How The Design Project Can Function as a Knowledge Source.
The evolution of technology and the changes taking place in the field of education have created the need for the introduction of new tools that will exploit the opportunities around us and they will positively contribute to the learning process.
The work of other designers often sets an example to the younger ones. On every occasion, a project that exists around them can get their attention. They are curious to see how something has been created while they want to learn how their colleagues have worked on it. That is why the surrounding place is very important. Beyond the walls of the traditional classroom is the place where design exists and functions. Almost every thing around us is the result of study, design and implementation. So everything (more or less remarkable) has something to offer to a young person.
There is therefore the need to exploit the space around us as well as the projects in that so as to find pretexts for new knowledge. Simultaneously, we must fill the gap created by the lack of information on projects. It is also important to bridge the relationship among students, artists and the wider educational community. The aim is that we all contribute to ensure that the young designers will have the opportunity to learn beyond their curriculum and through the knowledge derived from the real works of design.
The design and its methods nowadays constitute basic pieces of knowledge, which is necessary to many different industries. Many institutions are incorporating design education in their curriculum. On personal level, visual communication has always been to me a very interesting field, while my studies in computer science created the need to broaden my knowledge and get in touch with the field of interaction design, of user experience and that of interface design.
During my studies in computer science, I have attended tutorials via the internet which were important sources of knowledge, but rarely did they have any references to deeper theoretical issues such as research, brainstorming, designer’s way and place of work, etc.
The goal is to combine my previous studies on computing, my previous dissertation project on mobile devices, the need to broaden my knowledge on design and my will to deal with the issue of education. The basic idea for the combination of all the above was given by a lecture held in our college and more specifically by the phrase heard “Design is out there”. Consequently, the idea emerged as to how to deal with the projects that exist out there so that we can draw knowledge from them with the help of designers and the educational community.
The survey carried out was divided into three parts. Initially, literature, journals, papers and articles regarding modern education were studied. The issues examined were how the new methods differ from those of the past, how important the experience to learning is, how important the theoretical knowledge to young designers along with their practical dealing with design is, how important the knowledge derived from independent sources is and what technology can offer in education.
Afterwards, implemented educational applications of the largest companies worldwide were studied so that the ways applied to give solutions to similar problems would be made clear. Moreover, applications were studied which were not related to education but they innovated in services issues, in User Experience, in Interface Design and Functionality.
Finally, the attendance of lectures (as part of the curriculum and through online courses), talks and conferences related to digital design and education played a key role to the final form of the project.
The proposal emerged from the survey will be implemented through the design of an application for mobile devices. The application will be primarily used by mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets, whereas there will be a corresponding version for desktop computers and laptops to fulfill some further needs.
The result of the project will be presented in printed and electronic form. It will contain separately all the views of the application, it will provide comments for its details as well as for the way the needs are met.
At the same time, the online version of the project will be uploaded on a website, whose content would be more interactive and continually enriched with audiovisual material.