Feedback

Feedback (and my reaction in red):

1. "They've been looking for something like this to use the North Campus Diag space for a while now." It seems we're exploring an idea in an area that could use one.
2. "This is a really cool idea, and we actually have a lot of unused grant money we could put towards this if you're interested in working something out." This was really cool news. The amount of unused money was huge, and an increase in budget like that could build something even cooler and more complex than we had planned.
3.  "That area of the diag does tend to get swampy." This seems to be a problem, but it was followed up with "it would force someone to go out there and really try to fix it." I'm sure we could come up with a solution.
4. "I bet there'd be a way to work out freezing the lights under ice in the winter." We hadn't really planned to leave the structure up in the harsher months, but this could create a totally unique "chill" experience (pa-dum-ch). Perhaps a year-round lounge is something to consider.
5. "A performance element to the lounge area, such as a stage, would be interesting to see." We had thought about this in our initiall design, but a limitation on space and budget made it a little far-fetched. If we used the unused grant money, however, I'm sure we could work this aspect into our design.
6. "With a larger budget, we could supply more durable materials to use in the construction of it." Very true.
7. "This is a really cool idea." Always uplifting.
8. "It's nothing new that the North Campus Diag is a little mundane, but this is one of the better ideas I've heard for solving the problem." This refers back to criticism 1.
9. "So there are lights inside? Awesome." That's what we thought, too!
10. "You'll probably get an A on this." Not exactly feedback, but an uplifting thing to hear nonetheless!


Our feedback was almost entirely positive, so it seems like from here we'd stick to the design, try to get permission to use thee space, then actually build the structure. There is some issue in the swampiness of the Diag, but nothing a little brainstorming wouldn't work around. Overall, though, I think our design was well-thought and impressed many people, so few, if any, changes would be made to it.

Student Coordinator Meetings

In our meeting with Ike this week, he helped uss address a few issues with our project. Our biggest issue was one we hadn't even thought about yet: getting permission to use the North Campus Diag. Ike came through for us, however, by finding out who we needed to talk to and giving us their phone number. Other than that, our meeting was mostly addressing and solving small issues we had. These issues included:

• the amount of time we'd set up our structure for
• how the structure was going to be designed
• what our presentation should consist of, since we plan to build a large, physical structure

Prior to the meeting with Ike, we hadn't made any further changes on our design. Since the meeting, however, we plan to solidify whether or not we can use the diag, come up with drawings and designs for our presentation, and decide whether or  not the floor will be made of plastic sheeting as well.

February 15 Homework

Changes we've made to our project so far:
       Since the beginning of class, our group's project has undergone numerous changes. Our idea started out simple, and laughably odd: to build a giant beanbag chair somewhere to chill on. Revision after revision, though, our idea slowly morphed into something more practical, desirable, and cool. We moved away from the idea of a giant beanbag into a "beanbag lounge" - a coffee shop-like setting made entirely out of beanbag structures. This change was intended to open the experience to a larger number of people. We also spitballed the idea of creating a stage that resembled a tv along with the lounge and to have a group of improv performers who would act out a variety of skits depending on what "channel" the tv was set to. This wasn't enough, though, as we needed a structure to put the lounge in. Kelsey then brought up an idea she had heard of once where a lady ironed pieces of plastic sheeting together to make a greenhouse-type structure. We decided we could do the same, but make the walls/floor hollow and fill them with air, much like a moonbounce. This is the idea we're currently settled on.


Changes I'd still like to see:
       At the moment, there aren't a whole lot of changes I'd like to see done to the idea, but some include a more unique structure design, a way to integrate constantly changing, ambient lights (like fiber optic statues), and a definite location.

Ten quotes

Ten quotes about our prototype:

"The idea is really cool, but the design should be more interesting than the 'igloo' shape."

"I love the colors."

"This would definitely be a fun place to hang out - as long as the weather's nice."

"If it isn't up all year, where would you store it when it's down?"

"The floor should be made of plastic sheeting, too. It could be like a moonbounce lounge!"

"You're going to need to make it big enough to hold a lot of kids if it turns out to be as awesome as it sounds."

"You should definitely design an area for a stage or something. It'd be a hit with weekly entertainment."

"Would it cost a lot to keep it inflated/lit all the time?"

"Is the plastic sheeting going to be an opaque color, or are you going to put up lights? If so, what kind of lights?"

"Won't it get cold in the winter and hot in the summer?"

Homework 1/25

In terms of The importance of revision, Tharp says that We have to use our past failures in order to Avoid repeating our mistakes and failing again. Petroski, however, looks at it a bit differently, and instead of talking about using failure in our revision process, she instead suggests revising our good ideas to make them even better.


Tharp defines a few different types of failure: Failure of skill, failure of concept, failure of judgment, Failure of nerve and failure through repetition. Petroski, however, destined only one type of failure: Failure through disregarding criticism. In revision, failure is beneficial because it pushes us away from bad ideas or ideas that may not work out and towards something viable.

Homework for 1/18

• Dodds & Smith define fixation as a persistent block or impediment to successful problem solving.

• Gerber recommends throwing away previously generated ideas when someone is in an idea development stage and hits a wall. This is to keep too much energy from being wasted on a few ideas and allowing for room to be made for new ideas.

• My reaction to Gerber's idea is that it makes sense, but I don't agree it should always be the case. On one hand, it's good not to get too caught up on ideas that are going nowhere, however, if you let a bump in the road stop you in every case, you'll never get anywhere. I think it's good in theory, but not always the best case in practice.

• I don't think Johnson's thesis is entirely true. Some of my best ideas have come during random bursts of inspiration, as if out of nowhere. I think it's impossible too truly define how to generate "good" ideas because every idea is subbjective. It could could good for someone and terrible for someone else.

• In terms of our in-class teamwork, I think doing exactly what we did in class last week, sitting down and brainstorming, might be the best way to go about combining the ideas to creat something more innovative.

Group Project Ideas

1. Interactive Mural - This would be a large art project that others could  add to, alter, and adjust to their liking. It would be composed of a multitude of various parts that fit together so pieces could be removed and placed elsewhere, allowing for community collaboration on a piece built by us.

2. Music Project - Compose a piece and play it as a group. Many people here play instruments, so why not utilize this?

3. Multimedia Performance - This would be taking the music project a step further by adding other elements to the performance. Some group members would perform a song while others could paint or draw on a large canvas behind them. Other group members would add a further visual element by perhaps performing a dance or movement of some sort.

4. Light Show - This would be an exhibit that would take place at night somewhere outside (preferably with trees). It would use a myriad of lights of varying kinds (all sorts of bulbs and colors and all that) to give a very ambient effect. That, combined with mood-setting music and a starry sky overhead would make for a very peculiar experience.

5 Photography Project - This could be anything involving photography, really, but my vision would be to have tthe group stand in a circle with one member in the middle. The person in the middle would do something - a dance, for example - and the other group members would alternate taking pictures in an order around the circle, so when the photos are spread out, they make a timeline of what looks like a camera moving around the member in the center of the circle.