- Work on your prototype(s) – you will use these for in-class feedback next Tuesday
- Email me if you need any specific materials for prototyping (I have a budget and can stop by a hardware store or Target if there is something you need)
- Document your prototyping work as you go…
Doing this well takes creativity and organization. With respect to organization, be intentional about what work you need to do together as a group, and what work you can do individually. While I definitely think that you want to schedule one or more group time sessions over the next days/weekend, you should also think about how to make progress individually between meetings. Doing that requires having a plan for what and how you are going to prototype (our focus in class on Tuesday); with a plan in hand, then different team members can work on different parts of it in parallel.
A few additional thoughts:
Be smart about how you prototype; you’ll notice that there are a lot of pictures in the example websites that I shared. They didn’t take these pictures, but used stock photography (or you can grab images off the web). If you create a website, or catalog, or commercial, etc. – your “value add” is the overall concept, not the individual graphic elements, for example. Don’t waste time creating things that exist, either in 2D or 3D. Instead, much of prototyping is creatively using things that exists and assembling them into something new in order to get feedback on something that you need to learn about (don’t prototype something that you are already pretty sure about).
Be open to learning a new skill, e.g., creating a website or video. While it is not critical to do something digital (in fact many of you will focus on 3D objects alone), these can be wise investments in time both for this project, and as experience and examples to share on your resumes and to discuss in interviews. Just a thought.
Though prototyping takes time when done well, this can be a great and very productive experience. If you get stuck along the way, however, please reach out to me quickly so that I can help.
On Thursday I’ll be checking in on your progress. Please make sure that you are communicating with each other about how to make progress individually (and/or as a group) before then…