Independent Project

Assessment Details

Brief:

You are to develop a final solution for a client in a real situation. You will need to choose a project from an area you have studied this year and apply the design process to develop a working solution.

Ideally you should work individually but if the project requires team work and you can justify this you will be allowed to work in pairs.

You will need to be in contact with the client and actively ask for their feedback as you work on the project.

As all your projects will be different it is up to you which tools you use to develop the final solution and demonstrate your ability to manage your time and the project. Take care that you are documenting everything you need to demonstrate your ability to drive a project and apply the design process effectively.

You will have approximately six weeks (from 11/9/06) to complete this project (allowing time for marking). You should submit a tidy portfolio (can be digital) of all the documentation, concept work, client feedback and communication and evidence of the final solution.

Requirements

You need to provide the following elements:

Brief documentation that includes:

• An overview that describes the project and justifies it's purpose.
• A breakdown of all key stakeholders that influence the project. These should be described and prioritised according to their influence.
• A breakdown of all key factors that influence the project. These should be described and prioritised according to their influence and you will need justify the order you have prioritised them in.
• A breakdown of the target audience described as persona
• A budget that includes time. You may associate the budget with money but it is not advised to show this to live clients (you will not be expected to charge for this work).
• Specification documentation that identifies key elements of the project and specifies technical details and requirements

Time Management

• A planning document that identifies all key tasks and milestones
• Identify and allocate resources (ie. time, people, materials) to the identified tasks
• Use the planning to identify and resolve potential dependencies and technical issues
• Track your time and provide reports on a regular basis. Use these reports to identify progress and any issues that arise (eg. time constraints, requirement for client feedback etc)

Concept Design:

• Research that identifies existing solutions and resources that could influence your solution. You will need to demonstrate how this research has directed your solution
• concept sketches and documentation that explores ideas and progresses towards a final solution
• prototypes and/or mockups that you can use to present ideas to the client
• Client feedback that is documented and clearly used to direct the solution

Testing and Evaluation:

• Test plan that includes functional and user testing as appropriate
• Test schedule that will be used during testing. This must clearly test all key aspects of the solution identified in the Brief and Specification documentation
• Final test results documented
• A final evaluation that verifies the solution is fit for purpose, includes a report of the test results and client feedback on the solution's suitability

Evidence of a final solution

• You will need to provide evidence of a final solution that is operable, tested and fit for purpose