MX: Bluesky ideation process

30 sec questions

1. I would probably continue going to school, I actually like learning.
2. Music production which includes recording and beat making.
3. Probably my upbringing, not just my ethnic background as a Hispanic but more so my experiences growing up.
4. I am always reading about technology I try to stay above of the average understanding of technology.
5. That's a long list but the first on the list is probably computer engineering.
6. Well obvious is hunger and basic healthcare. 
7. Once again basic healthcare, as a superpower there should be no reason what a citizen should have to deny themselves healthcare because of financial reasons. 
8. I'm not to familiar with KC but from what I have experienced I would say all the city needs is to continue investing in the youth it seems to be working quite well.
9. ...parking.. Google fiber.... possibly a bit more security.
10. Money. I come from a severely low income family and I am struggling to get the education I believe I deserve regardless of it being way out my financial reach.
11. Probably my father to me he represents the working class individuals who believe in the American dream.
12. the ever growing Hispanic community, Crate-digging community, and the community of tip dependent workers?
13. Hispanic communities still face an unacceptable amount of discrimination. The rise of digital music is making records rarer and harder to find. Tipped wages are set too low even with tips it's impossible to make a living a living wage.
14. Youth educators and modern day urban nomads.
15. That's another long list but I'd say historic artwork inspires a lot of my work
16. Web design has been something I always come back to.
17. Well I'd have to say Folly Theater was the most memorable, it was first crit with guest that I had at kcai as a transfer, so I was extremely nervous but it went great which sort of boosted My confidence and motivation to keep at it. 
18. Last semesters online collection exhibition was a big one for me I pushed my self a lot on that project.
19. I like to tackle the research role a lot. Most client I work with are often surprised when I ask them questions even after they've briefed me.
20. I like to break rules a lot so my work my not always be as "clean" but I do feel it's still successful.
21. Branding has become a huge topic for me lately and it is definitely a side of design I want  continue doing during my career.
22. I'd say presentation of my work. I usually prefer to step back and let my work speak for itself  it's both good and bad because if if I get my message across without having to explain then I did my job well but in the real world I will always have speak about my work.
23. I think I'm still rusty on my typographic skills but I am feel I have improved a lot in the past year.
24. That's tough to say but I think jumping straight to real world clients will help me the most.
25. I came here with a focus on digital but I think I have started to appreciate print as well so possibly objects that span across all mediums.

Five-min Questions

1. Well the obvious answer is online but in recent years with a boom in more younger individuals starting new businesses the demand for design is rising. They understand how important design is to a business. So I believe branding is going to grow a lot more especially in to small business network. The same applies for web design and UX. More and more businesses are realizing the need for an online presence so having a website for your business is going to be a necessary asset.
2. I want to work with small businesses and communities in need doing anything and everything I can bring to the table. This is a decision I made as a teenager, I saw my father attempt to start his own carpentry company, it was something he was extremely good at . I was optimistic about it I remember making him business cards from a printable template and a small website (all designed terribly) but his company failed because he couldn't get enough clients to keep running. I always feel as if I knew what I know now I could have helped him have a successful business. From that experience I have always wanted to help the less fortunate. There are many people in low income communities who have great skill or talent but are never able to have the opportunity to put it to the best use. That's where I believe design can help, even if it only helps a bit. I could probably work for a firm that has big name client but to me that won't be as rewarding as helping the little guy.

Reflections:

1.Well I retyped it all up and reviewed it as I did that so yea...

2 helping, interaction, digital, building, business, hispanic, youth, technically-challenging, large, internet, branding, experimental UX, visually active, [will continue updating]

3. I will continue you add to this on and on.

4. look down [will continue to update]

Content

• Business
• Helping

Media

• Internet
• UX
• Digital

Audience

• Hispanics
• Youth

design topics

• experimental UX
• branding
• 
  

MX: WEbuzz brand standards and design assets file

So as a way to help us be consistent in our designs while we are not working in the same room we set up with file where we begun to drop it all the designs assets we are making along the way and as a way to see if there something that has already been design so that we could just drag and drop into our design. I'm hoping this will streamline the process. It also serves as s brand standards document so we know that we are using all the right colors fonts and such.

MX: Scenarios/Screens List

Collaboration Station

Starting a group debate

Home Screen (with debate menus)

Debate settings 

     [Moderator iPad screen?]

Debate space (starting in transparent)

Debate space (mid-game without transparent)

Play POP 'EM!

Home Screen (with game menus)

Game modes (head-to-head and arcade)
Arcade games
POP 'EM Game (start)
POP 'EM Game (mid-game)

Smartboard

Start a Live Vote for Biology trip

Biology Trip Title Screen

    teacher's iPad build screen

KC zoo slide(with image slides and live comments)

Sealife slide

Discovery center slide

Live polls

Start a classroom brainstorm for Fundraiser

Open topic screen

Collecting content

Expansion of "crowdfunding" bubble(image wheel & student feed)

Send for votes

Live polls

Estimate total screens: 21

Estimate "non-clone" screens: 14

MX: Screenspace reading

Just as a jump off point I thought it was pretty funny that there is mention of design being too flat when our current design trend is "flat" UI. This new trend supports and contradicts a lot of what is said in the reading. Helfand mentions how the internet is full of content but lacks design but a new practise that has recently been gaining momentum is that of the invisible designer, the idea of designing so that the content gets all the focus and the user ignores the design. Its a bit weird because from what Helfand states it seems like she wants more exploration of crazy power that a computer can create but current UI designers would argue that it would be too distracting for the user. With that said even flat UI has some dimensionality to it, maybe not in the architectural models but they do often reference depth though dropshadow, parallaxing, and lens blurs. Flat UI is going to be a norm since its make it easy to keep consistent design over multiple platforms but with the improvements that came with HTML5, CSS3, and Jquery there are almost no limits to design theres even the ability to do some 3d modeling with html5. On that note, Helfand's comments on the the restriction on the markup language seemed to lack some knowledge (WAP protocol is redundant since the P stands for protocol,  and also is not a markup language as far as I know), so I can't trust her opinions towards the mark up languages, but that's just me. So overall I'm not really sure how to feel about this reading but I do agree that there needs to be more exploration(exploitation?) of the powers a screen can produce and I think newer tech is allowing us to do that.

MX: five directions

MX: branding beginnings

We have changed a lot about our app over the last few week so it has definitely affected how our vision of the app was when we first started. But I know I'm happy with the direction it's heading. Me and Sam pulled a good brain storm session to knock out a name and branding design (including colors and type)for this and In just a few hours this is where we got.

colors

For obvious reasons we started with red white and blue but we felt to literal but we wanted to stay near than because it is still highly relevant to our topic.

Typeface

We have both been attached to using Gotham as a primary type. It has been use in lots of political campaigns so that relationship drew us to use Gotham we are still figuring out other typefaces.

Name

After some word mapping we settled on a few key possibilities each hint to the functions of the app with out spoiling it we tried to be as clever as possible. Sivik minded is defined as being concerned with the well being of the community. the reason Civic is spelled that way is to spell out the pronunciation which hints to "learning the basics". Rest are short words that can be catchy and are relevant to the topic.

sketches

this is where it got fun. We dug deep into what can show community or politics in one symbol. You can read the list for yourselves but we really took interest in using a bee. They are community working organisms and are lead by a queen what more says community and government! We do nt want to over do the bee element we simply want to use it maybe in the way Evernote uses the elephant. the shield image came up a lot too so we might mix the ideas.

mx: Reading response [Windows and Mirrors intro]

Well for one this really got me thinking about how digital has become so unpredictable. The boom of the Internet added to that even more. I grew up on tech and I could totally understand why Norman would believe that computers would disappear into our appliances, we still see attempts of this today (fridges, washing machines, watches, even clothes). But the computer has become more than an appliance it does more that pragmatic functions, every day we are wowed by the stuff computers can do whether it's useful or just novelty.

The internet started with a group of structuralist looking to display content for others. In the early years the hypertext that started it all was enough to do the job but not for long. In 1993, Mosaic brought graphical elements into the browser and that's when designers stated to get into the game. Some designers came in ready to kern type and set column widths figure they could just transfer over print techniques, but others saw more potential with this new form. Of course designers and structuralist started to bump heads, they believed the design should leave content alone while designs felt the design should help carry and present the content. For many years we saw loads of shitty web sites that failed to either if these, but now we are starting to see design that balance this transparent and reflective rhythm. It's become apparent how important digital art is to digital interfaces. Digital art will always be relevant to anyone trying to display any more of digital media and it's there to help create interactive experiences with content that will otherwise be bare.

MX: Playground Politics: need/solutions revised

technology disclaimer: System is built for a classroom in which a tablet (iPad) is given to each student rather than a stack of textbooks. Also included in this class are a Smartboard in the class and a touchscreen hub in the play area.

15 offline need + online solution

TEACHER NEEDS/SOLUTIONS

need: I want my students to understand and know how to use democracy in and outside the classroom.
solutions: Playground Politics will have a resource database feature which students can refer back to any time that they have questions. This feature will live on the students’ tablet and the first post and point of reference will be an intro motion graphic depicting the importance of democracy and showing examples.

need: I want to get feedback from the students, but understand that some students do not want to publicly express if they do or do not
need help. 
solution: An in-app feature will allow you to open a voting poll on a smart board and on the students’ tablets. Students can use a swipe upward or downward to quickly vote anonymously. The student will be able to see which students need additional help and will be able to provide assistance. No raising hands anymore!

need: I want my students to have the opportunity to vote on where to go on the next field trip?solutions: Through PP you can open a "live" poll in class where she can present and describe different options for students to vote on anonymously.

need: I want the students to come up with an Idea for a class fundraiser?
solution: Another feature of "live" poll is that during a presentation, if allowed, a speculative tool will collect student ideas and put them into the voting poll. The overall class tablet based voting will determine if these ideas are something to consider.

need: I want to know if the assignments are not challenging the students to learn.
solution: Non live votes can ask questions about the work and collect votes and written feedback through a forum based feature on the tablet. This could be accessed in or out of the classroom.

need: I want students be able to settle disagreements in the play area without my physical presence.
solution: The students can utilize an interactive hub on the playground which they can press for solutions to their disagreement. The teacher will be notified on her phone or tablet and prompted to provide several possible solutions. The solutions will appear on the screen of the hub and the students can determine the best solution.

need: I want my students to be exposed to current events and real world politics. 
solutions: To jumpstart their understanding of real world politics, Playground Politics will pull stories from news sources and create open discussions on current events going on around them in the world. This will get them to understand that politics affects your life even when you are young.

need: I want to see how well the students are interacting with one another. 
solutions: PP will give you visual report breaking down collaboration, sharing, roles in the classroom, leadership and partner support. These statistics will help guide the help develop the student as a better citizen. Parents are also given limited access to these reports

STUDENT NEEDS/SOLUTIONS

need: I want to become the class treasurer! 
solution: At the end of the first month, students will have the opportunity to express interest through a teacher curated survey on Playground Politics for different political positions in the class. Based on the results, the class will vote on positions including everything from class president to treasurer. This vote will take place anonymously on each student’s tablet so that there is no outside influence.

need: I want to vote on a live vote for where we are going on our next field trip, but I’m too sick to go to class today.
solution: Even if the student cannot make it to class, they can still use their tablet anywhere with internet connection to give their input on important class issues. The student will be able to view presentations or discussions related to the particular issue so that they can give an accurate vote.

need: I have no idea who to vote for to become class president.
solution: Playground Politics can present a child with a private tablet based questionnaire that will analyze what qualities they want in a leader. This feature will not place a vote, but will simply inform the student how comparable candidates are to one another on different issues.

need: We want to vote on a team for a school wide soccer tournament. How can we do this effectively and quickly so we can play!
solution: Through an outdoor hub students can open up a poll for teams and choose in a fun, interactive way.

need: I want to discuss a current event with my class.
solutions: You can share articles and videos with your class through your browser on a larger platform. From there the class discuss and maybe even find ways to get involved. Print options of current events are also still acceptable.

need: Me and my partner can't decide on how to progress on our project, we need help guiding us through it.
solutions: PP’s interface on your tablet will have a feature which would allow you to visually depict tasks which need to be completed. you both can then choose who will do what and each of you will receive a report on what specific tasks need to be completed. This will help to evenly distribute tasks and ensure that one student does not end up doing all of the work on a project.

need: I want to ask the class president for something but I forgot who  he/she is.
solutions: Augmented role identifiers will make this situation simple. Utilizing tech tiles and your tablets, you can use a feature in PP to hold up your tablet and visually view the different roles of all of the students in the classroom. Each desk would have a tech tile which would interact with the tablets.

MX: Playground Politics Statement // Needs and Solutions // Research

Mission or Goal

Teach children the importance of democracy through learning and collaboration in the classroom.

Specific Audience

The key demographic for this system of learning would be grade school children. More specifically a beginning grade of 3rd grade.

Community

Playground Politics develops a sense of collaboration and a better understanding of other students viewpoints. This helps to develop common views in the class and better solutions when problems do arise.

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15 offline need + online solution

need: Voting anonymously.
solution: Use the In-app feature that will allow the class to open a voting poll where all students can vote anonymously. No raising hands anymore!

need: I want to become the class treasurer!
solution: Choosing the roll of a leader give you the opportunity to have important responsibilities in class whether its being treasurer or the line leader.

need: There is a disagreement on the playground but theres no teacher around.
solution: Those students can use P.P. through their tablets (or even on a built in device in the playground) to help them make the best decision and settle the disagreement.

need: students feel that a recent assignment was unfair or not challenging enough.
solution: the students can have an online discussion about their feelings towards the assignments. They can even post anonymously if they are afraid of any repercussion.

need: "today we get to voted on our next field trip but I'm too sick to go to school"
solution: Even if the student is not in class they will be able to participate in polls or discussion as long as they have Internet connection.

need: "I have no idea who I want to vote for class president!"
solution: P.P. can present a child with a questionnaire that will analyze what they want in a leader. This will not vote for them it will simple just inform them how comparable each candidate is and it's up to them to make the final decision.

need: "What about real world politics?"
solutions: To jumpstart their understanding of real world politics, PP will create open discussions on current events going on around them locally. This will get them to understand that politics affects your life even if you are just a kid.

need: The teacher is noticing a number of students are not doing well in class how can he/she help the students afraid to speak up about learning problems.
solutions: The teacher can use PP to open a anonymous discussion to find out what issues are going around in class and they can take action without making some students feel embarrassed.

need: A student has an idea for an assignment which may help the learning of the whole class, but does not know how to share this idea effectively.
solutions: PP will allow students to share ideas on a pin board/forum via their tablet. Other students could view these ideas and the teacher could check in on the forum daily for new posts. The student could also verbally present these ideas and use the forum as supporting information.

need: A student has an idea for an assignment which may help the learning of the whole class, but does not know how to share this idea effectively.
solutions: PP will allow students to share ideas on a pin board/forum via their tablet. Other students could view these ideas and the teacher could check in on the forum daily for new posts. The student could also verbally present these ideas and use the forum as supporting information.

need: There is a school-wide soccer game among multiple classes. How can the best teams be determined?
solutions: The classes can utilize PP as a platform for picking teams. This will connect students with the larger community of their school and form collaboration among the micro community classes.

need: What’s going on in the world outside of the school?
solutions: Students could gain a better understanding of other cultures and current events using PP to find and share with the rest of the class. This information could be found via the web or via print materials and could be depicted on a larger screen in the classroom to share with the student’s peers.

need: What’s going on in the world outside of the school?
solutions: Students could gain a better understanding of other cultures and current events using PP to find and share with the rest of the class. This information could be found via the web or via print materials and could be depicted on a larger screen in the classroom to share with the student’s peers.

need: A large majority of the class isn’t understanding their math problems too well because the teacher is moving too quickly.
solutions: Students determine that working in smaller groups may work better for this particular set of math problems. The teacher takes a poll on who is understanding the problems and who isn’t using PP. This poll is anonymous to the class, but the teacher can see who is who. The teacher then can disperse into groups the children who are understanding the problems with students who aren’t understanding. The children with an understanding can use PP interface to break down the problems and help the other students understand.

need: The teacher or parent needs to see how each member of the community is interacting with one another.
solutions: PP will give a visual report breaking down collaboration, sharing, roles in the classroom, leadership and partner support. These statistics will help guide the teacher/parent to help develop the student as a better citizen.

need: Two students cannot figure out work on a research project together.
solutions: PP’s interface will have a feature which would allow students to visually depict tasks which need to be completed. They can then choose who will do what and each student will receive a report on what specific tasks they need to complete. This will help to evenly distribute tasks and ensure that one student does not end up doing all of the work on a project.

need: A student can’t remember the role of someone else in the classroom, but they need to speak with them.
solutions: Augmented role identifiers will make this situation simple. Utilizing tech tiles and the student’s tablet, they can use a feature in PP to hold up their tablet and visually view the different roles of all of the students in the classroom. Each desk would have a tech tile which would interact with the tablet.

need: Students are not interacting fairly inside and outside of the classroom due to a lack of democratic understanding.
solutions: PP will have a resource database which they can refer back to any time that they have questions. The first post and point of reference will be an intro motion graphic (relating to the age group) depicting the importance of democracy.

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By and For Community Mood Boards Our community mood boards are located here. We plan to continue adding to these mood boards throughout the process and use it as inspiration.

Community Psychology Poster [Playground Politics]

Sans the pie chart, but we added screen-print look and feel just for fun and we felt it was relevant.