MUO-E8012 - Design for Government, 26.02.2019-21.05.2019
Kurssiasetusten perusteella kurssi on päättynyt 21.05.2019 Etsi kursseja: MUO-E8012
Assignment 1 - Human perspective
Assignment 1 (A1) is themed “Human perspective.’ The goal is to expand your understanding of the project brief, and you will focus on collecting information on stakeholder and wider human/societal needs. In addition, you will plan your research and work within teams. Lead teachers are Taneli Heinonen and Núria Solsona.
A1 lasts 3 weeks starting Tues 26 Feb
Key dates for DfG students in Schedule (DfG) ; Adjustments for DfG students also taking the course ‘Designing for Urban Governance and Services’ in Schedule (DfG+Gov)
In A1 you will:
Develop a general understanding of the PROJECT BRIEF
Plan and carry out a WORKSHOP with project stakeholders
Make and start to carry out a PROJECT PLAN
Get to know your team and organize your TEAMWORK
Learn about and apply human-centered research methods
PROJECT BRIEF and STAKEHOLDER WORKSHOP
On the first day of class, the class will be divided in half, with each half (or “supergroup” with about 10 people) assigned to a ‘project brief’ prepared by governmental stakeholders. This is a studio course with a 'client project' model intended as a learning experience of professional working situations (for example, as if you would be working within or for a ministry). Therefore the groups and briefs will be pre-assigned, as it would be in such a situation.
Each supergroup will prepare a workshop for those stakeholders attached to their brief
26 Feb
STAKEHOLDER WORKSHOPS will take place 1 week from the start of the course - 5 Mar. There is 1 extra nearby room booked U402 (12:00-16:00) - decide within the class how to make the most out of the main classroom U405a, extra U402 and if needed the kitchen.
Each supergroup should divide into:
- “Frontstage” roles - students responsible for moderating and facilitating the workshop
- “Backstage” roles - students responsible for practical preparations and documentation of the workshop ; included should be the DfG-Gov students
Step 1 - Make a plan for workshop preparation
Before the end of class day 1:
- Decide a ‘communicator’ on behalf of the supergroup that emails project stakeholders introducing all students and welcoming to the workshop - see suggestion for invitation. In your email, include the Project Brief as an attachment so that all have to prepare. This email is the start of relationship-building with your stakeholders!
- Decide 1 further meeting date+time for the supergroup (step 2)
- Decide which half of the supergroup is ‘frontstage’ and which half is ‘backstage (see roles below)
- If you need more cards for the Atlas game you can get them here and (here for the back)
Between 26 Feb and 5 Mar
Step 2 - Discuss and decide focus and goals for the workshop (supergroup meeting)
Step 3 - Prepare your roles
After meeting once as a ‘supergroup’ (step 2), you can thereafter organize yourselves by roles.
Frontstage roles (½ supergroup)
- FORMAT: Plan how the focus and goals for the workshop translates into questions that will be concretely explored within the workshop. Investigate and decide on props for guiding exploration within the workshop; this may include ‘icebreaker’ activities, Q&A activities with props, mapping or techniques such as ATLAS. Consider how to start-up and wrap-up in a satisfying way.
- AGENDA: Prepare the workshop agenda. Check how many stakeholders you have and whether you will run 1, 2 or 3 parallel discussions.
- FACILITATION: Prepare for facilitation ; see some facilitation tips here. Decide main facilitator(s) and delegate further preparatory work.
Backstage roles (½ supergroup)
- ENVIRONMENT: Consult with frontstagers about the workshop format. Decide arrangement of the room to focus attention, avoid distractions/clutter, and to be comfortable. For example, sitting around a table focuses attention on props, whereas sitting in a circle focuses attention on verbal dialog.
- HOST: Consider how stakeholders will find the venue, what will they see first and who will they meet? Posters to find the room? Meet and greet them? Nametags? Refreshments (tea, coffee, snacks, etc.) will be expected - kitchen down the hall is open for your use to prepare these.
- DOCUMENTATION: Identify documentors; book and try-out equipment needed to document such as cameras, audio/video-recorders, microphones, etc. Decide placement within/during the workshop so as not to distract. Bring/charge extra batteries. Afterwards, archive and share documentation so that it is available to whole supergroup for internal (non-public) use.
Step 4 - Finalize preparations in class on 5 Mar.
5 Mar
09:15-10:20 panel/lecture in class
10:45- Frontstage-ers review facilitation tips with Núria and Riina
11:00-12:00 - Organize yourselves within the supergroup - independent work to finalize workshop preparations
12:45- Prepare to welcome stakeholders
13:00-15:30 Stakeholder workshop
15:30- Debrief in small groups with teachers
Between 5 Mar and 12 Mar
Continue to debrief within the groups about the workshop, document the workshop in 1 blog post per supergroup. Start to prepare and carry out the research parts of your PROJECT PLAN.
11 Mar (Mon, 3 pm)
BLOG due
First blog post is due 11 Mar (3pm) - one blog post per supergroup. Delegate who within the supergroup will prepare the blog post - consider balancing the workload such that those with less workload preparing for the workshop take responsibility for this task. For instructions see Assignments > Group Blogs.
Within the smaller groups, start to draft PROJECT PLAN and prepare to share draft in class 12 Mar, see below. Send draft Project Plan by email to Taneli by 11 Mar (3pm)
PROJECT PLAN and TEAMWORK
After the workshop, which is collectively organized within the supergroup, the supergroup divides into 2 smaller groups. 2 groups address 1 brief ; since we have 2 briefs in 2019, there will be 4 small groups in total. Groups can collaborate and coordinate with each other when convenient, but will mostly work within the smaller groups. This starts your collaborative work towards the project brief for the rest of the course!
You will be introduced to a project plan template in the debrief after the stakeholder workshop. Start thinking about where to begin your research, which places you need to visit, who do you need to talk to and what do you need to learn. Begin discussing and planning this, including budget and workload. 12 Mar your team will need to have first version of the PROJECT PLAN and you will have an opportunity to ask questions and get guidance on how to update it. You will also be pointed to additional methods and tools for gathering data and analyzing it. Here is a link to a PROJECT PLAN template.
During A1, each small group should organize their own team-building dinner or other activity. Collaborative work in groups is a process — the ‘forming-storming-norming-performing’ (Tuckman) model argues that these multiple phases are necessary and inevitable in order for a team to grow and deliver results. Working in diverse groups is essential for such ‘client project’ work and contributes to learning outcomes in the course. To support collaborative work, each group will make, periodically revise, and discuss with teachers their teamwork (part of the PROJECT PLAN). The plan supports open discussion of individual mindsets and goals, collective ground rules, decision-making, trust and risk-taking.
12 Mar
09:15– each group will have 20 min to present their PROJECT PLAN in class. Prepare the research parts of the PROJECT PLAN, your planning for the TEAMWORK part will begin in class on 12 Mar.
Between 12 and 19 Mar
Continue to implement your PROJECT PLAN, including both research and teamwork parts. This will be the basis of your work for A2 Systems Perspective starting 19 Mar!
26 Mar (Tue, 9am)
LOG 1 due – you will be individually emailed instructions.
Human-centered research methods
During the 3-week A1, you will be introduced to and apply human-centered research methods. These will be introduced in lectures, and lecture slides will be uploaded and linked below afterwards. Readings are optional only, as focus in the course is on knowledge as applied in the project work.
Optional readings attached below - suggested for those less familiar with user/design research.
- Hannula, The ATLAS Game: Documentation and designer's notes.
- Portigal (2013) Chapter 1 'The Importance of Interviewing in Design' and Chapter 2 'A Framework for Interviewing', in Interviewing Users. Portigal (2013) Interviewing Users - more parts of the book
- Tuckman (1965) ‘Developmental sequence in small groups, in Psychological Bulletin, 63 (6): 384–399.
Recorded lectures:
26.2.2019