#openinnovator

[museumexperience1-blog]

A design project

Do you remember the last time you visited a museum? Would you like to go back there and see some exhibits again,  revive your experience or just really want to know how the artist was called who made that awesome video installation? Unfortunately it is often not that easy to go back and just experience the same again.  Either the exhibition was just temporarily or you were on vacation and don't have the chance to just go back. 

I am an Industrial Design Engineering Student from The Hague, who now passed almost two month in New York in order to explore the ways of communicating Information in Museums and understanding how the whole planning process of exhibition works. One of my key observations is that there is a lot of planning from the institutions ahead but there is almost nothing that remains if an exhibition is over. There are catalogues, postcards and the documentation of the planning itself in the museum, maybe some invitations for the opening.  Some visitors take photos, notes and drawings home. But the experience itself is mostly lost, and whole lot of information gleaned and then fizzling out.  Our memory is made to remember what is important to us, so it is impossible that we just soak up all the texts from the panels and never forget anything. We are human and theres just very few individuals who have a brain that can store all this data. Most of us will have to use another way to store and keep the information and experience that we lived through. 

Now this project is engaging with the experience in art and design related museums and galleries. If you are interested please follow this blog, I will try to keep you updated with at least one post a week! 

[syeenaboodesign]

BYEEEEE

Eight weeks have been and gone. We now find ourselves putting the final touches on our video and beginning to reflect on our work the past two months. Its hard to believe the times gone so fast and that we were so naïve to begin with.

Each week we have dived into a new topic whether it is crowdsourcing, technology stewardship, marketing or work teams, all have encouraged and demanded – working in/on/with an online community or network. Going into this project I had little experience with this, however I soon realised how essential and beneficial this form of work is in the innovative design industry. Its benefits stem from the concept of a smaller world where global communication is no barrier. Shared knowledge is key allowing us all to gain and pass on lessons learnt or information gained.  The increased use of online communities and networks is currently – mid-snowball effect – gaining popularity by the day. It’s a movement designers cannot ignore and in-fact is creating an entirely new way or working creatively.

One design principle resounded with me after this project and that is “The Pareto Principle” (http://principles.adactio.com/). Perhaps because this was so applicable to our groups experience. This Principle states: “80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.” Through out this project we experienced a multitude of problems, from; team management to customer interactions and even just the development of solutions.  However it was only due to these problems we encountered that we were able to innovate and come up with solutions – improving the team and the work being produced.

As for tips for next years students… COMMUNICATE! Our teams communication left a lot to be desired and it effected our working relationship. This would be my biggest tip to you along with making the effort to meet face to face, it is so much more beneficial to the efficiency and shared understanding throughout the group.

This experience is going to be invaluable, it is my first real experience working for a customer in a group or international participants. I have gotten an insight firstly into what to expect. I now know how much team work is going to be prevalent over the next 3 years and being aware of this allows me to ensure the way I interact with certain team members is beneficial to the efficiency of the group. Although I go away from this experience feeling my team could have performed better I am very proud of what we have created and thankful for all the lessons I have learnt along the way.

  So for the final time..

That’s all for this week!

Untill next time, Siras Henderson xx

[syeenaboodesign]

GROUP GROUP GROUP

After working together for 4 weeks we are finally starting to find our rhythm. Slowly but steadily. Initially we dealt out “positions” which we thought was most fitting to everyone’s personal skill set. Although some of these have remained the same, we have found that some people are more suited to other jobs.

I’m finding the motivation of the group great, it is lifting my spirits whenever I am struggling. Equally the leadership has been awesome, Luca has taken to it like a duck to water. He is extremely structured and his understanding of the task is the best in the group.

Equally everyone else is using their own personal skill to contribute. Although Luca is taking the lions share of the work load up till now I hope for the rest of us, with his assistance, to be able to take some of the pressure off of him.

However there is definitely room for improvement! Firstly our initial decision to use Facebook as the main form of communication in the group I believe this was a mistake, as people are posting data at random times and we are not all online when this happens for instance I frequently am out when informed someone’s posted. By the time I get home I have completely forgotten about it. Other groups are using google drive and I would love my group to consider this. Google drive would allow us to access information when we want to and when we are focused on the task at hand.

Initially we had little to no understanding of the task however now we are in the 5th week (half way through the project) I feel we finally have got a grip on the task at hand. For me the difficulties was my lack of knowledge on platforms and anything technology related. However my groups knowledge has made up for this and they are slowly developing my knowledge on the topic too.

Working with such a large group there is always challenges. One of these is ensuring everyone is equally involved. The girls confronted the group last week saying they sometimes felt that we were dismissive of there ideas. This of course was a big surprise to the rest of us however we were able to ensure from now on we listen more attentively when they are talking.

In addition Maarten brought up a very valid point of native English speakers intimidating the others. Of course this was un-intentional but subconsciously the non natives feel intimidated due to their inability to express them selves as fluently. If you visit Maarten’s blog there is a link to a website which discusses how groups can get a handle on this problem but also how we can use it to our advantage. I would recommend every one from all group reads this!

Lastly I would like to discuss the effect of culture on the functionality of our team. All 9 members hold a different culture and this is both a constructive and a restrictive aspect. The variety allows a lot of new and exciting ideas to be shared showing perspectives of many. However when communicating it can be difficult, words may be interpreted differently by others, this is when it is important for us to communicate. Especially us native English speakers, if the others have use a word inappropriately it’s important for us to pull them up even if the we understand what they are trying to communicate.

Until next week - over and out!

[nyorgovn-blog]

WEEK 5- Work teams

Ok, Its week 5 now and everything is going pretty well. This weeks theme is team. It's always great to have a little thinking in that direction because it's the base of every organization and every company in the world. 

Let's look at our awesome group now.  I think what is really going well with us now is that we get along pretty well. There is a generally good mood among us and that helps us and motivates us to work better. On the other hand we find some trouble organizing a group meeting during the week, so we can assume that the "out of school communication" is kind of a problem for us. I actually consider this for not that big of a problem because nowadays there is facebook, emails etc. and so much sharing possibilities and if we use them well enough we'll be just fine. We have to communicate more actively and considering most of us are living pretty close to each other it should not be problem to organize a meeting for the group.  What is impact of size? Well, we can say that this is pretty obvious because we can simple say "two heads think better then one". The are more ideas incoming when we work as a team and we can always choose the best one and of course a well organized team has a lot bigger rate.  In our group there is a huge variety of different cultures. In my opinion this is beneficial when we look at the fact that we are solving a task for our NGO considering their offices around the world.  To sum up, I find my group great and full of bright minds. We will deal with all our tasks perfectly if we overcome some small problems. 

[misoo235]

Thank You all.

I'm starting to write this blog and thinking. It's over? Latest blog? The end of a long, endless Monday? Probably so. But I have to what I two months ago wouldn't even think to say.

I’ll miss this !

I remember the beginning, who caught only one word: Chaos. I feel like it was yesterday. No one knew what to do, all filled with a sense of unease and uncertainty. But today, our hourglass are almost empty and we can no longer follows the last grains of sand that slowly but surely completed the first stage at this school.

What is going on here? - We often asked, during the long and unorganized google hangouts.

But now we are at the end of a new beginning, turned about-face and see our tracks we leave.

Let's decipher them.

At the beginning I see the shortcut NGO. Honestly, I did not know what it is. However,  I already know. Thank you.

Next, I can see 'Technology Stewardship' - Yes. Technology. In fact, I felt like at home in. I have reviewed and reinforced the importance of technology as in normal everyday life and in work and communication also. 

Crowd-sourcing. For me again, hitherto unknown concept. But this lesson has helped us realize our position and role in the project.

Teamwork. I remind this class, as one of the most valuable for us, as a group. It helped us to understand the power of group-work and taught us to use it the most effectively.

Crowd-funding followed. For me personally, the most valuable and most inspiring among all.

And at the end, one of the most important topics which was Marketing. Marketing is all around us and is part of everything. I dare say that in many cases is the key. ( Simple idea of quality marketing can make a hole in the world and vice versa with bad marketing we can sink even the best of them.

And now we are here and there is only the last task. Will present our work, efforts and thoughts to client.

But. The question is. 

What is the one most important thing have you learned about using online communities and networks in innovative design?

What is the most important thing ?

That’s clear for me.The most important thing is awareness of what our online communities and networks offer and permit. It's an almost unlimited amount of information, ideas and also inspiration. Speed​​, clarity, accessibility of information! But! The simplicity is essential! I learned a long time ago just like it confirmed. Communication is to be direct and clear. Information served to make them comprehensible and easily understandable. So we can avoid misunderstandings and confusion.

Considering all you have learned and experienced through our classroom time and your work for your clients, what are your design principles for designing and fostering online communities or networks?

My Design principles ?

Yes. I have them. These are the words which I deeply enthusiastic in myself and who are trying to to follow the, whenever I do something / product. Design is the only way to communicate with people. People need to understand you. Needs a clear message read by every product of carries. The message is encoded in a single word-Design-

People still do not like things they do not understand. Quite the contrary. Do they ??

Maybe I can consider these  ten principles for good design of Dieter Rams , as mine as well. 

Finally in this blog I would like to express a big frankly Thank You to Marteen for guiding, tutoring but mostly for his positive energy and the mood which brings to our group and of course to 8 great, awesome people whom I had the honor during these 2 months to get to know.

I am glad that I can say that Project Community gave me really a lot. As new knowledge, experience, overview of the most forward word friends. It was fun and useful experience, so I look forward to more projects!

And for you to prospective students. Start will be messy but life is not always easy. That each of us knows. So what tips would I give to prospective students? Be prepared! And enjoy your ride!

BYe

[karolinatblr]

WEEK 8

Looking back at all themes that we have discussed and discovered, I can tell, that when it goes to online communities and using them in innovative designing, I have learnt a lot.

First of all, I got to know how they work and how useful it is to be a part of an online community. When you 'belong' to one, your life and work as a designer, can be easier and more efficient. You can get many information, help and support. People, who are interested in the same subject that you are, are part of the community you belong to, are willing to help, share their knowledge and experience, which may help you in creating very innovative designs.

I was really surprised by the fact, that so many people use online communities and networks to improve their work. Even simple research or asking a few question to right people can give you many insights and ameliorate your design. They also help you to start with the project, to know what are your 'ideal clients' expectations and needs. I think that if you want your design to be succesful, it is really important to be aware of existing online communities, how important they are in innovative design and how can you use those making your designs.

When it goes to design principles and adapting them to online communities, I think that the most important is to make the design simple, easy in use and nice for the eye. If the design itself has to many 'options' and 'possibilities' it may become too complicated to use, which may couse people's aversion and they may not be willing to use those. That is why, I think that combining simple but effective project with elegant appearance is the most important.

To the next year students:

The course itself may teach you a lot. You will probably feel confused for first 4 weeks, but do not worry, it has happened before. During project community classes, you will learn how to work for a real client, how to create and design the solutions that he/she needs, but first of all you will learn how to start all that procces. What is also very important, you will be forced to work in teams, which is something, that shows how important is that you have people around you, who have the same goals but may have different ideas.It teaches you how to work not by your own, but with others, how to share ideas, agree or disagree with them, argument your rights, divide your work into every members of team, do assignments on time, be responsible for all team, not only for yourself. And that is what I will 'take with me' as the course ends. I am really happy that I have learnt so much and I am proud of my team and my teammates as we are getting our project done.

Advices:

Do not waste your time on doing nothing, trust me, start doing things, as early as possible and do not wait for answers from your client (assuming you have some) because it may never come and the project has to be done anyway. I will also focus more on the teamwork itself, at the beginning of the  project, not at the end, as we have done this year.

[viktoriyadespotova-blog]

Week 8

 If I have to be honest, I cannot believe that this is our final week. I just gained confidence about my work for developing the project and suddenly this was our last chance to put all our effort to further develop our presentation. Still, I feel confident about our group work. I think this Monday was most useful, because the topic was very interesting to me. We were talking about multi-media and audio-visual presentations and the different techniques we can use to make them more interesting to the audience. In my opinion, the thing that made me and the other group members from group 6 think about our visual outlook of the presentation were the examples shown by the teacher. This way we became aware of the mistakes we can make, i.e. the pitfalls. For example, we understood that our presentation was five minutes longer than required so we started working on making it shorter.

As usual, after the presentation we divided into smaller groups and worked on different tasks. I really liked the idea that two of the group members thought of. They decided to change the design of the presentation completely, because ours was too simple. They came up with the great idea to make it like a railway and each section of the presentation will be a train station. In my opinion, this is a very original idea and in this way it would definitely be more interesting.

Through your research, what is the one most important thing you have learned about using online communities and networks in innovative design?

Honestly, I had no idea that methods like Crowdsourcing and Crowd funding exist. The most important thing that I learned about using online communities and networks is that they are extremely useful and can only benefit you. The Internet is one enormous space, where people communicate, share ideas, videos, pictures, etc. Nowadays, almost everyone is using the internet for one reason or another. When it comes to developing a better business it is extremely important for one to have an online community, since in this way you have a bigger audience, e.g. a lot of people look for customers or investors online. I think that it is also a smart place to look for great designs, because as I already said, everyone is using the internet and online networks are one of the main places, where artists promote their work.

Considering all you have learned and experienced through our classroom time and your work for your clients, what are your design principles for designing and fostering online communities or networks?

The first thing that makes an impression on me in a website is the visual outlook. I think that it is best if it is simple, but still original. This is why one of my design principles is Simplicity.

It is also very important for me, a website to be well structured and accessible. I personally have visited a lot of websites, which have great visual outlook, but are extremely hard to use, because the information is put in the wrong place. The second design principle which I choose is Accessibility.

Last but not least – Tolerance. In my opinion, EVERYONE should listen and even if accept not, then at least tolerate the opinion of others.

My advice for next-year students? When you decide what to study, don’t consider the opinion of your parents, because when you transfer after a few weeks and you go to Project Community class, it might come as a shock to you. Just kidding.

My advice is to get to know your task and the different websites you will need as soon as possible, because then it will be much easier. At first, everything is very unclear, but when you get to know what is expected from you and when you make sure that you have asked all the relevant questions, it becomes quite easy. After all, we are not doing rocket science, and I think that if you put some effort, everything will be alright.

[justinlimboxofthoughts-blog]

It's The Final Countdown

Yes, it has arrived. The fated time has come. We are nearing the end of our course. Buckle up for the final countdown, this will be the last ride.

Over the course of this course, I have learned much more than initially predicted. I could write you an essay regarding every dirty little detail, but let's keep this relevant to the task. Foremost: What is the most important thing I have learned regarding utilizing online communities ?

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JIV7bmyoGm0/UW1lRAXkXVI/AAAAAAAAHnM/0lB_2QatSPs/s1600/Fragile.png

Online communities and networks are double edged blades. There can be no doubt about the amount of incredible information, ideas an aspiring open-innovator such as I will gain from using these modern opportunities. However, therein lies the problem as well. An excess of information leaves much to doubt about the authenticity of given information. Or relevancy of information, where the gems are hidden beneath the dirt. Therefore, one should always choose carefully. "Where to ask it", "When to ask it", "Whom to ask", and "How to ask."

And in this process, I have also set myself some design principles to be noted when designing and fostering a online community, or network: Simplicity: A thoroughly well structured website, to be easily loaded, accessed. It shall not have to be burdened by unnecessary gimmicks, yet shall not prevent: Intuitive: The website has be greatly forthcoming towards the individual needs and liking of each individual user.

Structured: A clear structure to clearly allow groups of  their own interests to meet, share discuss etc.

Subtle: A website which intrudes with the life of the user is a website to be destroyed. The one community to strive, is the one to integrate subtly with the lives of the users. Forthcoming: A online community that closes it's borders shall one day run out of ideas. Opening borders, welcoming new users into the network allows people to feel home, to feel appreciated. To stay. Homely: Lastly, an online community must also want to stay, and build up as one The very design of the website must feel all of above, it must make everyone feel home, to want to log in and see what other family members have said. Only so can it withstand the test of time. We are nearing take off. This is the last check before the take-off. Looking back, what can I share with the next generation ? This course is going to be confusing. Many obstacles will be laid upon your way. Not every task will make sense, and even when they did, some were useless for the big picture: the customer's needs ( task ). I will lay it upon the next generation to focus on the biog picture. Should one try to include everything or every detail into the answer, it will entangle. Clarity first, thoroughly bend every nook and canny of the task given upon you. Make sure everyone understood the task. Communication and preparation is key. Speak to your peers, your tutors. Prepare in advance, be ahead. It allows mistakes or unnecessary details to be fostered out earlier. Yet as negatively I might have made it sound, certain details of this course will stick to me, as they are important to me. Copyright, experience with a customer and problems thrown into array. Working together as groups. This will help me grow, for a better future.  And for now, this is the final countdown. The last show on the road before we move on our path towards a future we design ourselves. This. Is. "The Final Countdown"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jK-NcRmVcw See you along the road chaps.