Markets, Innovation & Design - Spring 2020

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  • ASSIGNMENTS
    • Individual Assignments
      • Breaking Norms
      • Mind Map – Marketing
      • Individual Presentation – Innovation
      • Mind Map – Innovation
      • Individual Presentation – Design
      • Mind Map – Design
      • Draft Mind Map – M+I+D
      • Room Creation
      • Tea Light
      • Unstructured Inspiration
      • Directed Inspiration
    • Team Assignments
      • Marketing Strategy Analysis
      • Marketing Strategy Analysis – Client
      • Post-It Challenge
      • Constraint Map
      • Converged Concept Board
      • Converged Site Prototype
      • Final Site
      • Final Site – Client Manual
      • TEAM 1
      • TEAM 2
      • TEAM 3
      • TEAM 4
      • TEAM 5
      • TEAM 6
      • TEAM 7
      • TEAM 8
  • Design Challenge
    • Constraint Map
    • Concept Board
    • Brainstorm
    • 3 Concepts
    • Prototype
    • Test & Iterate
    • Habits Reflection

Habits Reflection

May 1, 2020 by Zack Yoelson-Angeline Leave a Comment

Though it’s effect on me didn’t rub off fully until we were settled into quarantine, some of our discussions and virtually every assignment we did in the class was to make us more comfortable with embracing ambiguity. At the beginning, I was very skeptical and frankly was bewildered when I wasn’t being given specific instructions for assignments. I felt like maybe I wasn’t understanding the material, or MIDE just wasn’t for me. Then I realized, the whole point of the ambiguity wasn’t to confuse us but to make us more comfortable with thinking outside the box and interpreting assignments and events in our own way. The quarantine we’re experiencing right now uses the work we did in class and takes it to another level. From when I wake up in the morning to when I go to sleep, virtually none of the things I do now are set specifically on a schedule for me to follow (aside from the obvious like showering, brushing teeth and feeding the cat, etc.) While a lot of my peers went the route of trying to set their schedules and attempted to follow it to a T, the one I created for one of my models was an ambiguous representation of my day. It’s supposed to serve as a guide for how I could spend my day. The lack of structure that exists from day to day is a lot like the work we did in class, in that we get to interpret the instructions (or in my case the schedule) in a way we see fit while adhering to simple guidelines (which in this case are the specifically listed things I have to do every day.)

Of the habits we learned and practiced, honing my child’s eye is definitely what I want to improve next. That exercise where we walked all around campus and reconvened at the 7th St Cafe to report on what aspects of campus we noticed for the first time made me notice just how little I’m taking in when I’m mobile. When making an effort to see things through an inquisitive lens, it becomes possible to not only realize things for the first time but learn and make new deductions about things we’ve seen before as well. I’m of the belief that getting into the habit of using child’s eye is what allows us to see the very first step of the design process (defining the problem). By questioning everything I see like I’m seeing it for the first time, I might come to understand how I can innovate on some design to improve it, or even design something new. At home, I’ve been trying to improve it by doing the same exercise we did in school. Because I don’t spend much time at my dad’s house, a lot of the things both inside and outside are unfamiliar to me. To further improve this skill, I’m making it a point to hang on every word my dad says to see if he subtly mentions something about the house. As of now, the one thing I’ve gathered from him is that he hates how he’s always bending over to get new pots and pans. Though it was a remark made in passing, my child’s eye tells me it’s very possible for me to make him a rack for all his things, or if I’m feeling particularly audacious, even try to hang said rack from the ceiling.

I’ll go out on a limb and admit failing forward is what I excel at. I have no shame in it, and what I’ve learned is that it gets easier to accept failure the more times you mess up. I don’t necessarily believe it’s a good thing to be amazing at it since when one mess up in grand fashion (we all do it), the person will just move on without any introspection about what they could have done differently leading to the same mistakes over and over. On the other end of the spectrum, one who has one small mess up might dwell on it instead of learning and moving forward. This creates a mentally unhealthy state where the person will have no confidence since their creativity, they feel, was said to not be good enough. To find a happy medium where I can learn from my mistakes without dwelling on my failure, I found it helps to have a conversation with whoever was on the other end. I implemented that strategy with the friend I talked about in class who got in trouble because I wasn’t being observant. Needless to say, we spoke for over an hour and what happened doesn’t weigh nearly as heavy on my conscience now. Because I embraced my failure and instead of shelling up, we were able to hash out strategies to effectively prevent the incident from happening to anyone else in the future.

Constraint Map

May 1, 2020 by Zack Yoelson-Angeline Leave a Comment

I didn’t have an easy time coming up with how to create this constraint map, but once I started writing down my ideas it wasn’t hard to see all the places where COVID-19 has impacted our lives. Some aspects of it, like not being able to go to a gym or not getting to frequent a business we like are constraints we see and feel every day. But what about the financial and health constraints that go far beyond what most of Bucknell’s student population has experienced? By that I mean the hardship that comes with being on federal unemployment benefits after getting laid off, constrained to buying just the bare essentials just to be able to make rent. Bottom line is, we’re all constrained in our own ways; it’s just important to realize that there are people who have had constraints placed on their lives that go far beyond our own definition of constraint.

How we addressed this crisis is part of the reason the USA is still seeing such limits on mobility and a toll on our population that has exceeded initial estimates. While other countries (like Italy and Spain) were suffering the brunt of the pandemic, we were still flocking beaches and visiting our families. Of course, our apathy towards beginning the fight is what constrained our ability to combat the disease in the first place. That, coupled with every news outlet reporting different figures has made it all that much harder to get a true gauge on the current state of affairs.

The historical event I looked at was the Bubonic Plague in Europe during the 12th-16th centuries. My inspiration from this came from watching as COVID-19 swept the world, and wondering what more we could have done to stave it off. Though medical knowledge was scarce back then, the Venetians began the practice of isolating ships that came into its harbors for 40 days. (Fun fact, the word “quarantine” comes from the Italian word for “forty.”) Even back when people thought the Earth was the center of the universe, there was still a practice of separating the infected from the healthy. There are lots of stories telling of people in the US being unable to even get a doctor now, much less a test to see if they’re sick. Back in medieval Europe, a plague doctor would almost always come to the afflicted’s house and decide the best course of action. And to think that we’re in the 21st century yet, we still constrain who gets tested and seen to a metric (in this case its pneumonia) that doesn’t even make sense.

Constraint-MapDownload

Test and Iterate 2

April 28, 2020 by Zack Yoelson-Angeline Leave a Comment

My office space prototype has been put to good use since it was set up. Its best feature has been how isolated it is; something I never liked when working downstairs was how I could always hear my dad on a phone call while working. But closing the door to soundproof my room causes it to heat up due to a lack of cold air circulation from the hallway, made worse by the muggy Virginia weather. To get around it I plan to get a box fan shipped to my house (that I’ll use back at school also). It took me a little time to realize, but I was getting distracted when I went downstairs to get water. To make sure I stayed on track, I made space on the desk and a shelf for some gallon jugs. The recommendation my dad made about moving the desk to get more natural light was great in theory, but it led to a lot of glare on my computer screen which forced me to adjust the desk’s position again.

Because the desk won’t get that much use after everything is back to normal, more permanent items like whiteboards and a better chair will have to be reserved for when I get my own space. For now, it serves its purpose well and will be useful as a model the next time I set up my office space.

Brainstorm

April 9, 2020 by Zack Yoelson-Angeline Leave a Comment

Something I noticed as I was making this list is was that there were lots of opportunities for self-improvement within the list. Of the four ideas I felt were the most important, three of them directly relate to focusing or bettering myself. When we’re spending so much time at school both stressed out and around others, it’s sometimes difficult to find the time to take a step back and make sure we’re doing O.K.. By devoting time to even seemingly mundane tasks like getting a dent out of my car or learning to photoshop, I get some time to focus on improving myself.

Concept Board

April 9, 2020 by Zack Yoelson-Angeline Leave a Comment

My attempt to lay out what the weeks ahead might look like for me like given the circumstances originally had me listing activities I already do, such as listening to music and trading the market. After about thirty ideas it became much harder to think of new things to do. I wound up walking around my house for twenty minutes only to realize there was a lot I could do, I was just constraining myself by only thinking in terms of my normal routine. For instance, the morning coffee runs I’d been making since senior year of high school are halted because of the quarantine, leaving me with the choice of not drinking coffee or learning how to brew it at home. Because I chose the latter, I don’t have to be a regular at Dunkin’ anymore. 

All of the pictures I chose not only represent the things I see myself doing during my time at home, but what I want to learn and get better at as well. Learning to brew coffee was just one part of that; I’m also going to use this time to become well-versed in classic novels by reading ones from my dad’s book collection, try some new recipes to bring back to Bucknell, and establish a more normal sleep schedule. The baseball, fishing and chess were all activities I would do at home all the time before college, but gave up as my free time became scarce. Rediscovering these hobbies gives me an opportunity to make them a part of my daily routine, even once this period of social distancing ends.

Prototype-Office Space

April 9, 2020 by Zack Yoelson-Angeline Leave a Comment

Because the theme of my sketches all revolve around developing a routine and good habits, my idea for a prototype was to create my own office space to do work. Under normal circumstances I’d be at my mom’s house where I have a work space but since I didn’t live with my dad before college, I didn’t have my own place to work when I came to his house during quarantine. He had a desk he used when he was in graduate school in his storage unit that he had told me about before, so with his approval I brought it to my room. I was rummaging around to see what I could put on the desk when I found a plug-in cube. After searching online I learned this particular cube lit up in green if the market was up and red if it was down which definitely adds a nice flair to the setup. I also reused supplies I cleared out from my desk in school, like post-its and a pencil sharpener. My dad walked in with a cup of coffee for me two hours after I thought I finished rearranging, yet it only took him five seconds to ask why I was working in the dark. I realized he was right, so I swung the desk 90 degrees from where I originally had it so it would be closer to the windows. As an added bonus, I can see the TV downstairs which will help me track tickers and get breaking news.

3 Concepts

April 9, 2020 by Zack Yoelson-Angeline Leave a Comment

My first concept is a rough schedule I can follow every day. I realized it’s much easier to pass time when there’s some sort of routine to follow. I made sure to emphasize sleep, since that’s what allows me to be productive during the day. I made sure to also put the things I want to do after the things I have to do to encourage myself to be productive. Its a highly usable schedule due to its simplicity, and its also functional. The concept emphasizes getting into good habits that I can follow when we come back to campus and later in life as well.

My second concept is a list of pre-bedtime reminders I can put on my door. Sometimes when I’m in a rush to get to bed I’ll forget things like leaving my wallet and keys in the same place and feeding the cat a little more so he won’t wake me up in the middle of the night. This concept list can save me a lot of time to focus on my own my own physiological needs (through more sleep), as well as more time to work towards self-actualization. As my routine before bed changes, I can easily switch out sticky notes to reflect that.

My third concept is my envisioned setup for a work space which will further push me to be productive. Having a schedule is definitely useful, but if I don’t have a good place I can go work, it’s hard for me to stay on top of things. This design is definitely usable and functional as a diagram, but I’ll want to add more to the space later once I see how it actually looks. I want to try to spend at least three hours there a day being productive even once classes end. By modeling what I think want in the work space, I can get creative with how I lay out the items. I’ll also be able to make edits before putting the plan in motion.

Room Creation- Terrarium

February 27, 2020 by Zack Yoelson-Angeline Leave a Comment

My inspiration

February 11, 2020 by Zack Yoelson-Angeline Leave a Comment

This past Sunday I decided to re-watch the Nationals World Series Game 7 victory over the Houston Astros (cheaters!). Even though I knew that the Nats would win, watching my favorite team rally from down 2 to up by 4 will always give me chills. The inspiring nature of the Nationals season lies in their worst to first finish (they were 24-32 after the first two months and went on to win the World Series a few months later.) The theme of their season, to go 1-0 every day, resonates with me since it’s relevant to my experience at Bucknell as well. However hard the work gets, it’s important to take everything one day at a time and focus on doing something productive every day. By adopting that mentality, I found that work doesn’t pile up and I get much more sleep.

Concorde

February 6, 2020 by Zack Yoelson-Angeline Leave a Comment

Design Mind Map

February 4, 2020 by Zack Yoelson-Angeline Leave a Comment

The Wheel

January 30, 2020 by Zack Yoelson-Angeline Leave a Comment

Marketing Mind Map

January 29, 2020 by Zack Yoelson-Angeline Leave a Comment

Innovation Mind Map

January 29, 2020 by Zack Yoelson-Angeline Leave a Comment

Project Calendar

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MIDE 300 HUMANS

Abby Harris (21), Abby Hislop (21), Alana Bortman (21), Alexander Smith (20), Allie Kotowitz (21), Amisha Chhetri (22), Caitlin Tucker (21), Carly Binday (22), Claudia Glasgow (21), Collin Smith (28), Elana Smith (21), Emily Chopoorian (22), Emily Goldman (23), Erin Mooney (21), Faith Reilly (22), Hannah Moriarty (22), Jabril Mohamed (19), Jane Meng (22), Liam Moriarty (22), Lindsey Knutzen (20), Liza Heyl (21), Lucia Singer (20), Madz Cabico (4), Matt Cervon (19), Meg Coyle (18), Natalie Notz (21), Natalie Ring (23), Nikki Bott (23), Olivia DeNicola (21), Prof. Allen (1), Renne Venico (19), Rowan Beiter (23), Tarrin Earle (20), Zack Yoelson-Angeline (14)

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