Design activity for students for a one session class. Specifically B-Cycle in Nashville.

1.
B-­‐Cycle
in
Nashville:
Reflecting
on
an
Existing
Thing
Rationale:
Designing
things
means
making
them:
• For
someone
else
–
not
you;
• For
somewhere
else
–
not
in
your
office/organization;
• For
some
other
purpose
–
not
to
program/design
usually;
• For
sometime
in
the
future
–
not
now.
This
distance
requires
that
a
designer
have
a
sense
of
the
world
of
use
for
the
things
being
made.
Assumptions
about
that
world
of
use
–
the
people
and
their
motivations,
training,
and
skills
as
well
as
the
infrastructure
and
support
they
need
to
use
the
thing
–
can
be
as
important
to
the
thing’s
success
as
to
how
well
it
is
coded.
Purpose:
This
activity
gets
you
into
the
world
to
develop
skills
at
assessing
the
world
of
use
for
things
you
are
designing/making.
Thing
to
Engage:
B-­‐Cycle
in
Nashville
Activity:
Before
February
26th,
do
one
or
more
of
the
following:
• Conduct
an
interview
with
a
user
of
B-­‐Cycle
in
Nashville;
• Observe
a
B-­‐Cycle
station
for
some
period
of
time;
or
• Use
the
B-­‐Cycle
and
reflect
on
that
use;
•
This
activity
will
take
about
an
hour.
Memo:
Write
a
short
memo
describing
what
you
did
to
share
with
the
class
on
2/26.
• Optionally,
include
sketches/videos/pictures
of
what
you
heard,
observed,
experienced.
In
your
memo
describe:
1. What
you
did
(interview,
observation,
use).
a. Include
your
questions
from
the
interview
if
done.
2. The
situation
for
the
activity,
for
example:
a. Interviewed
a
friend
at
your
kitchen
table;
b. Spent
2
hours
watching
the
B-­‐Cycle
station
near
the
Frist;
c. Used
B-­‐Cycle
to
tour
the
city,
get
to
the
Farmer’s
market,
etc.
d. Inventoried
the
B-­‐Cycle
system
(e.g.,
payment,
maps,
web
site,
bike
lanes,
etc.)
3. Your
initial
expectations:
a. What
did
you
think
B-­‐Cycle
was
and
how
it
worked;
b. How
those
expectations
were
correct
or
incorrect.
4. What
you
found
surprising
and/or
interesting
about
B-­‐Cycle.
5. Why
you
think
B-­‐Cycle
works/doesn’t
work.
6. What
you
might
do
to
change
B-­‐Cycle
to
make
it
work
or
more
effective.
Class
on
February
26:
In
groups,
discussion
of
your
activity,
and
presentation
to
class
from
those
groups.