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Creative Explorations in Screen-Based and Physical Computing

DGMD E-15, Spring 2016

Today

An overview of the Arduino and what it can do
Workshopping Katie K's project
Break
Riffing on your project mockup with a partner
Open studio time for:
- Exploring the Arduino & physical computing
- Working on the pomes extensions
- Expanding on your project's spec

https://github.com/dgmd/johnny-five-express-sample

Katie K!

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Specifying Your Project

Here are a few, firsthand thoughts from expert designers on their process of sketching and specifying which we find especially useful. Read through them and imagine what the process might look or feel like for some of the projects you're considering.

James Buckhouse's "Story Map"
Jason Fried's "Sketching with a Sharpie"
Joel Spolsky's "Painless Functional Specifications" series
Francis Cortez's "Personal Design Sprint #1", #2, and #3
Alexander Cowan's "Your Best Agile User Story"

Some good, starting questions

What is the project's mission?
Who is its audience, and what do they value?
How will you know if it is successful?
What is your plan for going about it?

Workshopping your projects

Find a partner…
Spend 20 minutes describing your project and attempting to answer:
1. What is the project's mission?
2. Who is its audience, and what do they value?
3. How will you know if it is successful?
4. In the next four hours of working on your project, what do you need to mock up or create?
Post your notes and sketches to your journal and any snippet requests which might be of use.

Open Studio Time

Getting hands-on with the Arduino and the sample project explorations
Developing pomes extensions
Drafting your project's spec

For next session

In your journal, answer these questions:
1. What did you accomplish today?
2. What do you aim to have done by next session?
3. What can we (the teaching team) do to help
Work to actually accomplish the goal you set for yourself.
If you get stuck, submit a Code Snippet Request or get in touch on Slack if you have any trouble!
Please read these pair programming articles before next session. Often people think pair programming will go more slowly than "just" doing it yourself. Often this is not true. We encourage you to reach out to friends and acquaintences in the class, through Slack if you'd like, to pair program over the break and weekend.