The Information Architecture Analysis 1 (IAA1) project results in a critical 8 minute, video-driven chronology of the G1P project: development, design, playtesting, refinement. The project emphasizes how core information architecture concepts and strategies impacted the process. The IAA1 is challenging because it demands careful presentation of the project's history from a reflective research perspective.
The first submission for the IAA1 is the final submission. Although the project itself is a video, there are two documents (neither of which is a video) you need to submit:
The submission includes the following documents:
For the full specifications, see Submission Requirements.
The Information Architecture Analysis 1 (IAA1) project presents an opportunity to reflect upon the journey that took your team from an assignment description to a tested, refined prototype of a tabletop board/card game. In that regard, the learning moment tied to this assignment is also an opportunity to rehearse how you as designers AND future prospective employees might frame the experience as an important moment during your professional development. Can you think, work, and speak like a design professional? Can you make clear to professional peers how the concepts and strategies from information architecture have driven the construction of a game that in turn represents your attempt to curate an experience for players? That is both an opportunity and a challenge.
Deliverables: memo, screencast video
Document scope: 150 words (memo), 8 minutes (video)
Project value: 200 points
Evaluation rubric: _Eval_IAAnalysis1.pdf
Recommended tool(s): Microsoft Word (memo); Adobe InDesign (screening materials); Techsmith Capture/Camtasia (video); scanner/scanning app; smart phone w. digital camera/digital video capabilities
The IAA1 requires you to distill the most important design and learning moments from the Game 1 Prototype project into a detailed, coherent video report. Your report should offer a chronology of project stages (e.g., development, design, playtesting, refinement), and must connect throughout to the principles of information/experience architecture (e.g., design strategy that anticipated user needs & expectations; easy-to-understand information patterns; clean, professional visual design; user-aware interaction patterns). Emphasize your on-going decision-making processes, and how you focused on becoming and remaining user-aware throughout the project.
Your screening document (that is, the document from which you record your screencast video) should stand in as an effective representation of your report even without your presence as a presenter. That means viewers (or readers) ought to be able to discern the core details and explanations from the content available on each screen. However, the document should be designed to serve primarily as the on-screen object during your screencast recording.
To meet these ends, your screening document must incorporate the following content and design elements.
Record your screencast using the screening document as your designated recording window. Use the content from that document as the basis for your presentation, but avoid reading it to viewers. Rather, bring it to life through your presentation of the details relevant to your report. Although the screening document should serve as the anchor for the analysis, you should also implement video from play testing or from design time as is appropriate to your needs.
Test the resulting video file prior to hosting and submitting your project. Make sure that the audio is strong and clear and that the video is free of glitches or distracting background sounds.
Prepare your video for streaming by posting the file to Screencast.com (or another streaming service). One advantage of Screencast.com over some other services is that you control whether or not your files are publicly accessible. Copy the SHARE link from the service to add to your project Memo (see below) prior to submission of the project.
A memo of transmittal introduces the accompanying document to its audience(s). Your memo should be addressed from you to me, and should introduce the accompanying project. Your memo should incorporate the following content elements.
This section is designed to help you be strategic in the development of your project components. Consider the following hints and tips. Use this set of recommendations as a checklist for quality control.
You establish your technical writer/designer ethos with the way you present your descriptive details. Be as specific and concrete as you can throughout your discussion. The more meaningful details you incorporate into your analysis, the more likely you are to establish a strong ethos.
Consider what viewers might find most useful. Provide as much detail, explanation, and evaluative discussion as you can in the allotted time.
All designs are more easily understood through visual representation. Show game elements, features, play, or any other details that you can through images and video.
Remember that communication in professional and technical contexts values highly the ability to write and speak with economy, directness, and professionalism. Another way of saying this is to make every word count. Stay focused on the details necessary to understand your game. Write and rewrite until your textual and audio content make sense, and represent careful, concise, professional communication.
Focus on the little and big details. Proofread your on-screen document carefully. Make sure your audio is strong and clear. Review what you say and how you say it. Check the quality of your audio and video. Redo material that does not meet expectations. Test your SHARE link after you add it to the Memo.
Design a document that presents completely the report's core content. Because you will record a screencast of your movement through this document, it is most effective to design a document that fits on screen and requires no scrolling. That means using the landscape orientation rather than portrait in your design package.
I recommend Adobe InDesign for this project. Your transitions between screens during the screencast will go more smoothly if you convert your report document to PDF before you record your video.
I offer this caution about using Microsoft PowerPoint. Although a slideshow created in PowerPoint suits your needs for this task, I strongly recommend that you avoid using any templates provided by Microsoft. Such templates are designed to meet outdated standards for projected documents, and are not at all appropriate for a professional document such as the one you need to create here.
Consider as well that if you want to integrate any other video content, such as a "live" demonstration of game play, that you can prepare in advance to make that content easier to integrate. If you resize and reposition the demo window so it fills the same space on screen as your pitch document, then you can pause during the recording process to put that demo space in the recording window.
Screencasting tools allow you to designate a recording window, which may be a portion of your computer screen or the whole screen. The contents of that window are recorded during the screencasting process. Designate the screening document as your recording window, rather than the whole screen. This is more professional. However, it is also more effective because it eliminates unnecessary screen content, and may allow you to record the screencast document at a larger scale.
Once you have completed your recording, review your video to make sure that (1) your delivery is professional, coherent, and well paced, (2) your video is clear and free of flaws, and (3) your audio is clear, audible, and free of distracting clicks or other background sounds.
Although it is possible to upload a video file (typically an .mp4 format file), such files can be large. Screencast.com allows you to share a link with others that, when selected, provides access to a video stream. Because most email packages (including SVSU Vmail) have limits on file size for attachments, this sharing option is often the most effective. Always test your link before you submit your project.
Read and attend carefully to these submission guidelines. Failure to do so may result in points lost on the final evaluation of your project.
Create a project folder inside your shared class folder on Dropbox.com. Remember, I can only view files that you place inside the shared folder. Until you place files in that space, you have not in practice submitted them.
Name the folder InfoArchAnalysis1.
When you assemble your submission for the IAA1 project, there will be 2 files in the folder. Again, model your filenames on the examples listed here:
Note. Do not share the individual files with me. By placing them in your project folder, you have already shared them by default.
Take the time to organize your work as directed here, and to name each file properly. This helps me keep track of your work, and makes clear which files are meant to represent the on-going and final stages of project development.
The final project submission is worth 200 possible points. You will earn points according to the standard described on the policies page (see Policies for a description of these categories).
The specific areas of emphasis for this project are drawn from the description and discussion of the project, and are detailed in the evaluation rubric (_Eval_IAAnalysis1.pdf).
Remember that I will only post the point values for projects on the Grades page in SVSU Canvas. I will post the details relevant to that evaluation in your class folder in a project-specific file.
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