Having these constraints hindered and benefited my workflow at the same time. Because we only had two weeks to research and make, I couldn’t let myself get stuck and dwell on ideas too long (as I tend to do). I had to make sure I made a good amount of progress each time we met. Since I had a topic provided to me, it meant I spent a lot less time trying to find the “perfect” idea to tackle. However, that also meant I didn’t feel as invested into the project. It didn’t feel as unique, especially when other groups were developing similar interventions for the same place. And having to collaborate with classmates was definitely a struggle, even though we all got along well. It was nice to have others to generate ideas, bounce ideas around, and take up some of the workload. However, I feel that having more people also limited our productivity. Our schedules were really different and it was hard for us to find times to meet in-person that weren’t late at night. There were times where we all had to wait for each other to complete their part of the project before we could move on, so we each experienced periods of stagnation. The fact that our (Adobe) software didn’t allow real-time remote collaboration like Google Drive also didn’t help. Actually, having more ideas wasn’t always a good thing. At times, we struggled to pick one concept to focus on and go with because we liked all the ideas we came up with!
This wasn’t the first time I had done design group work, but it was the first time I had such a short time frame to work in. Even though it was a very stressful and exhausting experience, I think working in a charrette was a necessary experience for me. It’ll help me prepare for the fast-paced collaborative work in the real world. I still have a hard time not getting stuck on minute details, and this project forced me to move on quickly. Sometimes, I felt that even two weeks was too long for a project. So perhaps I’d want to try shorter charrettes/challenges in the future (not now though because I’m still recovering!).
Obviously working with others meant that I worked harder and longer. I didn’t want to let my teammates down. And I didn’t want them to shoulder too much of the workload. When I was working with my group in-person, I tended to get more done because I could easily get feedback along the way. It was much easier to ask for help and explain what I was doing though visuals and speech instead of text messages. Seeing them working hard also motivated me to work hard. When I wasn’t with my group, I had a harder time focusing on the project because of other duties. Perhaps there were times where we ended up distracting one another because our brains began to fizzle out, but those distractions helped lighten the mood and relieve stress. I’d say our final design intervention turned out pretty well since we had more than one person working and good group dynamics. Not only did we each do what we were assigned, we would share ideas for, give feedback on, and help out with other members’ portions. We were all involved in each part.
My takeaways: Plan ahead when you make site visits so you don’t end up driving around aimlessly and wasting time. Foster an open environment where everyone can contribute an equal amount. Don’t be afraid to share ideas with your groupmates, even if you think they sound dumb. They might lead to ideas you’d never thought of otherwise (or at least evoke laughter and lower stress a little). And try not to procrastinate, even if you don’t feel very motivated to do the project. You’ll regret it when you’re stuck in studio at 1am, starving and working feverishly the last few days.
GO TEAM! Thanks for all your hard work!
Link to our project:
(Group D: Jasmine, Sydney, Madi, Nick)
GD301_Branding, Interaction, Service Design 