#302week2reflection

[sofs-studio]

DES 302 - Week 3 Capstone

Woo hello to #302week3 of capstone! 

So far the last two weeks have been very much me trying to stand on my own two feet and finding a way of creating a road map towards my project. I’m not going to lie, I am a bit concerned that I am still in this ‘brain mush’ stage, I am hoping that by the end of this week, I will have a better idea of the light at the end of the tunnel.

The first and second weeks of this sem have consisted of me organising my thoughts, and processes I will use from both Diversity Works NZ and the Standford D.School Thinking Process. From feedback by Diana in last semester’s 300 research proposal - Diana suggested perhaps I use the new modified version of the D.School Thinking Process, which looks at a more Equity Centred Design Approach. Taking this feedback, I have decided to implement this process and ditch the original D.School Process. Of course, I still wish for my work to be empathy led, but now a focus on equity will enhance my empathy-led outcomes. 

That being said, after taking on this feedback, I had to reverse-engineer my timeline of work in the 13 weeks of this semester to coincide with all the sections of the Equity Centred D.School Framework. The first two weeks of this semester consisted of the ‘Notice’ Phase - a new phase implemented in this framework. The ‘Notice’ phase looks at developing a self and social-emotional awareness before entering the practice of the ‘Empathy’ phase. I believe I have a strong social-emotional understanding of the topic, and perhaps I underwent the ‘Notice’ phase for most of the second half of semester 1 while undergoing research for my 300 research report.  

Now this week I will be heading into the ‘Empathy’ phase, where I will gather secondary research that assists me to empathise with users’ point-of-view and feelings. Ultimately I will empathise to help define the problem - and I am assuming this phase will be conducted in a shorter span (about 1 week). This is to allow for more time to direct the ‘Define’ phase, which I am predicting will need more time to allow for margins-of-error that may occur with feedback from my studio peers+teachers.  

I must say I am looking forward to next week and moving forward from the content-heavy phases that I am currently in. I just want to get to the ideate and prototyping phase (my favourite phases)!