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Final Reflection

I think that more research and understanding of the issue around what causes low voter turnout would help bolster the legitimacy of this work. Despite a lot of research into the ages that do not turn out, and reading of reports on the previous Auckland local election turnout situations, I felt like it was too big an issue for me as one student designer to attempt to solve.

I think my design proposal could make a positive influence on turnout if developed and implemented, but in its current stage, feels overly expensive and unfeasible to execute, while being untested and risky for council to adopt, with no guarantee this could work.

In casual encounters, I have been able to gauge a greater level of excitement and interest when presenting my design proposals and comparing them to the current Auckland Council branded work for the 2022 elections.

Overall I feel like I have reached the cusp of an interesting solution to a complex challenge, but for this work to be taken seriously it needs a lot more support and further accompanying designed collateral, as well as deeper consideration to the specifics of how to execute such a proposal. This work needs the support of not just designers, but specialists in electoral politics and people who work with young people and understand better how to connect.

A co-design methodology may be an important approach to take to achieve better suited design outcomes, but this was not feasible for me to pull off as simply one university student lacking the right connections and resources and experience to authentically engage in a co-design process. If I were to do this project again, with more resources and support, I would lead with a co-design approach from the beginning. This would help navigate the design decisions in a direction that better suits the needs of the actual end users, and I believe it would result in an outcome that would have a much stronger chance of positively influencing voter turnout in Auckland local elections.

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A relevant article to my project. It is interesting to see this topic of low voter turnout now entering mainstream topical discussion after I have spent a long time working on this project.

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My Abstract draft built from the Wizard tool

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My task completion for the Week 11 class. I shared my highlighting work with classmate Maria for two of the readings. We found that we had a lot of crossover in our answers, and so we felt confident that we understood the differences between the different types of text well.

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Week 11 Class Reflection

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Week 11 Lecture Reflection

What is a research degree.

Life after uni. Job or postgraduate.

Interesting to learn that we jumped from Level 3 to Level 5 study.

Level 8, postgraduate certificate. 6 month course. At least B grade for pass.

Level 9, M. Des thesis. Masters. 1 year.

Level 10. Ph.D. 3 to 4 years! (Doctor of Philosophy, but you don't do philosophy?) Philosophy broadly means thought, and we think in design.

Tatiana's augmented reality game for Android.

When dealing with research, you might not be able to answer the question at the end. Pursuing a question not a task.

There needs to be a high level of experimentation. Not just the normal stuff you do. We are unsettled with the idea, in order to create a high level of discovery.

Strategies to heighten discovery. How do you make experimentation more effective when creating.

Copying someone else's process.

Sharing work with someone different to you.

Temporarily 'parking' current concept and exploring something entirely different.

Changing the medium.

HAVE the QUESTION. NOT the ANSWER.

Got tired of designing yoghurt cartons and corporate reports.

You need good time and resource management to do postgraduate.

Reading groups and methodology workshops.

Why has research taken off in visual communication design?

Why would you do postgrad?

Louise Kellerman (Design Assembly)

Our industry is very interested in holding intellectual conversations with people from different backgrounds.

One had the ability to take complex ideas and communicate them simply.

Nicole Arnott Philips

Michael Smythe

Lisa Williams?

Masters to create a high level of professional advantage.

Bachelor's: 29%, Masters: 5%, PhD: 0.79%

Higher level of distinctiveness in your portfolio

Different kind of learning culture

Capped places

Dec 1st closing date

27 Feb 2023 - July 2024

B average to apply.

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Week 10 SDL

I chose to read and reflect on F. Derek Ventling's article discussing the methodology known as "Heuristics' of the four article options we were given in the SDL task. I chose this because heuristics is regarded as an introspective process and I think of myself as an introspective person, in the sense that I am an introvert, and constantly 'in my head' pondering and contemplating what I have done and what I will do with a highly personal and talkative inner "stream of consciousness".

Heuristics is described in this article as a framework for thinking that focuses on expanding knowledge through "experimentation, evaluation, and trial and error methods." While it is common in other practices like mathematics and psychology, this article argues that is is particularly suited to design and experiential practice-led research.

The framework allows for adaptability of thinking, embracing continual changes head-on. The nature of being adaptable "heightens chances of discovery and supports the artist/researcher in finding and developing their own meaning."

Three 'capacities' of heuristics include

- tacit exploration - affirming intuition as a valid voice - 6experience-based perception - probing a dynamic involvement - reflective learning - thereby interactively seeking the meaning of these experiences in relation to the self

A heuristic approach involves challenging yourself to discover deeper understandings and see the world in new ways,

The tacit aspect acknowledges that "Hunches, pre-concepts and imagination are legitimate resources from which to draw" and that they are a vital part of the design heuristic process.

When taking a heuristic approach, we must not simply choose a pre-determined outcome and pursue it, heuristics is about letting the process lead developments and allowing progress to unfold progressively, not knowing where you might end up.

While all this self-reflection and inner introspective thought can do wonders for the creative process, it's true that we can get a little too in our heads. Since we know this, it is important to seek external feedback and thoughts on our work as it develops. The risk for this is exposing your early, nascent ideas, (that might actually be great!) to criticism and discarding them before they get a chance to grow.

To summarise, heuristics is a framework for thinking in design that can suit practice-led research due to its explorative and reflective principles.

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Week 10 Lecture Reflection

Exegesis

exegeisthai, to interpet, guide or lead in a scholarly manner

Eisegesis, cherry-picking data to confirm your beliefs. Confirmation bias?

Exegetical writing.

Legal front material (this is my own original work)

Introduction containing a research question

Review of knowledge

Research design

Critical discussion of work

Conclusion

References

Disciplinary panels

Cover: Title and Subtitle

Dedication

Abstract: 200+ words

Acknowledgments

Attestation of Authorship (shows your 'goodness', who really helped you? Not just your boyfriend)

Ethics seen as a 'elevated' process. Shows that you understand that process.

Positioning the researcher 300

Review of Contextual Knowledge 750

Methodology 750

Critical Comm 1000

Conclusion 300

Why you made certain design decisions. The type, colour, etc.

Review of knowledge may hold some ideas for which you can discuss your work in relation to.

Design Features

and ideas, for example:

WorldCreation

Illustration masquerading as photography

Immersion and Belief

Jeremy Hanna

World Creation: Building an Alternate History

METHODS Archival Research

Sketching

Digital Painitng

Expert Collaborative

Evaluation. Livestreaming with experts for feedback and advice.

Your most important attribute is your originality

Design Ethos

It starts with a question

It positions you and your project

It discusses your research design, this is how I did it

It reviews knowledge, this is the knowledge that surrounds it

It has a critical commentary, this is what I did and why I did it

then it concludes

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Week 9 Class Reflection

I read through the book "VISUAL RESEARCH: AN INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES IN GRAPHIC DESIGN" and tried to find some methodologies. It was actually much less straightforward and clear than I was expecting. I hoped for a list of methodologies in the contents page and then in-depth chapters on each methodology. Instead there were many case-studies. I did find some methodologies eventually, however. One was labelled <Context-Definition> and the other was labelled <Context-Experiment>.

<Context-Definition>

<Context-Definition> is driven by a designer's research into the context of the kind of work they are designing around. For me that would be local elections and democracy and civic space design. It is said that "the designer attempts to become more expert within the field." I believe this is more in line with the approach I have taken. I undertook a lot of research into voting habits and my target audience before attempting many design outcomes.

<Context-Experiment>

<Context-Experiment> differs in that it is more focused on design first. Trial and error. <Context-Experiment> believes that creating failed outcomes and experiments that don't work is a good thing. This is because "determining what does not work, as well as what potentially does, the designer is in a far better position to arrive at a more successful resolution."

After reading about these methodologies, I see myself aligning more with <Context-Definition>, but actually see them as a continuum, rather than two binaries. While I have a research-informed design focus, I have also tested design experimentations without in-depth prior research in a 'trial and error' kind of approach.

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My design process journey so far. I am unsure what key methodologies drive my process, at least I am unsure as to how I might articulate them in an academic context.

Katie provided a book to me and the class that looks to be a in depth breakdown of a great number of design methodologies. I will look into this and see what resonates with my own processes.

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Week 8 | Tuesday Design Research Tutorial

Methodology Chapter vs Critical Commentary Chapter.

I read Don Chooi's chapter on Research Design. He opened with his methodologies, which included heuristics, tacit knowing, and sedimentation. Afterwards he wrote a few paragraphs on Immersive Experience as a process which helps his workflow. Then, he wrote an opening paragraph about Research Methods generally as well as how they relate to his heuristic methodology. Following this, he wrote a paragraph or so each on the methods he used, before wrapping up the chapter with a conclusion.

Harriet’s exegesis she read had a quite different structure, and discussed a cycle of methodologies as well as methods being discussed in tandem rather than clearly divided into paragraphs with subheadings.

I am personally very fond of Don Choi’s structure for this chapter. It is very straightforward and clear.

I am looking forward to writing this chapter myself on Research Design as I received great feedback for my writing and it is a strong point for me.

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Week 8 Lecture

What is the difference between Methods and Methodologies and what is Research Design?

My Reflection

It was great to have Welby Back. I was grateful to get some clarity today on the difference between Methods and Methodologies as this is something I have been personally confused about for a while.

Methods are the specific "tools you use" when conducting research. There are a few different types of methods, including observational, experimentation with materials and process, reflection on action, gathering critical feedback, and organisational ones.

Research Design is the combination of Methods and Methodology. Welby highlighted an example of a study with bad research design called 'VARK' which was later challenged on its credibility by another paper. To make valuable research it is important to have sound Research Design so that the findings can be better trusted and understood by everyone.

In my own work, so far this semester, I have used a lot of experimentation methods he listed, like model making - where I 3D printed the purple 3D type models, and mockups, where I created a 3D model and superimposed it into a photographed environment. Over the break I employed a critical feedback method he mentioned called 'targeted expert feedback' where I talked to my boss at my part-time hospitality job (Ghost Street + Café Hanoi), Krishna Botica. Botica is a restauranteur and vocal advocate for local issues she is passionate about, and highly knowledgable about the local political system in Auckland. She also has a clientele (of young professionals on lunch breaks) at Café Hanoi that closely matches my target audience. All in all, I thought she may have some valuable insight and interest in my project about local election engagement.

When it comes to methodology and my own practise, I have talked about co-design methodology, but I am not sure I have actually genuinely undertaken it in my work. Of the types of methodologies Welby Ings listed, I could see Reflective Inquiry or Narrative Inquiry (asking people why they don't vote, and how they might hypothetically interact with Votedrop and building a wider picture around that) or Heuristic Inquiry. This is something to ask my lecturers about potentially.

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Testing different fonts that pair with BitByBit pixel font.

Good Headline Pro, Interstate, Space Grotesk