• Write about your experience with your midterm presentation and be honest. Did you prepare adequately? What do you need to focus on for the next 5 weeks?

Reflecting on the midterm presentation, I feel the structure and setup going into this task were not fully aligned with what I wanted and needed from feedback at this stage. While I see the value in practicing speaking and communicating around your thesis, many of us are still in a discovery stage of the work. I think the midterms should have been structured more as a “studio visit,” rather than a trial run for a final presentation.

Additionally, I found the communication around expectations to further complicate the presentation structure. There was an outline, as well as a slide deck, which weren’t fully aligned with one another. It was difficult to manage these expectations, while also trying to ensure that we got the feedback that we as individuals would most benefit from at this stage. All of which was extremely challenging to get into a 5-minute formal presentation.

  • Create a production timeline that encompasses the remainder of the Spring semester and the Summer session. Break this down into the following categories and post to thesis journal:
    • Continued research (references, experts, conversations, reflections on previous research)
    • Design & development
    • User testing
    • Iteration & continued production
    • Documentation & presentation

The above production outline isn’t making sense to me based on what I have in development to date.
I am defining my project stages as: Discovery, Planning, Design, Execution (based on Eric Karjaluoto’s Design Method). I am starting to move from discovery into planning. I hope to have a presentable design by the week of April 17th for the Show-A-Thing show. I could then incorporate feedback from that work into the execution phase which would carry me through the remainder of the thesis timeframe.