New Media Capstone

All New Media students were tasked with creative an immersive and interactive experience showcasing problems we can address within our society. Our team was comprised of four designers, two developers, and one industrial designer.

https://www.adobeawards.com/the-gallery?y=2018&liveproject=201810556

Plan

Rather than focusing on traditional topics like climate change or political reform, we sought a more contemporary issue relevant to our generation and closely tied to our studies. This inspired us to create an interactive exhibit exploring the mechanisms behind technology addiction.

Our planning process involved:

Brainstorming concepts and selecting an interactive medium.
Assigning roles and tasks based on experience and project needs.
Designing a standout "WOW" factor to captivate users.
Identifying resources early to align with the project budget.

Research

With our process roughly outlined, we shifted our focus to refining the details of how to build our exhibit. Wanting to avoid relying too heavily on familiar methods, we challenged ourselves to explore new tools that pushed us to adapt and innovate.

We organized our initial priorities into the following key tasks:

Evaluate platforms and inputs best suited for the interactive exhibit.
Determine the programs and tools required for implementation.
Collect relevant data to support our message.
Showcase common examples of hidden technology addiction mechanics in modern media.

Design & Development

The majority of our time and effort went into iterating on designs and programming the functionality of each game. For me, the environment felt familiar due to its similarities with Unreal Engine’s programming structure, utilizing a Blueprint-like scripting approach alongside written C++.

Early in the process, we reduced the scope from six planned games to four, allowing us to focus on developing and polishing each one within our time constraints.

To streamline the workload, each designer took responsibility for one game, while the developers split their time evenly, each focusing on two games.

The hurdles we aimed to tackle immediately were:

Finalize the educational arcade aesthetic.
Develop simple prototypes to get acquainted with GameMaker Studio 2.
Work with designers to create functional and appealing game assets.
Integrate assets into prototypes and conduct testing.

Refine

As the project progressed, our vision for the final product became increasingly clear. We focused on iterating, designing assets, conducting testing sessions, and refining our work further. Our efforts centered on preparing the project for Imagine RIT, a convention dedicated to showcasing student innovations.

Eyeing the final stretch, our next steps were:

Increase group working sessions for better collaboration.
Conduct tests and reviews to gather feedback from students and professors.
Enhance the functionality and user experience of each game.
Test the games with the exhibit hardware, overcoming limited access prior to the event.
Finalize all other aspects of the exhibit beyond the games themselves.

Conclusion

The journey our professors designed to simulate a professional collaborative environment was a resounding success. Condensing a challenging project into a single semester provided an experience that remains unmatched in my nearly four-year professional career. This work humbled me while also proving my ability to thrive in such environments. I adapted to the challenges, quickly learning new tools and skills along the way.

Above all, this was a wonderful learning experience. While there are many things I could have done differently, recognizing those areas for improvement was the most valuable lesson of all. Some lessons I learned are:

Set manageable initial goals, allowing room to scale up once potential obstacles are identified.
Create small demos to familiarize yourself with tools and streamline later work.
Understand platform limitations upfront and avoid assumptions about capabilities (e.g., our game platform’s inability to play videos required us to pivot to alternative solutions).
And more...

I’m proud to have collaborated with such a talented team, which helped me discover my passion for crafting beautiful and engaging user experiences in a dynamic and challenging environment.