Develop a product for the future ... about 20 years hence.
This is a multi-step project, and you should try to do a piece of it each week. Start by picking a socio-environmental trend and a technical trend that you will focus on. Focus is important here to help narrow the scope of what you will do. At the same time there is some flexibility in the execution of this project, and if you wish to take a very different approach, you just need to ok that with the instructor.
- Please email me by *MONDAY* 14/5 with your choices, since we don't want this to be a drawn out component of your project.
- Next, create a futures wheel exploring the potential impacts of those trends. This should be done by *THURSDAY* 17/5 (and could be done at the same time you pick the trends if you want). The goal of this is to help you further with scoping of your project (not everything in the wheel will be within scope, but it allows you to get more specific than simply a trend).
- Next, create three scenarios using the wheel and any other techniques you think are relevant. These scenarios represent potential futures for which you will be developing your technology.
- Finally, pick one or more scenarios for which a particular technology is relevant, and discuss the technology you plan to build.
Deliverables:
- Your chosen trends and some evidence about how they are changing. 1-2 pages each. Name the trends by 14/5, but your final work should go a bit deeper (due 17/15)
- Your futures wheel (due 17/5)
- Your three scenarios. 1-2 pages each, plus a 1 page reflection on the implications for the present of those scenarios. (due 30/5)
Lastly, you have a choice. You can do any of the following (due 30/5)
- Explore a technology design in depth, related to both the environment and scenario (s) you choose. How you present the results of this to us is up to you. You can describe it, create a demo, or choose how to present it. You should show it to at least three people and talk to them about it in this case.
- Explore an approach to prediction in depth. This would mean choosing a futures method (or one of your own), understanding it, applying it, making predictions with it, and documenting the process. You should show your predictions to at least 3 people and talk to them about them in this case.
- Anything else you ok with the instructor :).
For the final presentation/critique, tell us:
- What trends did you focus on in your Future prediction?
- What method did you use to project into the future?
- Describe the future
- What did you design/what technique did you explore? (include pictures)
- Anything else you think is really important
For the class blog, please:
- Post a brief writeup including at least one image of what you did. Your writeup should mention:
- What you did and what you learned from it?
- Why do you think it worked or did not work?
- What other approaches did you consider? If you had other ideas, this is your chance to explain it.
- What would you do differently the next time?
Other deliverables can be sent to the instructor by email.