scale, learning time management and how to create very focused and purposeful work are both necessary skills for completion. The charette enforced a strict schedule and very focused work. The beginning of a project will always be important for establishing the tone of the rest of the project. Lots of research and establishing a healthy work dynamic should be the first steps taken.
Application
I felt that my motivation fluctuated a lot during the course of the charette. Typically in a group I want to do my best to participate and give as much to the project as I can. However, there were several points where it seemed like certain members weren’t being heard. Although I wanted to participate, it was frustrating to see others taking on more work and not allowing room for collaboration. As much as I wanted to talk to the rest of my group I found it difficult, like I would either be stepping over boundaries or providing unwanted ideas. I ended up settling into my assigned portion of the project and just focusing on making that portion as good as I could. I feel like the focus of the project was all over the place, and it didn’t seem like the group was ever on the same page. Changes would be made without the entire group being included in the process. Instead of focusing on how the entire project should turn out it seemed like we ended up focusing on very specific bits and pieces of the project. Productivity seemed to go up when people were working together on their tasks rather than working on their own and away from each other. In the end though, the main deliverables ended up being high quality and presentable. I can’t help but feel that they ended up looking like very separate pieces just stuck next to each other.
My Contribution
I took some photos and video during the initial Durham research trip. Most of my work was on the AR screen mockups by researching old Durham history, searching for photos for overlays, and creating a template for the screen mockups. I also did some work on the final poster layout.
Presentation
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B3qkBGkR7RepSUtjTzB0UEVRZ2c
Future Recomendations
For any group setting it’s important to remain flexible and to listen to your group. The most important thing you can do is to step outside of your comfort zone, whether that’s speaking out more or stepping back from a leadership role to listen. Scheduling, collaboration, and focusing on the big picture should all be the main goals.
Group: Allison, Ari, Conner, Logan, Sam
GD301_Branding, Interaction, Service Design 