[ED 256 (Week 3 & 4)]: Ideating and Parallel Prototyping

The following is a reflection on week 4 reading in ED 256: Tech and Education class, for which this blog was made, on parallel prototyping.
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This discussion is based on the following reading:

S.P. Dow, A. Glassco, J. Kass, M. Schwarz, D.L. Schwarz, S.R. Klemmer. "Parallel Prototyping Leads to Better Design Results, More Divergence, and Increased Efficacy." ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction. Vol. 17, No. 4, Article 18. December 2010
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In week 3 of class, we ideated as a group possible solutions to the challenges brought forth in each of the projects. Projects varied from integration of theory and practice in theater to retention of Latin American students in higher education to how to best teach Chinese writing. A variety of ideas were brought up, including:

• Digital visual/interactive media (e.g., photo frame, e-books)
• App-based technology (e.g., solving a problem to unlock phone, 
• Web content inspired by existing websites (e.g., rating-based websites, wikis)
• Augmented reality (e.g., Google glasses, video games)
• Museum exhibits
• Traveling content (e.g., traveling libraries, traveling art)
• Immersive experiences (e.g., constructionist-based education, neurological implants)

For the challenge concerning science policy and communication, the following ideas were generated:

• Jargon translator
• App for fact checking politicians' speeches/movie content
• Web-inspired: Rotten Tomatoes for science issues, Snopes (urban legends), Twitter (confidence meter of science issues), Urban Dictionary equivalent, Wiki version
• Expanding Linked'in- badges of some sort
• Open-source publishing platform- including infographics with publishing
• Classroom partnerships- Skype, mentoring network
• Pop science media (without filtering of journalism)
• Big Bang Theory spin-off

I would like to add the following (not-as-technical) solutions:

• Science demonstrations (on Capitol Hill)
• Advertising campaign- billboard, TV, web-ad
• National holiday (like in India)

An exciting update, a fellow classmate Marta Grotheim will be joining this project!

As we continue to develop the scope of how to address the challenge of communication in science policy and to the general public, a few things about ideating to keep in mind. Dow, et al. highlight their findings of parallel versus series prototyping for a school Web banner cover. They find that parallel prototyping offers several advantages over series prototyping. Parallel prototyping:

• leads to feedback comparison and higher quality designs
• results in more divergent ideas
• encourages investment in the creative process rather than a particular idea
• lead to an increase in design task-specific self-efficacy

In all, parallel prototyping lead to better performance and higher confidence of the participants in the prototyping process. 

As one who has been through the prototyping process, I can attest to this personally. The ability to generate diverse ideas is a creative skill. The continuous generation of (good or not-so-good) ideas encourages the proverbial "thinking outside the box" paradigm. This is especially true for not-so-good ideas. Ideating without judgement to the value of the idea externalizes the prototyping process, which organizes and clarifies the thinking process. In many instances, not-so-good ideas spur creative ideas or the hybridization of ideas, and writing them down serves as a visual cue. 

I am excited to start working on this project!