ar597Fall2011: September 2011

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Revised Dates and Course Materials

Hey guys,

I've finished updating the various course materials with revised dates. This includes the following:

- Revised Individual Assignments - Individual Assignments

- Revised Group Assignments - Semester Project

- Revised Scheduling Matrix - Schedule

*** You may have to hard-refresh your page to see the revised PDFs. Otherwise, you'll see the older documents. I've tested everything and the blog has the updated files. You can either hold down "Shift" while you hit the refresh button or you can empty your cache under the Safari menu***

In addition to these edits, I've included the following per our discussion during lecture:

- a brief student example for Assignment A1 which is due next week

- team project themes that we reviewed during class - get together with your team and decide which one you're going to take on

- required reading ID Chapter 7

LASTLY, I'VE ENCRYPTED MANY OF THE PDFS THAT ARE POSTED. I'LL EMAIL THE CLASS THE PASSWORD AND WILL EXPLAIN AT OUR NEXT CLASS.

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Once again, thanks for your patience with these date changes. We're on the straight and narrow from here on out.

Email me at scout@hoverpod.com with any questions or clarifications.

Thx

Scout

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Here are the book & IDEO card pdfs!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3331104/class/IDEOMethodCards.pdf

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3331104/class/Bill%20Buxton%20-%20Sketching%20User%20Experiences.pdf

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Update

Hello people.

I just sent you all an email but wanted to post this to the class blog as well.

Once again, sorry for canceling the class. The only thing more terrifying than canceling a class is making it up. I was actually down and out for 2 days and hospitalized for part of the time.....but enough about me.

I'm back in the saddle. I think the best thing to do is to use the upcoming class (this coming Tuesday) as we would have this past Tuesday. In other words, I'll push back the dates in the syllabus and we'll pick up where we left off on the 20th. I built in an extra week for an event such as this. I don't think it's fare to have you guys make up the class during another time or over the weekend so we'll pick up where we left off next week. Make sense?

I'll adjust the syllabus and all the dates and repost to the blog. Basically, every date is pushed up a week.

For this coming Tuesday, all the same items are due as they were for this past Tuesday. Visit the blog again for details at: http://ar597fall2011.blogspot.com/2011/09/for-next-week-91311.html

Once again, I don't cancel class easily due to all the scheduling hassles it causes but in this past case, I had no choice.

Thanks in advance for your understanding. Email scout@hoverpod.com with any questions or concerns.

See you Tuesday. I'll bring bagels.

Thx

Scout

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Team Form & Group Working Tips

Here's a PDF of the group form.

Below are some tips for working within groups.

Tips for Working in Groups

Meet people properly. It all starts with the introduction. Then, exchange contact information, and make sure you know how to pronounce everyone's names. Exchange phone #s, and find out what hours are acceptable to call during.

Find things you have in common. You can almost always find something in common with another person, and starting from that baseline, it's much easier to then address issues where you have differences.

Make meeting conditions good. Have a large surface to write on, make sure the room is quiet and warm enough, and that there aren't lots of distractions. Make sure no one is hungry, cold, or tired. Meet over a meal if you can; food softens a meeting. That's why they "do lunch" in Hollywood.

Let everyone talk. Even if you think what they're saying is stupid. Cutting someone off is rude, and not worth whatever small time gain you might make.

Put it in writing. Always write down who is responsible for what, by when. Be concrete. Arrange meetings by email, and establish accountability. Never assume that someone's roommate will deliver a phone message. Also, remember that "politics is when you have more than 2 people" - with that in mind, always CC (carbon copy) any piece of email within the group, or to me, to all members of the group.

Be open and honest. Talk with your group members if there's a problem, and talk with me if you think you need help. The whole point of this course is that it's tough to work across cultures. If we all go into it knowing that's an issue, we should be comfortable discussing problems when they arise -- after all, that's what this course is really about. Be forgiving when people make mistakes, but don't be afraid to raise the issues when they come up.

Avoid conflict at all costs. When stress occurs and tempers flare, take a short break. Clear your heads, apologize, and take another stab at it. Apologize for upsetting your peers, even if you think someone else was primarily at fault; the goal is to work together, not start a legal battle over whose transgressions were worse. It takes two to have an argument, so be the peacemaker.

For Next Week 9.13.11

Great class today!

Here's what's due for next week:

1. Form your team (include a team name)

2. Fill out your team form and post to your team blog AS WELL AS put in class folder (I'll try and set up the folders once I get access)

3. Create team blog using blogger, word press, tumblr, etc.

4. Review group tips document (will post shortly)

5. Get your Buxton book and IDEA cards/app

6. Ensure you have a sketch book or something to sketch with and have 1 sketch/team member completed and posted to the team blog for discussion next week

Feel free to email or call with any questions. See you next week!

Scout