Senior Studio: Section A

	Digital Notepad Home \| Schedule
	51-403 Section A, Fall 1999
	Digital Notepad supported by IBMÕs Advanced Internet Technology Group

Instructor		Suguru Ishizaki (suguru@cmu.edu)
TA		Uday Gajendar (uday@andrew.cmu.edu)
Time		Tuesday & Thursday, 1:30pm 4:20pm
Location		Margaret Morrison A11
Units		12.0
Office Hours		By appointment


Project Description		This project will focus on exploring the future of "notepads" for high school and/or college students. These notepads will allow users to capture and manipulate different mediaÑimages, video, audio, text, sketches etc. Scenarios of use will be explored, as will its physical design and user interface. The goal is to make a small, light weight device that users will enjoy and use. All aspects of the design should focus on creating a simple, fun and engaging device. IBMÕs Advanced Internet Technology Group will play the role of clientÑproviding students with a design problem, feedback, and answers to their questions.
Educational objectives		Working in teams, students will experience a process of solving a larger design problem in a real context. Human-centered design will be emphasized. Students will learn to develop and present artifactsÑsketches, models, prototypesÑthat effectively convey assumptions, approach and design recommendations. Interacting with a client as a team will also be an important part of the studentÕs experience.
Design process		This course will group students in teams: cd, id, and possibly other disciplines. The project begins with the presentation by the researchers from IBMÕs Advanced Technology Group. In the first phase, students will study needs of the users and contexts of the use in order to identify possible scenarios. Then, in the second phase, each team will choose one scenario to explore a range of design solutions. The third phase will involve further detailing of the chosen solution. The final solution as well as the reasoning behind it will be presented in an oral presentation as well as a web document.
Design artifacts		Each team is expected to develop the following design artifacts: A number of scenarios of how this device may be usedÑpresented in both texts and 2/3/4D sketches. A mockup of a small, wireless, and "kid-hardened" device designed based on one of the scenarios. A prototype interactive environment to control this device, which may be physical or virtual. A web site that (1) records the research/process/decisions, (2) presents the final solutions and reflections, and (3) is used to interact with the client.
Why is this an interesting and valuable project?		As computational devices become more pervasiveÑsmall, portable, and connectedÑhow will the interfaces to these devices evolve to meet the needs of their users? With ever increasing functionality, can we envision simple solutions that are compelling and fun to use? This course will provide students with the experience of inventing the future in the context of evolving technologies.
Requirements		In addition to the web-based presentations of each task (see schedule), each group is expected to report their progress weekly in class as well as through their website. This brief progress report must include: What the group planned to do in the previous week (goals) What the group has accomplished in the previous week (results) What the group plan to do in the next week (goals). Under this section, the tasks each team member is assigned to do must be clearly identified. Make sure to estimate the time correctly so that each task is doable.(plan). Time sheet. Click here to look at a sample web-based report. The weekly progress report must be posted on your teacm site before 1:30pm every Tuesday. The web-based presentation of each task, which is usually presented on Tuesday, must be posted by the end of the following Thursday.
Grades		Grades will depend on: Quality of the design explorations and reasoning Quality of the design solution Quality of your team's reflection on the solution Quality of reporting, presentation Quality of time management
Time Management		Each student is expected to spend roughly 12 hours per week. This means each team will have roughly 48 hours per week, or 720 hours by the end of this semester. This is a lot of hours. One of the purpose of this course is to provide you with a professional experience; and time management is often important in the professional activity of designers. Each group is strongly encouraged to manage time well so that each student's effort does not exceed the expectation (i.e., 12h/week) significantly.
About Adtech group at IBM		The current IBM website identifies two key aspects of IBM: (1) creating the industry's most advanced information technologies, and (2) helping customers apply those technologies to improve what they doÑand how they do it. The Advanced Internet Technology Group is part of a cross-company virtual team that strives to create cutting-edge Internet technology, helping transform IBM into a better e-business.

Schedule