Ko ia kāhore nei i rapu, tē kitea
He who does not seek will not find
How can you help? How can you make a difference? Even if it is just small....
How do you decide on the focus of your inquiry?
The scope of your inquiry could have a global, national, or local focus. It could be how the issue is dealt with in your community or your suburb, school or home. The community can be global, national or local.
Some starters to help you decide what your focus might be ....
What ideas am I interested in?
What do I know about the topic?
How do I know about it?
What experience do I have with this topic?
What do I want to know?
What am I wondering?
What are my questions?
What am I feeling?
Places to find Big Picture Ideas
If you are keen to solve an issue check out some of these places...
You can tell a story, write a statement, or a question. This can be general or more specific. At this point there should be nothing about the solution.
I love gaming
I have always drawn and I would like to explore what I can do with my drawing further
I want to be able to help.......
The underrepresentation of trans people in fictional media, and the limits placed on existing representation
You have an area you are focused on. Now you need to work out what the key question is you are going to try and answer or solve?
For example.....
How do I create a successful brand?
How do I make an awesome game?
How can I help my grandparents?
How can I help my pony club?
How to raise awareness about mental health?
How can I create good transgender representation that is not harmful to transgender people, and challenges modern transphobia, without limiting the depiction of transgender characters?
Based on your area of focus what is the main question (also known as essential or big) you are trying to find answers to?
More Questions...
You have your main question but you need to ask a whole lot of questions to be able to answer this question. In the end you should have a range of questions that you are going to follow up in research. Think about what you do know and don't know - where are your gaps? Try and elimate any bias or assumptions you may have. These questions and your research will help you write the proposal for your DT outcome and also guide your Design and Development.
What do my grandparents struggle to do?
What are the most popular/successful [games, websites, products etc]?
What are the conventions for [the type of outcome]? (e.g. website is HCI)
What is involved in creating a [outcome]?
Who is using this/these [outcome]?
How could I make a [outcome]?
What are the clarifications / rules / regulations for [outcome]? e.g. film ratings etc
Where do you find [outcome]? (e.g. websites or information on your topic
What software is suitable for [outcome]?
What are suitable / successful / appropriate colour schemes?
plus images / content to include / music / fonts etc
Why might you look at colours - have you ever seen the logo wheel --->
What do you notice?
What types of companies or businesses are in green? What types of worlds do we associate with green - clean, environment? Why do you think they have done this?
What category do you notice is in Yellow/Orange/Red?
Colour Psychology is really interesting if it's relevant to your project
Based on your area of focus what is the main question (also known as essential or big) you are trying to find answers to?
What does this area/s involve?
What is a problem/issue?
What are the digital area/s?
What are user experience methodologies
What are the conventions you need to consider in your dt area
Relevant implications that may be important
Software options / skills etc
Who could end users be - majority users and extreme users
Sticker
Skateboard Rack
Children's Bike Area
Business Card
Pavement Lights
Blood bank gauges
Dashboard Sticker
If you have Netflix this is well worth a watch!
If not you can read more about it here...
From the doco:
What was the Focus?
What was the Big Question?
What were all the smaller questions?
What was the outcome?
Who was involved
Who were the end users?
Who was this going to help?
What issues did they have?
~ Will we ever see something like this again? ~