ridingshotgun

Problem:

• Overwhelming amount of entertainment in Champaign-Urbana area to choose from
• Lack of one communal website to search entertainment
• There are so many different sources to learn about the entertainment-> that’s why we want to create one website
• Who should care?
  • College students and young professionals in Champaign-Urbana area
• Why?
  • Because everyone loves to be entertained. Creating one fun communal website to help you narrow down options and provide information about the activities.

Process:

• We researched the general problems with entertainment and then each group member focused on a problem.
• Individually we researched problems including awareness, transportation and time.
• Results proved our biggest problem- there are too many sources providing entertainment information.
• We concluded by creating a website that everyone can use to find out information easily.
  • We learned that college students are always on Internet and like to enjoy fun and unique things
  • Our young target audience has a short attention span, enjoy many types of entertainment
  • There are many different groups on campus that we need to attract

 
Production (this is where ray talks about the website…)

• Solution: we created a website that mimics “What the Eff da I make for dinner”
  • our website is called “SHITTODOINC-U.COM”

• Simple, easy to use, yet very informative!
• It is a website where you can click through different events based an individual preference
• we divided each event into a category
• It will be funny and eye-catching
• Anyone could use this website, but we hope our target audience actually utilizes it.
• A website can be used any time of day and it will be updated with all the upcoming events

We have a website that we will use for our prototype and a more detailed presentation which will be given tomorrow. These were just the main points we wanted to present.

Yesterday, I did research on lines outside of bars and got nothing but negative feedback. Students say they hate lines, but bars love them. There is really no solution for this. 

A previous solution we thought of was that people could go into the bar during the day and pay and extra small fee to skip the line that night. The biggest problem with this solution is that the person paying the extra fee could be getting the bracelet for an underage person and by the time the “bar scene” is fully underway, that means new staff is on the clock, who really knows if that person is 21 or not? 

Bar lines are a marketing technique for the bar itself, plain and simple.  Lines give people the notion that the bar is packed and if a bar looks packed, then people think it’s a good bar to go to.

Group Members: Ray, myself, Melissa, Allison & Yaoyao.

During class on Tuesday we discussed some problems with the entertainment scene here in Champaign-Urbana.

1. Transportation.

2. AWARENESS.

3.Event conflicts (kind of goes along with awareness, but we split to make research easier and more efficient).

4. Time consuming (this is geared toward bar lines on Thursday nights and weekends).

5. Finding cool people who are interested in the same things that want to go with you to events.

Since there are five group members and five problems…well I guess you can see where this is going…

Melissa will be in charge of finding problems with transportation. Allison will research awareness while Yaoyao will accompany her by looking into problems with conflicting events. I’ll research time consuming problems and Ray will look into ways for people to connect.

We want to research online and in person. We feel it’s really important to talk to students as well as locals. We also need to keep in mind that there are many different varieties of students who are involved in/ like many different types of things.

We came to the conclusion that age is also a key factor.

19-21 (yeah…HUGE difference).

Until Thursday…

IDEO has a unique way of formulating ideas.

To start their process of redesigning a shopping cart, they simply brought one in. By bringing it in they were able to discuss the issues that presented themselves like, safety issues and theft involved with the carts. 

In the next step, the team believed they needed to talk with “real experts” in order to find our more key facts. Thus, they split up to find information from people who interact with the cart on a daily or weekly basis. After their successful adventure to the supermarket, they regrouped and shared their findings.

Now, with all of the new information, the group was able to formulate many different ideas. Some ideas were more “down to earth” and others, well, they were more on the crazy side. That’s the way they liked it though. Not one idea was too crazy. All ideas were useful and important. All ideas were drawn up and placed on idea boards and were later voted on.

Post voting, various prototypes were made and presented to the group. They combined the best elements of each of the prototypes and created an actual working “final” product. They took the prototype to a supermarket for a test run and got feedback from workers and shoppers.

1. I’m a very honest person; I don’t believe in beating around the bush. If there is something bothering me, then I figure out a way to present the topic in a fashionable manner to whomever it may be relative to. Not all the time is my honesty geared towards negativity. For example, one of my friends was going through a really bad time in their life and normally people in that state would seek comfort words, but they wanted me to be completely honest with them. Even though it was hard for me, I tried to give the best advice I could give after evaluating his situation.

2. I know this is a corny skill to say but, I work well in groups. I work well alone too; however, if there is a big project at hand, you need a group to make things run smooth and everyone can work as creatives. This results in bringing new ideas to the table that maybe one person wouldn’t have though of on their own. When I worked at the Youth Center back home, each year they put on a charity event to raise money for the Center. This event needed a committee to work together and make the theme chosen come to life. I was apart of this committee.

3. I have a lot of experience with customer service making me more personable. I’ve been working in the food industry for seven years now along with doing tutoring and coaching on the side. I found that these things have set the foundation enable my “people” skills to grow.

4. Even if I don’t have a passion for the subject at hand, I find a way to put myself in the other persons shoes and figure out why they have presented the matter and their reasoning behind the decision and work from there. I never look down on people for their ideas if I don’t agree with them. For example.

5. I feel like I’ve been through a lot for someone my age and this has allowed me to look upon the brighter side of things and see the true beauty. It’s the rough times that make a person stronger and more respectful. I feel like the “tough times” I’ve experienced have in turn  made me more respectful, passionate and caring towards others.

Design can be defined in many different forms of abstract varieties, for there are so many different ways to design something, making there no set definition. I feel as if defining this broad spectrum all depends on the people who are to be designing in the first place. Everyone is a designer in their own way, in my opinion at least. When you rearrange your room, you are designing it how you want it to be. When you make a website, you are making it in a specific way to fit your own accommodations and preferences. That is the beauty of design! There are no limitations to what you can and cannot do. 

There may be times when people react with harsh criticism, acting as if they KNOW exactly what design is and how it can be used, but in reality design is an form of abstract weightlessness. What I mean by this is, design can go in any direction and take multiple routes in order to make it to perfection for the designer. It is abstract. That IS the beauty. Someone cannot tell you how to create your own design because it is, plain and simple, YOUR design. Constructive criticism can be noted by the designer from others but in the end, it is what you take and create that sets the foundation for designs to come.

All of this, to me, is what the art of design truly means. Without design, I feel as if there would be no culture in our society for design is constantly changing. Without culture, there is no beauty and enjoyment. The concept of design is so limitless, that, it is almost too much to fathom. One could survey hundreds of people, asking them all the same question, “What is design to you” and I guarantee all of them have their own unique answers. This is EXACTLY what design is! UNIQUE! People are unique making design unique and special. 

Maybe this is the artistic/passionate side coming forth in me but, don’t you see truth in this? Wouldn’t you agree that the concept of design is unique and abstract, just as mankind is itself?

I could sit here and entertain myself for hours upon hours, trying to put a set definition on what design is; however, I wouldn’t be setting a specific definition, I would only be learning more and more on how abstract the concept of design in and of itself truly is.

It’s mind boggling, don’t you think?