The Journey Map (JM) project reports on your journey to understanding the object of study (OoS) you selected as the focus for your research and design work this semester, including your evaluation of its usability and how well it meets your needs and expectations. The JM is challenging because it demands both neutral, objective examination and personal, subjective evaluation to complete the design analysis.
This project requires submissions for two stages: draft and final. All files are submitted to a Journey Map folder in your shared course space on Dropbox.com.
At the Draft stage, submit the following documents:
The final submission includes the documents from the draft stage AND the following documents:
Document type: memo, report
Document length: 150 words (memo), 1-2 pages (report)
Project value: 250 points (50 for draft; 200 for final)
Evaluation rubric: _RPW230_Eval_JourneyMap.pdf
The Journey Map project requires you to present the processes of acquiring new technical knowledge and of integrating a new tool or technology into your professional/academic work flow. The project begins with and draws from the Research Journal. The journey map is a report that distills and traces the experience of learning, using, and mastering the tool you selected for the Research Journal.
The core of this project is the journal where you recorded your encounters with your object of study. Keep this project description and the Research Journal project description in mind as you work on both assignments. The Journal clearly offers the method and process for gathering and examining your experience, but the Map reports the most important moments from and patterns within that journey.
Remember that the Journey Map is a special kind of report. It gathers the highlights and important details from your Journal, distilling the journey into a brief narrative. Journey Maps are highly visual documents that coordinate details of your experiences through stages of knowledge acquisition over time. All three elements (visual logic, concrete detail, chronological organization) are essential to an effective journey map.
Your report should incorporate all of the following content elements.
Consult the sample documents (see SVSU Canvas Files: Project Support) for additional guidance.
A memo of transmittal introduces the document it accompanies, providing context for its audience(s). You will craft such a memo for the draft and final submissions of the JM project. Both memos should be addressed from you to me.
Your draft memo should incorporate the following content and design elements.
Consult the sample documents (see SVSU Canvas Files: Project Support) for additional guidance.
Your final memo should incorporate the following content and design elements.
Consult the sample documents (see SVSU Canvas Files: Project Support) for additional guidance.
Recommended tool(s): Microsoft Word, Adobe InDesign, or Scribus Team Scribus, scanning device/app, digital camera
This section offers guidance for how to interpret the project and how to proceed with your work on it. Consider the following strategies.
The theme of this project, and of the whole professional development arc we are exploring this semester, is technology acquisition. Your research journal likely gathers many more details than you need to share through the journey map. Thus, you need to determine what are the defining moments for each stage of the journey.
Select a handful of moments from each stage to convey. Consider which images and details best communicate those moments. These are the content elements that you should present in the map.
We have looked at sample maps and templates for constructing them during our build-up to this project. Use those materials as inspiration for your journey map. Consider how to convey time and experience in a single document. Experiment with methods for organizing content in a visually logical manner.
This section is designed to help you anticipate and avoid problems as you work on this project. Therefore, as you work, consider the following hints and tips.
You establish your technical writer/designer ethos with the way you present your description. Eliminate biased, evaluative language from this section to demonstrate your respect for and understanding of the subject matter. Be as specific and concrete as you can throughout your discussion. The more details you incorporate into your report, the more observant you appear to be. That helps establish and maintain your credibility and authority. However, it is also important to focus on the details that truly matter for understanding and interpreting your object of study. Focus on the details that are important to understanding the thing you discuss.
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 OoS, the research you conduct, and the conclusions you draw from your work. Write and rewrite until your explanations make sense, and represent careful, concise, professional communication.
Show design elements, features, arrangement, use in context, or any other details that you can through images. Be inventive, if necessary. Show the set up of your study, the participants during their trials, and any other images that might help readers understand your study of the OoS.
Observe what makes design in general, and reports in particular, effective and authentic. Incorporate those observations into the construction of your report. Edit carefully, seeking to express your ideas clearly and concisely. Edit out loud with the intent of writing in such a manner that your sentences sound professional and focused. Strive for high levels of professionalism and consistency in your work. Refine your document continuously throughout the stages of development.
The revisions and refinements you make from the draft to the final submission may help you understand your design process, and therefore your professional development in more-sophisticated ways. Archive your drafts of projects throughout your coursework, so you are able to examine your growth and maturation.
Read and attend carefully to these submission guidelines. Failure to do so may result in delays in receiving feedback on the draft of your project, or 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 JourneyMap.
Note. Do not share this folder with me. By placing it in your class folder, you have already shared it by default.
Make sure the files listed below are available to me in the project folder by the draft deadline. Model your filenames on the listed examples:
Note. Do not share the individual files with me. By placing them in your project folder, you have already shared them by default.
When you assemble your final submission for the JM project, there will be 5 files in the folder. Again, model your filenames on the examples listed here.
Note. The feedback file is one you receive from me in response to your project draft. Move it into your project folder when you assemble your final submission.
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.
This section describes the standards by which your draft and final submissions will be evaluated.
There are 50 possible points for this project draft. You will earn points according to the following standard.
There are 200 possible points for the final project. You will earn points according to the standard described on the policies page (40% content development, 20% design execution, and 20% professionalism & attention to detail, and 20% impact of revision; see Policies). 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 (_RPW230_Eval_JourneyMap.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.
If you are here because of random chance, or because this content came up in a search, then poke about, and read if you see something useful or interesting. If you are a teacher in any context and would like to use any of this content in your courses, feel free to do so. However, if you borrow this material, please do two things: