Lifetime student of creativity

Design@USC Process Journal

[daviddavidarrarr]

IDSN 540 Process Journal #9 Process Reflection

The creative problem-solving process seems to have a nice blend of divergent and convergent stages. We discussed this aspect as it related to the group project. We noted how there were different points when it seemed that our thinking was spreading like wildfire, while during other stages we homed in with detail on the task at hand. Since I’m new to the creative problem-solving process, it’s difficult to say how to improve the structure. What I did notice was how it helped to use tasks at each level that started individual and could then be discussed as a group. It was also helpful to use a task that did not seem to fit perfectly. This seemed to be a waste of time, and perhaps this is my novice status speaking, but it was SUCH a stretch for me that it helped me better define the task. I noticed that it was important to try a few tasks because some of them reminded me so much of other tools I already know that use of this tool did not help me develop the idea, it just helped me think the same way.

It was nice to use complementary tasks at each stage that balanced one another: quick and thorough; tactile and digital; verbal and artistic; individual and group; conceptual and concrete; and on and on. I found that the more I balanced my thinking within a stage, the more complete that stage felt and the better I was set up for the next stage. This was true when during the “Conjunction Junction” I use a conceptual exercise to explore something real. Then later as did a sprint exercise to define a problem – first we did it individually, then we discussed our definitions; this helped us since it seemed such a huge undertaking problem prior to that we could not define it. Later, we used a concept board to create the Business Model Canvas. This helped each of us to develop ideas in discussion, then as individuals, then reconvene and summarize it all. Boy, that was a tough stage because it seemed that the ideas were run-of-the-mill, and it was difficult to develop anything creative. However, it could be that what seemed commonplace to me is not commonplace to another, so discussion with a team at each stage was critical.

This was the case when we talk about the phasic model to income for the solution. It seemed common knowledge to me to use a Patreon page for creative media endeavors like ours. Patreon, if you’re wondering, is a website that allows people to “donate” to an artist whenever that artists release a piece of work that is otherwise free. For example, a podcaster releases a podcast each week and the Patreon page automatically charges a donor’s account; the donor can set the amount and frequency of the donation. Anyway, this seemed to fit perfectly, yet I knew about it as a consumer and until I discussed it, our funding sources were identified through normal paths by someone who has experience with such endeavors.

Well, as I said before, I couldn’t say what stages should be removed and which should be added. As far as “required tasks at each step, I would say the specific tasks are not important, and what is important is that there are complementary tasks that bring a balance to thinking; critical dimensions that need to be balanced are individual/group, written/digital, and fast/slow.

It’s been real!

[daviddavidarrarr]

IDSN 540 Process Journal: Evaluation

The problem is how to turn slacktivism in to activism. Our solution is a YouTube channel that will offer explorations of political topics aimed at the young slacktivists of today’s world. The idea is that they use the internet and social media to get their information, to fill time, and to build weak ties (engage socially). We figure that this is a perfect way to share our message for relatively low overheard and reach the exact group to whom we hope to offer a valuable service that increases their social engagement. Therefore, the three main areas to assess to determine success are: political engagement, viewership/interaction with content, and funding/endorsements.

The first phase of the project will be able increasing viewership and interaction with content. It will be easy to measure this since all of those websites provide exactly that information; they also provide advice for how to increase traffic flow. The more viewers/patrons, the more energy and enthusiasm the production crew will have, which will lead to better content, which will lead to more viewers, etc. As this happens, bigger name guests will be on the show, and this will lead to interaction by patrons/consumers, and more exposure through media thanks to shares and mentions by guests, etc. Those metrics are easy to obtain, too.

Funding is straightforward as well – either we get it, or we don’t; either we get paid more per advertisement, or less. It’s an up or down game for these metrics.

Political engagement will be tricky to measure. There are countless variables that influence any one person’s behavior, so it will be difficult to say that we are why someone decided to vote or attend a rally. Also, people have notoriously bad memory when they self-report on behavior, so I’m not inclined to believe someone that reported on their political behavior. This is one of those areas where we will have to get creative. Sure, we can use a typical measure like “Political Engagement Project Survey,” and control for the person’s intelligence to get a sense of changes in political engagement, but we will also need to measure behavior in other, more subtle ways. For example, the number of likes, reshares, and mentions of our product that a person makes could be used as a (marketable) measure. If we offer profiles or blogs on our website, we may be able to measure how many are created and how many are continuously used. Also, we could offer a newsletter and measure how many people sign up and compare that against how many people read the email and how many of them they actually open.

Professional feedback on the both the production side as well as the content side. Expert feedback from professors, journalists, political experts, and politicians will be great. Plus, a good old satisfaction survey! We want to make sure that the young slacktivists out there are satisfied with and engaged by the product. That’s who this is for, after all.

Overall, there are a few ways to measure each of the important dimensions of this solution. Those areas are: cost, engagement, and change. Ain’t that the way of the world?

[daviddavidarrarr]

IDSN 540 Process Journal #7 Implementation

Implementation requires effective communication of the product and product experience. Our product will be a YouTube channel that focuses on political material, so the best way to communicate the product and product experience is with a pilot episode and a Business Model Canvas. This will provide a sample of the viewing experience as well as a sense of how this video experience will set itself apart from the myriad other YouTube channels and how it can be a viable business option. This is not to say it’s going to be a real money maker, but it will take talented and skilled interviewers, organizers, production teams, markets, etc., to make a quality product with impact, so we’ll need funding.

The Business Model Canvas at this time is all text, which shares a lot of information, though inclusion of sketches and color schemes may create a fuller experience that accelerates the communication process. Stakeholders will want to quickly see how each of the nine pieces of the Canvas fit together, so color coding, or connecting with drawn arrows, those pieces would help make those connections. Currently, we have “buckets” and “phases” to help group information to accelerate the communication process.

The pilot will be the most effective strategy at communicating the content itself. Screen caps can be used for static environments. Key frames to include would be: the title; the agenda; an infographic; a picture of the interviewee/interviewer; the location discussed; and affected constituents. In addition, logos and color schemes (likely purple-based because purple is the result of mixing red and blue, and purple is a fabulous color) can be used in presentation materials to communicate the mood. Also, a host profile will be very important since the host, or hosts, will be key to drawing in, welcoming, and creating dedicated viewers. An episode list will help create a mental road map for what viewers can expect on this journey to a better America.

[daviddavidarrarr]

IDSN Process Journal #6 Selection

During the selection phase our group decided to use the “Decision-makers’ Checklist” this was because we realize that the problem statement was not well defined and that made it difficult to decide on interested parties and a solution. The checklist helped us to step back from all the information we had accumulated, and all the opinions we had accumulated, in order to lay them out in a systematic fashion. We considered voting trends, how people collect information, and how people engage in humanitarian efforts. Once we had a sense of trends within each of those domains, we reflected on our skills and abilities. That led to a natural solution heading that fit with our own interests, which will help maintain passion and enthusiasm when working on a topic known to cause burnout.

We decided to use a docu-series approach to solve the problem of “slacker activism” – slacktivism. This is because there are many ways to create interesting digital content then distribute it to the target population, who tend to use social media and digital platforms to consume information. We figured that by humanizing politics, younger generations would be more likely to engage in political activities.

As a group we came to a consensus on the idea rather easily. This in large part is probably because we appreciate one another and encourage each other to explore our passions and interests which happened to align very well when it came time to make a selection. Discussions were wide ranging within the realm of politics then very well grounded in task at hand each week. This allows us to offer divergent content and once each of us has discharged those initial ideas (both related and tangential), we worked together to piece together a convergent solution. Debates were well-mannered and often didn't feel like debates since we are in good spirits as we proceeded through each step.

 Here’s a bit about the proposed docuseries:

TITLE: Slacktivist’s Guide to Politics 

EPISODE 1: “The Face of Slacktivism” EPISODE 2: “Journey of a Hashtag” EPISODE 3: “Campaign Manager Confessions” EPISODE 4: “Voting: Impactful or Overrated” EPISODE 5: “The Color Purple: How Red and Blue Met in the Middle”

[daviddavidarrarr]

IDSN 540: Process Journal - Ideation

It’s amazing how easy it is to collaborate even when hundreds of miles apart!

CONCEPTBOARD is super easy to use, has nice features, and plays nice with Google Suite. Above is a screen cap of the PDF export of the conceptboard we developed after two brainstorming/debriefing sessions. We decided on two idea seeking questions. We had a five minute timer per question set to write out as many answers as possible on e-post-its; as can be seen, we each had a specific color. After the five minute window, we reflected on answer and grouped them.

The groups flowed logically and seemed to emerge quite fluidly upon debriefing. This makes sense since we’ve worked together on the previous three steps of the Creative Problem-Solving Process. However, it does seem that we didn’t list wild/crazy ideas and even then there isn’t a solution to a problem, simply lists of what people do. That was address in the debrief and we decided that in the next team meeting, which will be in the “Selection phase,” we would turn the themes and ideas on this conceptboard into potential solutions, then select the solution we would develop and implement.

The standout ideas seemed to be around the idea of WHERE people get their news and HOW they analyze the news. Convenience is a huge factor, so even if people do not think the news is accurate, they will still read it! That means that, alright, we ought to try to reach people through those means AND part of the message should be how to analyze content as a reader reads it. This is a logic test built in to consumption, though don’t call it that because people seem to hate analyzing content. “JUST TELL ME WHAT TO LIKE AND THINK!!”

So, we’ll look in to how to teach people how to analyze written content without them realizing they are learning how to analyze! We’ll also look in to how to reach people on the variety of social media platforms that young people use to get their news.

Ciao!

[daviddavidarrarr]

IDSN Process Journal #4 Definition

The processing of defining the problem has been difficult because there is a lot to social media and politics, which is further complicated when looking at each area based on demographic factors such as age/generation. Thankfully, as a group we have done well to share our passion and recognize we are working on assignments with deadlines. One way to help keep up on track, in a manageable space, and progression has been respect, encouragement, and regular contact. So far the group has maintained regular contact through email, collaborative documents on Google Docs/Drive, and meetings on Zoom. This helped as we engaged in the divergent process of research/information collection. Similarly, as we used new activities/tools, we could talk through them to make sure that there was some fruit at the end of the activity. The Morphological Analysis was tricky, so it was good to talk through that. As we shared what we found in our niches of information exploration, we each used a morphological analysis to structure the results and our reports to one another. That seemed to help us share and understand our information in a rapid manner. When it came time to work through a definition activity on our own then compare what we each wrote, we all had about the same information/definition since we’ve stayed in regular contact to process the information these weeks.The activity we completed in group was the fill-in-the-blank sprint, take a few moments to define key aspects of the situation then synthesize those aspects in the following format:

“A stakeholder who feels feeling about task needs to step, but obstacle.”

We each went through the sprints and synthesized a statement on our own, then compared them. By that point, we all said basically the same thing, though we each contributed valuable dimensions/depth.

Anyhow, we have a definition, but it soon became clear that two definitions were needed because there are two ends to the communication debacle! The communicator and the recipient of the communication! As posted in a previous blogpost, but here the definitions!

A young social media user who feels lost and powerless about voting needs unbiased information and a spectrum of interpretations, but cannot discern what information is accurate, fair, and/or valid/correct.

On the flipside, a politician or political group feels ignored about sharing information, opinions, and plans needs to reach social media users, but cannot reach users or is ignored and rejected by users.

[daviddavidarrarr]

IDSN 540 Process Journal - Conjunction Junction

My backpack is oxblood and black in color. It is make of leather and fabric and a zippers and there are pull tabs on the zippers. It has two shoulder straps and has padding on the back. It has two main pockets, one small and one big. Inside the big pocket there are three smaller open-topped pockets and one zipped section and that divides the big pocket. The big pocket has a lot of open space and it has a divided laptop space.

My backpack oxblood but it has black accents. It is leather but it has fabric, too. The oxblood fabric is fine-woven, but the black fabric is mixed. The black fabric is straps in some places, but it’s mesh in other parts. It’s got a black zipper, but the zipper has oxblood leather pull tags. The small pocket is just a pocket, but the big pocket has some divisions. Inside the big pocket there are open pockets, but there is also a big zippered pocket. The big pocket is mostly open, but there is a divided laptop space.

_________________________________

Reflection on that...

The “and” version felt child-like and wondrous. Like everything about it was exciting. The “but” version felt much more like how it is to work in a soul-sucking office that is a bit complex or disorganized - once some momentum builds in one direction, it gets cut back the other way!

I’ll stick to “and” in the future!

[daviddavidarrarr]

IDSN 540: Process Journal - Analysis

Reflect on the methods and techniques for analysis that you have used this week and summarize those activities in a new post in your process journal.

Where have you sought out research material?

What kind of interesting things have you discovered?

What sort of insights are you able to gather through your research so far?

The general topic so far has been voting/political behavior for Gen Z’ers plus others. So far I’ve sought out research materials on the internet - through Google, Census Bureau, news websites, other government agencies, and focused interest groups, such as those interested in voting/politics. I’ve also focused my perusal of print and audio media on the topic, where I scan newspapers, magazines, podcasts, and news radio webcasts with an eye out for political interest content.

There is a lot to find interesting in the content so far, such as:

Educational level of voting folks has trended up over time (so a higher percentage of voters have a bachelors degree now compared to in the past)

No matter the generation/year, younger people tend to vote less than older folks

There is more campaigning and more campaign dollars spent in swing states than non-swing states

Voter turnout is higher in swing/battleground states than non-battleground states

Voter turnout is on average 7% higher in the 15 states that have “same day registration” than the other 35 states

States with same day registration have, on average, 74% white population compared to 66% in the other states

Non-white votership has increased in each election for decades

Non-white votership plateaued in 2016 compared to 2012

In the 2016 Presidential election, although Hilary Clinton won the “young vote” in many swing states that she eventually lost (such as Wisconsin by ~27,000), she won the young vote by a much more narrow margin than did President Obama did in 2012, sometimes by as much as 20% less

Voter turnout is always lower in non-presidential years

And all of that is only voter turnout! There is tons more on who consumes and engages in political material/activities!

The insights earned so far by group research seem to include that:

Money spent on campaigning leads to awareness and engagement

People will participate when they think it has an impact

Younger folks will go to events, but won’t vote

Younger folks are more likely to engage in political content posted on social media

Gen X’ers and older are interested in politics and do consume some information on social media, but seem to have busier lives than Gen Z’ers and younger, so they do not engage in as much online content

Though our team discussions, we seem to be slowly narrowing the topics of discussion down. While my research seemed to focus on votership, it seems that a lot of signs are pointing our group toward how social media is/can be used to distribute political information, engage more people, and encourage meaningful conversations about politics and social concerns.

[daviddavidarrarr]

IDSN 540: Contingency Management

Create a new post in your process journal and identify the project’s contingencies, real or imaginary, that may impede progress, that seem outside of your control, and or issues that need to be resolved before you can move forward. Respond individually at first, and then share and discuss with your team the following “behavioral modifications” or rules of engagement:

·       Understand your limits.

o   What are your capabilities and the collective capabilities of your team?

·       Establish reasonable and feasible goals and standards.

o   What are your and your team’s intentions and are they in line with your abilities?

o   Where does your team have gaps and how will you mitigate that?

·       Be strict and consistent.

o   Do not promise what you cannot deliver.

o   Talk with your team on how to stay within scope and meet and exceed expectations with within your collective means.

·       Reward yourself.

o   What incentives do you and your team value when you meet your goals?

o   What is agreed upon and accepted “consequences” for you or your team members not contributing or behaving poorly?                                                                                                                                                            

DAVID:

Contingencies that may impede progress and seem outside of our control include the nature of “not having enough time to do work.” It seems that each of the three of us are very busy and so being able to meet, plan, execute our assignments, and consolidate it all will be a feat for the ages. While each of us values this project (as a means to an end and a means in and of itself), life does throw curveballs and its possible that significant others, family members, and other work/financial/legal obligations may pop up at crucial times.

Another current contingency factor is determining the goal and scope of the project. Currently, we have an idea of what we want to do, but we do not have a clearly defined problem or problem space. This is important because the skill set we bring will in dictate what we can accomplish in the limited time we have. There is a clear relationship between proficiency and volume of work. The intersection between the points in this paragraph is that we need to balance what we dream the project can be with what we can do in a reasonable amount of time with the tools available to us. None of us is proficient with a website builder like DreamWeaver, though we can easily make something in SquareSpace. Likewise, we may be handy with a camera and YouTube, so we ought to be able to create some interviews or videos about political topics.

We seem quite capable of many foundational and advanced skills to make this a bold project: vision; design; website mapping; online presence creation/advancement; online networking/recruitment; and content creation.

Our intentions are to create a website with digestible content about political and ballot matters for Gen Z’ers. While we can certainly create the website structure, online presence, and compelling design, the ability to create the kind of balanced and informed content we want to distribute may be a limiting factor. With that said, we may need to stick to national matters or find a way to purchase content to display for a while. Likewise, we may each know someone that does generate that kind of content, or we can network with people that do generate that kind of content. One quick way to cope with both matters is to create a Social Media-only presence that simply re-posts other content. At that point, it could be creation of a clever avatar with some key branding/marketing factors to make the profile/avatar relatable and engaging.

Personally, I’ll be able to research what is already being done in this domain, or similar domains, and help generate and hone ideas. I can help with some design/layout features and help create some content, as well as help establish operating parameters that apply to what kind of content to use and how to format any written information. I’ll complete each task on time. I’ll support colleagues with words of encouragement and specific tasks as-needed.

After research and brainstorming/idea creation, I’ll help ground the project to make sure that we make reasonable promises and deliver on those promises. It will be important to acknowledge that a few very strong elements are more important that many average elements. In the same vein, I will be realistic about what I can accomplish week to week.

Each week, I can reward myself for a job well-done by walking to the local park and hanging out there for 30 minutes (either right after I finish the task, or the next day, as bedtime allows). It will be important to keep a healthy regimen, so I’ll make sure to walk around each day, but the bonus for a job-well-done is the 30 minutes at the park with no task.

Should any of us fail to complete a task, that person should ought to have to give a statement to the group in the next Zoom meeting that includes an apology, a description of what was done instead during the scheduled task-time, how the missed task disrupts the overall flow of the project, and steps to ensure that the next task will be completed on time. The hope is that the experience is less shaming, and more about creating empathy and problem-solving in a deferent way.

 MOLLY:                                                                        

I know that we are a group of very ambitious people and have to be aware of our scope so that we can complete the project on time and deliver a quality product. With the 3 of us having work and personal obligations in addition to coursework and this project, time management will prove to be very important. We also need to remember to keep open lines of communication, which we have been doing great at so far. Life does happen and as long as we have early and open communication about any issues that may pop up, we can hopefully mitigate any risks early on.

So far, we have not defined the scope of the project in too much detail, but it does seem that we are all on the same page as far as the direction we intend to head. Personally, I am a citizen concerned about the way our country is heading. I have always been politically aware and interested and want to use this project as a way to further expand my knowledge of the political processes and policies as well as resources and actions people can take to make a difference and have their voice heard. As far as the project goes, we intend to create non-partisan content that can be easily digested by the younger demographic so that they have a trustable resource to turn to when they want to better understand the issues they are voting on. We are going to focus on providing resources that will educate the younger ‘millennial/ gen z’ demographic. There is more research to be done on trends, but anyone can easily observe the fact that the younger generation is not as engaged when it comes to politics which is a contributing factor to the state our country is currently in. However, with the reality tv drama show that the White House has become, it is hard to process everything that is going on and to know what sources are providing factual information. I think one of the biggest hurdles we will encounter is how to make it understood that the content we provide is non-partisan and is just there to provide facts and education so that voters can make informed decisions. Part of our plan is to target content creators that have a presence with the younger community.

When it comes to the necessary skills, I know that I personally have a gap when it comes to the technological aspects such as coding and web design. Youtube is a great resource and I tend to be a quick learner, so between the 3 of us I am confident we can put our brains together and figure things out. My business background can contribute to the marketing and dissemination plan as well as trend analysis. I also hope to sharpen some of my design skills when it comes to inspiration for the content creation, web layout, etc.

I would love to reward the team for a job well done with happy hour which is always a great way to celebrate success. I think it will also add to our team dynamic. For personal successes, I like to reward myself with relaxation and a moment to turn my brain off.

I don’t expect any of the team to behave poorly or fail to complete their assignments, but if that does occur I think it would be fair to explain to the rest of the team why you were not able to meet your obligations and how you are going to make sure the same problem doesn’t occur again. Because we are all paying a lot of money to be here and want to pass with high grades, I am confident we will all be bringing our A game to the table. Personally, I tend to work better in a team when I know there are others counting on me as well.

With the current political landscape and the timing of this project, I hope we can make an impact on the younger community and inspire them to realize that they can be the drivers of change for our future.

 JR:

There are several factors/variables that are unknown at this stage of the project.  We are tackling a huge topic and I think there needs to be a consensus on the parameters and scope of what can be achieved within our timeframe.

Another grey area for me is the definition of success.  What are the real goals of this project and how will that be tracked and measured?

From a content perspective, this topic is massive.  That said, we are not going to be able to take on every angle so what output are we agreeing on?

Skill set.  We all come from different backgrounds, so how will we divide project tasks to be most efficient and effective.

Limitations.  I have a lot of personal responsibilities that hinder my availability/working hours. I usually dedicate the late evenings to getting homework completed.  Will this work for the team?  Can we arrange deadlines to be in sync with my late night schedule?

Goals and Standards.  My intention for this problem is to develop a content platform business solution that is geared towards the GenZ population and their habits for consuming content today. Content is my area of expertise which includes researching, strategizing and developing plans to meet business goals. Without knowing everyone’s background extensively, I would say that the technology expertise may be a gap we have as a team.  I think this can easily be filled either through research or by enlisting the advice from a technology subject matter expert.

Be Strict and Consistent.  I am comfortable taking on the demographic research required as well as the content strategy.  Other areas of familiarity are content architecture, design, wireframes, and business planning.

Reward Yourself.  For me, words carry significance.  If someone is really killin’ it then I am a firm believer in acknowledgement and praise. On the other side, if there is work that is lacking then I think we should agree to have an open dialogue on how we can help support one another in order to improve the work.  I don’t believe in punishments or put downs or guilt trips.  I also stand by being honest with one another on struggles or hardships – even if they are personal.  If you are having a bad day or something unexpected happens where you can’t get to completing a task, just give the group a heads up.  I am always happy to step in and help out anywhere needed. The bottom line.  Yes, we are a group in a class but, for me, you are also real people with real lives and I respect and honor that.

[daviddavidarrarr]

IDSN 540: Acceptance

Use the Picture Success technique from unit 8 and create a post about it in your process journal. 

“WE DID IT!” Is what I’ll say when we’ve done it. At some point in the future...probably about eight weeks from now when the semester is over and the website that offers political and ballot information for Gen-Z’ers is live.

Accomplishing the goal will be like reaching the top of a mountain - it will give us a chance to survey a landscape and appreciate the view. This will include savoring the content offered on the website (videos, blogs, infographics, etc.), enjoying the usability of the website, and tracking usership through analytics and shares/comments of/on content. We will be able to reflect on the journey and shake our heads at the challenges and compliment each other on the creative solutions.

The immediate expected results of the best case scenario are that people consume the content offered on the website and it increases voter turnout at elections, inspires civilized discussion among peer groups, and animates people to march, protest, and otherwise gather in public. It will hopefully drive engagement in the democratic process to improve public policy so that more people have more access to resources and opportunities and accessing those resources is destigmatized.

The immediate beneficiaries of the success will be the group members since we’ll pass class! At the same time, users of the website will benefit from increased knowledge and interest in an important dimension of life in a society. Since policy decisions could go either way, it’s hard to say what specific groups will benefit from work done by the website, but it is possible to say that those in need will benefit since education and awareness moves people to action.

The positive impact will start at a national level and spread to more local levels. Since the website will cover political and ballot matters, it will be important to offer balanced and verifiable information. This will require (1) access to reliable information and (2) reliable labor/writers/content creators. Over time, the content will reach increasingly local levels as the word spreads, automated information flows will be incorporated in to the website (such as news from the AP wire and PR sites) and politically-inclined persons will contribute both voluntarily and for pay as the website gets cash flow from grants, donations, and advertising. While the content will cover many levels, the benefits will also reach many levels. More informed citizens benefits everyone since better leaders will be selected, better policies will be funded and implemented, and better resources will be offered to people. The stronger a community and a society, the stronger the world. (How grandiose.)

Most of the rewards will be related to improving society and, hopefully, creating an equal playing field for all persons. There may be some personal recognition, but that will likely come in the form of groupmates congratulating each other and getting to describe the project to future prospective employers or employing such problem-solving or creative design solutions on future projects.

The product from this undertaking will likely be a website with accompanying means to generate content.

No monetary reward is expected - well, perhaps some money will be offered to say one thing or another, but this is more about sharing information than selling a product to solve a problem, so no money market is tapped with the website.

This will aid in furthering my career in much the same way described above - it will give me valuable experience in the Creative Problem-Solving (and Design) Process. I will also get the chance to develop working relationships with two creative and driven colleagues. I’ll get the chance to take a societal concern, operationalize it, develop a plan, execute the plan, and assess the plans efficacy. This falls in line with my emerging career goal/trajectory.

Motivating factors for succeeding are to pass the class, learn from colleagues, impress colleagues, learn skills, get an ego boost from a job well done, put another challenge behind me, and practice the skills/techniques/ideas that support Go-Getters and Creative Types.

We are interested in this problem in the first place because of the painful truth that no matter how important politics is to the success of organizations, communities, and societies, most of the time people with good intentions and good ideas avoid politics like the plague.

What makes seeing this through to its end is the very real possibility that Gen-Z’ers will read and engage in the material. High visibility political events created intereste in politics and we ought to take advantage and take care of that interest. Doing so will help create a better world and more fulfilling experience as a citizen of the community, the country, and the world. Plus learning communication skills about large, complex problems is important.

I’m fully invested within the hours I have dedicated to the task!

Jessa, Molly, and I will benefits in all sorts of ways, as explored above.

Looking forward to standing on top of that mountain with Jessa and Molly!

[daviddavidarrarr]

IDSN 540 “What’s in it for me?”

What’s in It for Me? Create a new post in your process journal and list the benefits that you might accrue if you become involved in this project. Reflect on the subject matter that you and your group have chosen and how accepting the undertaking will benefit you personally.

Where do I begin! The project is about creating an online resource that offers Gen-Z (among others) digestible information about the political realm with specific focus on items up for vote. With some reflection, it seems that this project has four main benefits for me: I’ll learn about an important area of life; I’ll practice “Acceptance”; I’ll practice “Contingency Management”; and get to work with two awesome and creative colleagues.

The first benefit that comes to mind is that I’ll get to learn about the issues. It’s important to me to be a good citizen and this is a glaring gap in my citizenry. *throws up a salute*

Second, it is a great change to practice the “acceptance” phase of the Creative-Problem Solving model. Since I tend to avoid politics and matters to do with voting since they seem so big, partisan, disheartening, and beyond a point that I can have any real impact, acceptance to take this particular project will be an active process.

Third, and similar to second, this will be an opportunity to practice the Contingency Management (CM) exercise. Since I get the creepy-crawlies when I think about massive projects, it’s important to use techniques that help to make projects manageable. CM seems a great way to address project requirements and personal factors at the same time.

Fourth, this will be a great chance to work with colleagues. Both Jessa and Molly have awesome experience and bring personal passion to this group project. They both have experience with similar projects, at least in structure, scope, medium, and methodology, and they both seem happy to collaborate and share their ideas and expertise. Time to play the sponge!

These are four general benefits that come to mind. Each seems to be just one way to put in to words whole swaths of benefits and the four could be summarized as a chance to learn about skills and topics from two wonderful colleagues!

[daviddavidarrarr]

Group Project: Destination and Journey

IDSN 540 Processes and Perspectives

Group Project

Destination and Journey

 What are we passionate about these days?

Jessa:

Foster Care

Find homes for abused and neglected kids

Break the cycle of violence and abuse

Fashion and Technology

Zero time for shopping – but love tracking fashion in TV shows!

How about an app that shares info?

Politics

Get youth energized and interested in policy and politics

Create an influencer network

Increase voter registration

Increase tracking

Influencer network of Gen Zs that contribute to the site

Representation from each state

What does each policy mean for me now and in the future

Molly:

Politics

Also interested in politics

Increase interest

There is enough interest in drama that can be redirected in to paying attention to politics

Increase education

Make it digestible

Make it non-partisan

Environmental awareness

“Ten years and we’re screwed”

All the sudden we’re waking up to it because it’s in our lifetime

NASA says “We aren’t going to colonize SHIT”

Air Quality

Ozone

Ocean

David

Physical Health and Wellness

Privilege

THE CHOICE IS ON THE NEXT PAGE!!

Drumroll please…

 Group Topic:

Political Knowledge and Awareness

“Rationale for why I should be on the team”

Rationale must address:

Interest

Expertise

Contributions

 David:

My interest in the dissemination of political knowledge is to ensure that each person feels a sense of empowerment and responsibility to participate in society. The assumption is that if a person has access to information that is presented in an intriguing way, that person will work to understand it and then engage in behavior that supports self-interest and the community’s interests. Political information affects everyone in society and there is wisdom in the masses. With that said, my expertise is in psychology, so I can contribute to team efforts because I understand how the mind works. So I could help design how the information is written and illustrated, as well as provide tools for how people can engage in fruitful conversation with their family, friends, and the community.

Molly:

I think that this issue is more important than ever with the way current events are unfolding. Awareness needs to be spread far and wide so that the people can have a voice before it ends up being too late and political awareness is an issue that I am passionate about. I can contribute my understanding and knowledge of politics and current events, as well as a millennial's view on how effective the efforts would be in communicating to the target audience.

I can contribute my skills and knowledge to help build an effective business model and dissemination plan and analyze any data for trends or patterns, resulting in metrics to measure success.

Jessa:

Timely and very relevant topic with the elections coming up.  Coming from a content background, I can provide content strategy and creative direction as well as a content business model.

I don't believe we have been able to really energize Gen Z/Youth of today in caring about how decisions are made in this country.

Local governmental information is not as widely publicized and the amount of effort to educate youth about their local props and potential representation is largely lacking.

[daviddavidarrarr]

What is creativity?

I’m tasked today with coming up with “off the top of my head” definitions of creativity. I’m not an expert in creativity, but I do so enjoy the pursuit of creativity and it’s always a joy to experience the creativity of others. This is a sprint-activity done in under five minutes.

Here we go:

- Flexibility

- Courage

- Fun and excitement

- Novel arrangements of familiar pieces

- Pattern recognition

- Humor

- Enjoyment

- Beauty and aesthetics

- Ongoing development

- Persistence

- Openness

Let’s put it together:

Creativity is an ongoing process that requires courage, persistence, and flexibility to look at the world in a new way and rearrange the everyday in to new patterns to bring new perspectives, styles, and approaches that are beautiful, elegant, and full of verse and passion.

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What do you think?