Create a design fiction that demonstrates a new technology being used in a future situation where you are purposely trying to provoke thought about a social problem or situation by exposing people to your new technology. Follow good attributes of a design fiction (as talked about in lecture). This project should be done as an individual.
Topic of Focus Your goal is to create a speculative design - some type of technology in the future. You can choose your focus and what type of technology you want to create in your design fiction. But, you should focus on a really interesting social issue. My suggestion is to start with a social issue or problem facing society and then create a technology that can showcase that problem, make people more aware of it, and provoke thought around the issue. Start with the social issue first, then design around it.
Actors in Your Video You will need to shoot some video of people doing the activity as you create your design fiction - grab some friends or family! Or, work out a deal with some other people in the class that you will act in their video if they act in yours. The final deliverables have to be created by you, but other students can participate in the design fiction videos.
Video Recording Equipment The library has high quality video recording devices and tripods that you can sign out. I have also seen some pretty amazing videos shot just with a smartphone using HD video.
Create a design fiction using video. I am much less concerned with the technical quality of your video; the focus should be on the concept of design fictions and how well you adhere to the principles of them. I expect to see a video similar in style to Corner Convenience or Sight - these are two examples talked about in class. Though obviously the expectations on technical quality will not be as high as a video like Sight.
Your design fictions should also adhere to the properties that make high quality design fictions as taught in class.
Some people are likely going to panic and say, "I don't know how to make a video!" Now's your chance to learn! There are plenty of video-making tutorials available online and most software tools are pretty easy to use nowadays. That said, I care less about how professional your video looks (and what special effects you include, if any) and more about how you apply the concepts of design fictions to your project.
Also, given the number of credits needed to get in to this class and the core of lower division courses that SIAT students take, it is likely that you should have taken at least some courses that required video creation. If not, my expectation is that at the fourth year level of university, you should be able to quickly and easily pick up skills.
Individually, you will submit a one page document (single spaced) that describes the design fiction you have created. This must be done in each individual's own words.
For each design fiction, you should describe:
You will submit your video and your report before the beginning of class on the design fiction presentation day.
You will be evaluated on the completeness of your ideas and document, the quality of your speculations about future technology usage, and the quality of your writing and video.
The assignment is worth up to 2000 XP. A grading sheet is here.