Assignment 1.1: Individual Brainstorm

Due: Thursday, September 25, 10:00pm

This assignment is a component of Milestone 1. Be sure you have reviewed that larger context for this assignment.

The goal of this assignment is to help get you started in thinking of ideas for potential projects. Friday's section will then build on these in brainstorming additional potential directions for project proposals.

Propose three starting points for brainstorming domains, problems, and goals that might be supported via self-tracking. Revisit the course theme description in Milestone 1 if that is helpful in your brainstorming.

By domain, we mean an aspect of life. Domains that are already common in self-tracking include:

Finances (e.g., tracking spending, a budget, investments).
Wellness (e.g., tracking physical activity, sleep, weight).
Health (e.g., tracking for pain management, allergies or other symptom triggers, major weight loss).
Mood (e.g., tracking mood, identifying depressive symptoms).

Be sure to focus on problems, goals, and spaces of opportunity, as it is too early to focus on a specific potential design solution. One way to help yourself identify related problems, goals, and opportunities is to consider a hierarchy of opportunities that result from asking "Why?". In the context of a budgeting app, for example:

Why is a person using a budgeting app?
Why is a person tracking their spending?
Why do they want to know how much they spend on leisure activities?
Why do they have a goal of saving for a major purchase?

Each idea should be just a sentence or two, identifying the domain and the problem, goal, or opportunity.

Your ideas must be significantly different, not small variations on the same idea.

Each idea must be in a different domain.
At least one idea must be in a domain not in the above list.

Excluded Topics

Some topics can initially appeal to students (e.g., because they correspond to real problems students have encountered), but then ultimately do not support strong differentiation and learning in the project sequence. To help ensure a broader set of project explorations, we have declared some topics to be excluded.

You may not propose a project focused on the domain of home grocery tracking or planning.

If you feel you have an idea that should be allowed in spite of this exclusion (e.g., because the project is differentiated by targeting a specific class of people that opens new ideas), contact the course staff for approval before proposing it.

Submission

Due: Thursday, September 25, 10:00pm

Within the Drive folder for course project files:

Identify the Slides deck corresponding to your section.
Add one slide containing your three ideas. Start by duplicating the provided template.

Reminders and requirements:

Submission via Canvas is also required, in support of grading.
- Export an image of your slide, via the menu: File -> Download -> PNG image (.png, current slide).
- Be careful you do not accidentally download all slides (e.g., as a PDF). To receive credit, upload an image or PDF of only your own slide.
This is an individual assignment. Ensure your name is near the top of your submission.

The Drive folder for course project files is here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1URdb2hFP-y03o-113CEaod0PzdFjhfpf?usp=sharing

Submit via Canvas here:

https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1828371/assignments/10688263

If you are unable to access the submission system, submit via the staff email address.

In Class

Be prepared to contribute your ideas and areas of interest as part of a larger brainstorm and effort to identify people interested in working together.

Completion Grading

This assignment will be graded on completion of the following components:

Each Unique Proposed Idea (3 total):

Do not submit small variations on the same idea.

Do not submit ideas within an excluded topic.

Be clear regarding the domain of each idea, ensure each idea is from a different domain.

At least one idea must be in a domain not in the above list (i.e., finances, wellness, health, mood).

Prior Samples

Prior offerings may have had different requirements. Samples are also intended only to illustrate a variety of approaches, and were not selected to be ideal or exemplary. These may help to see how prior students approached elements of a project, but be sure to understand and consider requirements and feedback in your own work.

Examples of brainstorms are linked from prior offerings, but be sure your submission is designed for the format, requirements, and emphasis of this assignment:

Samples Submissions in Autumn 2024