designapalooza’s posterous

**Update**  One question brought up is whether you should stay in ONE "place of eating"  The idea is yes, to stay in that ONE place for the whole time.  It wasn't said in class, but you should spend at least ~1hr in that spot.  You should get to that point where you think there is nothing left to observe and perhaps you will get that lightbulb moment and see something unexpected.  It's hard to predict.  The numbers, 50+ and 10+ were not empirically tested.  Try to get different perspectives within that place.  Be creative.

Also, we're assuming that everyone has access to a digitial camera.  Pictures make a big difference in giving context to your observations when you share with others.  If that is a concern for you, then don't worry about it.

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For Monday, be prepared to share your 50+ observations, which includes interacting with 10+ people, with other classmates in small groups.  Keep in mind the mini-observation exercise you did in class (which went really well!).  Think about the different ways of observing and interacting with people.  You should stay in that one location **for the whole time**, but feel free to get a different perspective within that space (for instance, today in Lobby 10, you could sit on the bench observing people at eye level and then go outside 10-250 to get an aerial view).

You will be doing this assignment individually.  Remember that the goal is NOT "the Starbucks barista really needs this item".  Rather, it is to extend the observation exercise you did in class and get a deeper understanding of people in general.  We'll worry about the next steps of the design process next week. Just observations.

Once finished, enter basic details about what you did here:
http://web.mit.edu/ideation/2.97/assignment1.html

The lecture slides about forest design can be found here, along with your location assignments:
http://web.mit.edu/ideation/2.97/docs/assignment1-prompt.pdf

Here are some tips about observations, similar to what we talked about in class:
http://web.mit.edu/ideation/2.97/docs/observation-tips.pdf

• 50+ observations, 10+ interactions
• document in a way to share findings with small groups on Monday (pictures, sketches, notes, transcripts, etc.); can be digital, doesn't have to be
• fill out form once you are done
• gain a deeper understanding of people
• additional tips
• location assignments

Email Justin if you have questions.