The Process
How can I learn to do something?
How can I learn to do something through direct experience?
How can I share this experience?
Experiental
Learning
How can I learn to do something?
Design is a concept, but it's also a skill.
In order to go from learning about design, to learning to design,
I have to learn through experience.
Wanting to learn about design beyond a conceptual level,
I set out to learn about design by creating a project that not only talks about design,
but creates it.
Research. Increment. Evaluate. Refine. Iterate.
How can I learn to do something through direct experience?
I acquire new knowledge.
I design something with my new knowledge.
I evaluate and refine what I designed.
I create a new version that is better than the last.
I acquire new knowledge.
I design something with my new knowledge.
I evaluate and refine what I designed.
I create a new version that is better than the last.
I acquire new knowledge.
I design something with my new knowledge.
I evaluate and refine what I designed.
I create a new version that is better than the last.
Experience Transfer
How can I share this experience?
Attempting to capture the process, lessons, and the creative development of my experience, I seek to broadcast my experience in order to learn and create with full transparency, as well as to maximize the amount of data available to learn, reflect, and share from.
Live Twitch Streaming Took Place From September 2019 to May 2020
8 Sprints. 100 Days. Several Looming Questions.
Will I be able to make a project that will be able to showcase what I experienced in a 100 days of designing? Can I do this in a way that will be simple to understand and learn from? Will I be able to have a finished product by April 24, or will my project fall apart in the process?
Unsure of the outcome of the final product, but willing to chase the concept of experiencing information, I formulated a process that would allow me to continually move forward creatively.
Based on the Scrum Framework, The Process was created in order to work in an incremental and iterative fashion. It's iterative because work from one iteration is set to be improved on in subsequent iterations. It's incremental because completed work is delivered throughout the project.
The Sprints
Sprint 0 - The Foundation
September 1, 2019 to January 12, 2020
The foundation of the Experiencing Information started out with several bold (See: Lofty and Disconnected) pronouncements:
It would be integrative: I would make a thesis project about the intersection of design, computer science, and business.
It would be transparent: I would make a thesis that would show its final product as well as every step that I took to get there.
It would be sleek: I would make a thesis that would have an elegant, attractive, and modern design.
It would be self fulfilling: I would make a thesis project that would require information design to create it,
therefore expanding my skill in designing through hands-on learning.
I began to think of a project that would fit the parameters of my thesis goals. I quickly realized it would be difficult (if not impossible) to achieve the goals I had set for myself with a traditional research paper, given that a textual description of non-textual concepts such as design, user experience, aesthetics, etc., would always come short to a direct experience with the concept itself. After a semester of research, I came to the conclusion that the best way I could showcase how design can used to enhance the presentation of information was to create a website in which people could experience my design decisions for a thesis directly. By the end of the semester, I had settled on making a website that showcased a design portfolio as its final product, in addition to blogs that would narrate and benchmark the stages of the website as it was created.
Take a look at what the website proof of concept looked like in December 2019:
Sprint 1 - Video Killed The Blog Star
January 13 to January 26 , 2020
Having settled on the idea of making a website to showcase a design portfolio and the processes that were behind creating each portfolio item, I began to faithfully record my experience through blog posts that would include how-to walkthroughs, journals that showed the progress of my research question, and "Brain Dumps" in which I would list ideas as they originated and as they were developed. These blogs, however, quickly became increasingly time consuming and tedious, and I found myself looking for another medium to showcase the "Processes" part of my project.
I kept asking myself over the winter break how I could show the process in a way that didn't require me to go so out of the way to show how I created content. I struggled with this issue for weeks, until one night, as I was watching a youtube tutorial on "How to Make Better Blogs", it dawned on me that the person giving the tutorial was giving a tutorial through video, and not through a blog. I realized that blogs were a dead end, and that videos were much more efficient for my purposes. At last, I had reached the "media of least resistance" for the "Processes" section, just like a website had been the MOLR for my project. After researching video streaming, I iterated the process section to take its form as live streaming, and the Experiencing Information Twitch Channel was born.
Sprint 1 Recap
Sprint 2 - Bold Moves, Let's See If They Pay Off
January 27 to February 9, 2020
After Sprint 0 and Sprint 1, the stage had been set: I had a basis for my thesis, the media to share the elements of my project (A website for the overall project, Twitch for streaming, Trello for Agile Management, a portfolio format to showcase my work), my thesis proposal approved, and my thesis advisor secured. The only thing left was to actually begin building the project. After becoming familiar with how to stream on Twitch and creating the live streaming infrastructure for my project through Sprint 1, I began developing a new website for the project, re-imagining the site from scratch.
Sprint 2 marks my first encounters with several unforeseen variables that would come to affect the projects development. Streaming and working on a website simultaneously proved to be taxing on my laptop's battery and processing power, in addition to my network's internet speed. This led to occasional occurrences of my battery dying (even while charging!), laggy and slow website development, and lost connections on Twitch Streams. The reality is that plans never go a 100% as planned, and it's never as easy as it seems like it will be. Regardless, I had to learn to adjust. Oh, and I also got an external hard drive, because streams quickly took up all my storage, and I needed more space.
Sprint 2 Recap
Sprint 3 - Trust The Process
February 10 to February 23, 2020
By Sprint 3, I began to adjust to the Sprint structure, making adjustments when necessary to ensure that I could continue to move forward with the creation of the project. During this Sprint, I began the first versions of what would come to be "The Process", in which I would define the three essential questions that would drive this section. Not knowing what the final outcome of the project would be, these would become essential in helping me stay focused on the goals that this section sought to achieve throughout its development.
Sprint 3 also included the development of several portfolio items, such as the Waterloo Amenities Map, the 1Byte Poster, and the poster and background visuals for the @Jones Concert: Deric Lewis & The Church Choir. Although the projects were wildly different, I continued to attempt to combine my previous experience in graphic design with what I had been researching about data visualization and information design to create aesthetically pleasing and informationally effective material. Whenever I could get the opportunity at work, I tried to volunteer for more and more design projects, many of which I would have shied away from in the past.
Sprint 3 Recap
Sprint 4 - "Very Cool. What is It?"
February 24 to March 8, 2020
At times there is a distinct feeling that is a mixture between fear and excitement when I begin projects that are slightly out of my comfort zone. A large art installation was definitely out of my comfort zone. Slightly prodded by my mentor (and role model), David Waldron, to be the project manager of the Office of Information's homecoming tech installation, the project became a collaborative installation between my thesis project and the SEU's Maker Club, given the mutual focus on designing, and the creation of tech projects that align the content of learning with hands-on application. After a few months of planning and a few weeks of building, 1Byte was created.
1Byte stands out as one of the highlights and personal favorites in Experiencing Information's Portfolio. By far the most daunting project I have ever taken on, it was also the most fulfilling to design, build, and showcase.
The name 1Byte is derived from the conversion of 1 byte = 8bits, with each strip representing 1 bit of information. To me, 1 Byte embodies many of the aspirations and goals behind the entire Experiencing Information project. From a personal perspective, it represents taking risks and not being afraid to grow outside a comfort zone. From an artistic perspective, it represents clean and minimalist aesthetics, and shows that less can sometimes be more. From a highly conceptual level, 1 Byte represents 1) the infinite amount of ways in which data can be arranged, formed, and displayed to show information, 2) information transfer beyond words, text, and sound, and 3) open interpretation, highlighting the many ways in which the same information can be perceived by individual viewers.
Sprint 4 - 1Byte
Sprint 5 - Exploring Brand Identities
March 9 to March 22, 2020
The 1Byte art installation was originally set to run during St. Edward's Homecoming week and the last two weeks of February. However, after a few weeks, a request from the on-campus St. Andre Apartments Supervisors (in which the installation was hosted) proposed a plan to continue to exhibit the installation through March. As a result, the weeks of March were spent passively maintaining and supervising the 1Byte Installation, in addition to continuing work on several additional portfolio items.
In need for a modern logo redesign, I took the opportunity to help a local client, Downing Homes, in refreshing their existing logo. After modernizing their existing logo, deliverables such as updated business cards, property signage, and other marketing materials were also delivered to reflect the updated redesigns. In addition to this, my work in Sprint 5 also included a branding conceptualization project for an up-and-coming development in the Burnet Corridor. For this project,
I was given the opportunity to curate several potential branding concepts for the development, which would drive the building's brand identity and marketing narrative.
Sprint 5 Recap
Sprint 6 - Really Sprinting
March 23 to April 5, 2020
Following a few sprints of mostly portfolio work, Sprint 6 was a welcomed change of pace characterized by a major refocus on the website. After having created portfolio items for the past few months, it was time to begin bringing it all together in anticipation to the April 24th Symposium less than a month away.
Most of the work during this period was spent collecting the various portfolio projects, and creating the page on the website in which these would be presented. Occurring partly during Spring Break, this sprint was also an opportunity to re-center and refocus. Unlike most of the previous sprints, a fair amount of time was allocated offline for various housekeeping action items, such as formulating a strategy for continuing the remaining sprints, gathering research from Sprint 0 to use for the conceptual content of the site, in addition to time allotted specifically to upload the many large files for the portfolio items that needed to be uploaded to the website before being able to accommodate them in the portfolio page.
Sprint 5 Recap
Sprint 7 - Practically Running
April 6 to April 24, 2020
Eager to get to the finish line, Sprint 7 was a last full effort sprint to the finish line. This sprint was by far the most dense, and was the sprint where many of the content on the website all came together. Additionally, during Sprint 7, many of the recap videos were created to show a timelapse of the work done in each sprint. The sprint concluded on April 24, the day of the Honors Symposium, which marked the conclusion of a 100 days of design.
Sprint 7 Recap
Sprint 8 and Beyond -
Did it Work? What's Next?
April 25 to May 7, 2020
The conclusion, analysis, and lessons learned from a project after it has occurred is perhaps just as important as the act of creating the project itself. Sprint 8 was set in place to do just this. After spending the past year planning, visualizing and creating the project, this sprint presents a time to evaluate what went well, what went poorly, what was learned, and what could be done differently to improve the next time a project comes around.
Back in August, all I knew was that I wanted to work on a project that I could be fully immersed and passionate about. I wanted something that would challenge me to continue to learn and follow my passions, in a way that I had not been able to do before. I am thankful for the opportunity to create and design with passion. This project has taught me a lot about the creative process, and hope this project can be used by others as an inspiration or learning tool to create their own projects and follow their passions.