What do we do?

Now that you’ve identified an interesting problem, a set of concrete tasks you want to support, and a set of possible solutions, it’s time to turn these into a convincing pitch for a system you will create!

Studio presentation

In studio, your team will present your main findings for 5 minutes, with 5 minutes for Q&A and feedback. You need to prepare a Google Slides presentation, by adding your slides to the link your TA will send you. The slides should be ready by 3:59pm on the day of the studio. Every team member needs to participate in the presentation.

Your report

Your final report will be due by 23:59 the day of the studio. In your report, please answer the following questions:

  1. Problem statement: What is the problem you’re trying to solve? This may be similar to the statement you submitted for DPM1, but hopefully you have iterated on it. (one sentence)
  2. Your Solution: Briefly present your solution. This is the system that you are proposing to develop for the remainder of the class. Describe it with words and sketches/storyboards. You do NOT need a low-fidelity prototype yet.
  3. Core Tasks: Present 3-5 “core tasks” that your system will help users do. In two or three sentences for each task, describe the task and why it is core to your solution. These should be tasks that are closely related to the problem you identified. For example, in a system for sharing feedback about internships, core tasks might include finding internship opportunities, reading others’ feedback on their internships, and leaving feedback about your own internships. Logging in may be a necessary part of using your system, but it is probably not a core task because it does not directly help solve the user’s problem.
  4. Competitive Analysis: Identify 2-3 alternative approaches people currently use to solve this problem (or a closely related problem if no solutions to the problem currently exist). Discuss the advantages of your proposed solution over these alternative approaches. You may choose to describe the differences in text, or you may use a tool like a competitive analysis table.
  5. Timeline and Responsibilities: Share your timeline, and show a graphic that divides the responsibilities among your teammates for different parts of the task (e.g., a Gantt chart). Keep in mind the schedule shown on the course website – you will need a low-fidelity prototype by late-October, a high-fidelity prototype by late-November, and a fully functional, tested system by Week 15 of class.

Your report overview:

  • Team Name
  • Problem statement
  • Solution summary
  • 3-5 core tasks
  • Competitive analysis
  • Timeline and responsibilities

Grading

  • Problem statement (10%)
    • Clearly presented in a sentence?
    • Unique?
    • Non-trivial?
  • Solution summary (20%)
    • Clear description/overview of your solution
    • Solution is feasible
    • Solution clearly addresses the identified problem
  • 3-5 core tasks (30%)
    • 3-5 tasks are chosen
    • Chosen tasks are core to the solution
    • Clear explanation of how tasks will be achieved with the solution
  • Competitive analysis (15%)
    • 2-3 alternatives identified
    • Relevant features/characteristics chosen for comparison
    • Useful comparisons made
    • Adequate justification for chosen solution in comparison to alternatives
  • Timeline and responsibilities (15%)
    • Major tasks clearly identified
    • Realistic timeline matching course schedule
    • Fair division of workload between teammates
  • Studio Presentation (10%)
    • Preparation and organization?
    • Articulation and clear delivery?
    • Effective use of visual aids?
    • Time management?

Deliverables

Studio Presentation: See above. The format of the presentation is flexible, but we have provided a suggested format in the Google Slides link we have shared with you.

Team Report: One report per team, which will be due the day after the studio by 11:59PM. Your report should be submitted as a zip file. The main report should be written in Markdown (please use the .md extension). Storyboards should be scanned in png or jpg, and need to be in a directory called images. We’re going to publish your reports on the course website. Submit a .zip file containing your markdown file and image folder to this form. Please double check to make sure that everything is included in your submission!