dMedia Syllabus 2009

dmedia.stanford.edu

E281 : Media+Design

Course Syllabus

dmedia.stanford.edu Hasso Plattner Institute of Design

Media + Design will explore the underlying structures at play in the emerging media landscape. We will prototype our way to new discoveries and o�erings that help people make sense of their world. The course is divided into two modes:

STUDIO : Designing Media Immersion

During studio times, the class will be actively realizing prototypes and creating working solutions. The �rst part of the course will include four 1 week topic speci�c assign-

ments in Participatory Systems (game design), Digital Design, Communication Design and the History of Social Media. The second half of the course will focus on a 5

week core project: Designing Media for the Public Good.

SALON : Reflecting and Refining

During salon time the class will focus on re�ection and discussion. Throughout the quarter we will

engage with outside practitioners who will help us re�ne our insights and prototyping e�orts. We have conversations scheduled with creators of both old and new

media in the domains of radio, television, �lm, journalism, entertainment and

software. Our guests will represent a diverse set media outlets ranging from Saturday Night Live and the Colbert Report to Electronic Arts and CurrentTV.

Welcome to E281 : Media+Design


d.Media Threads

The course will explore several topic threads that create the underlying framework of the media landscape. We will then apply our understanding and insights around these topics in the context of real world solutions.

_topic | HISTORY OF SOCIAL MEDIALong before Facebook, mySpace and the O’Reilly trademarked Web 2.0 term, people were using both digital and physical artifacts to create shared meaning and enable collaboration. “Social media” has existed for decades, but never before at this scale and with this ubiquity. What can we learn from the past to help us design solutions for the future?

_topic | THINKING DIGITALLYMedia as a (1) single (2) dynamic (3) medium (not many static media) should change the way we think (not just what we need to know, but how we need to know [learn] it). Students will learn strategies for experimentation that will guide them through the design process in the digital realm.

_topic | PARTICIPATORY SYSTEMS (game design)Now that everyone has the opportunity to participate in the conversation (and in some cases become their own media outlet) can we discern what is at the root of individual participation? What are the underlying motivations for engage-ment and what behaviors are at play? How do these motivations inform, re�ect or create mediums for communication and interaction?

_topic | COMMUNICATION DESIGNMany domains (graphic design, interaction design, comics, information visualization, creative writing, �lm, journalism) inform the practice of communication design, but the unifying factor is simple: communication of emotional and informational essence drives design decisions. Students will learn strategies for distilling meaning (e.g. narrative, dramatic center, metaphors) and skills for creating representations of that meaning (e.g. graphic design, short video, sketching, storytelling).

_topic | DESIGN THINKINGStudents apply design thinking tactics to dynamic media design opportunities. Students will develop new mind sets that can be used to take creative action and formulate new working methods. As an advanced practicum, we will focus on creating new working habits in an active prototyping environment.

MEDIA that MATTERS

DESIGN THINKING

COMMUNICATION DESIGN

THINKING DIGITALLY

SOCIAL MEDIA HISTORY

GAME DESIGNPARTICIPATION /

Global Business Network

Grateful Dead

graphic novels

network theories

radical collaboration

culture of prototypingshow don’t tell

comics

mindful of process

hci

need�nding

user-centered

experience design

�owlevel design

crowdsourcing

public interest

intellectual property

open source

systems thinking

collaboration

public domain

tragedy of the commons

Whole Earth Catalog

transparency

graphic design

web 2.0

Wired Magazine

The WELL

locative media

interactive art

information visualization

creative writing �lm design

storytelling

bias toward action

interaction design


_project | MEDIA THAT MATTERS

Technology is enabling individual participation and connecting communities at an unprecedented rate. The world is now connected. We can no longer live in isolation locally or globally. Events across the globe can e�ect us in our own backyard. (terrorism, SARS, oil production, climate change) and events on our own backyard can have an immediate impact on the world. Our connected nature makes it clear that we must collaborate around the big issues of our time to live peacefully both locally and globally.

Participatory media has the opportunity to give every individual a voice. How do we design media frame-works that transform these individual voices into the collective action of a larger community? Of equal importance, how can we evaluate the "collective action" and determine if it is truly being designed to serve the public interest given that every issue often involves multiple stakeholders and divergent view-points?

Working from a semi-directed design brief, students will work in teams to design media solutions that leverage the learnings from the �rst half of the quarter. Depending on the skill, craft, and prototyping creativity of each team, projects will be realized to varying levels of �delity. Working digital prototypes are encouraged. Strong conceptual prototypes are also acceptable end results of the project.

_example projects

Compiled below is a small list of media projects we admire. Remember, projects can be realized throughout a broad range of digital mediums and within a variety of realms. Audiences size can vary from a handful of commited users to several million viewers.

World Without Oil http://worldwithoutoil.org

ShovelWatch http://www.shovelwatch.org

On The Media http://www.onthemedia.org

Organizing for America http://www.barackobama.com

The Extraordinaires http://www.theextraordinaries.org

PostSecret http://postsecret.blogspot.com

Wikipedia http://wikipedia.org

We Feel Fine http://www.wefeel�ne.org

Spot.Us http://spot.us

The TakeAway http://thetakeaway.org

NYTimes: Code Open http://open.blogs.nytimes.com

StoryCorps http://www.storycorps.net

Everyblock http://www.everyblock.com

d.Media Threads (cont’d)


course structure_class framework

Like all d.school courses, media + design is an active, experiential class. Our use of design methodolo-gies will be an implicit part of the underlying course, project and assignment frameworks.

_class experience

SATURATE : MEDIA EXPERIENCES The class will always be looking for opportunities to incorporate media in delivering content encourag-ing student participation in the digital realm and in assignment deliverables created in a variety of digital mediums.

SYNTHESIZE : SALON Class discussions and conversations with outside guests will be used as opportunities to re�ect, synthe-size and iterate our point of view around various media topics.

REALIZE : STUDIO This is an advanced practicum where project sessions will operate like a design studio. Assets and space will be used to create a media realization lab.

_class calendar

SATURATEcontext

SYNTHESIZEre�ect

REALIZEaction

prototypetest implement

de�nepoint of viewideate

empathy insights inspiration

social media digital

thinkingparticipation& games communication

design

design gauntlet mini-projects project media design in the public interest

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

�nal project

re�ection & action plan

re�ect & realize

< < < salon > > >

< < < studio > > >

< < < media > > >


Course Vital Stats

details

Course Name: E281: Media+DesignTime: T/TH 1:15-3:05Location: Building 524, 451 Panama Mall, Room 524AUnits: 3Grading: Letter (ABCD/NP)Email: [email protected]: dmedia.stanford.edu

application process

If you are a graduate student with an interest in designing media that matters, please apply to be a part of our class and community. Application details can be found at: http://dmedia.stanford.edu. Applications are due NO LATER THAN 11:59p after the �rst class sessions (Tuesday March 31st, 2009).

What are you going to do about it?

Our world is changing.


Media SamplesThe course will use a wide range of media and mediums to explore the manyy facets of designing media. The reading list below is provided as a sample of the types of authors and ideas we will be engaging around.

Understanding Media, Marshall McCluhan

Interaction Design Sketchbook, Bill Verplank

Designing Interactions, Bill Moggridge

Don’t Make Me Think, Bill Buxton

Universal Principles of Design, William Lidwell

Thinking With Type, Ellen Lupton

Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud

Wikinomics, Don Tapscott

Sketching User Experiences, Bill Buxton

Rapid Viz, Kurt Hanks

Computers as Theater, Brenda Laurel

Experience Design, Nathan Shedro�

True Stories, David Byrne

A Pattern Language,Christopher Alexander Creating Short Films... Hillman Curtis

The Wisdom of Crowds, James Surowiecki

In the Bubble, John Thackara

Shaping Things, Bruce Sterling

A Theory of Fun, Ralph Koster

Rules of Play, Eric Zimmerman

Free Culture, Lawrence Lessig

Convergence Culture, Henry Jenkins

The Wealth of Networks, Yochai Benkler

Here Comes Everybody, Clay Shirky

Smart Mobs, Howard Rheingold

From CounterCulture to CyberCulture, Fred Turner

dMedia Syllabus 2009

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