Properly scoping a project is probably the most important task for the partner organization and teaching team in the Senior Design Challenge. After you propose a project, we will work closely with you to fine-tune and hone the project scope to ensure that it is optimally suited for our course.
A great project is:
- Centered around positive societal impact.
- Open-ended (not bound to only one possible solution).
- Based on a real, identifiable existing problem or unmet need that has a significant impact on the lives of real people.
- Human-centered in nature (i.e., may employ technology for its solution but not be solely technology-focused in its challenge).
- Centered around a problem that the partner organization is highly motivated to address.
- Focused on a specific and identifiable group of end-users, who are accessible to our students for interviews.
- Feasible to implement as at least an initial pilot/prototype with the partner organization’s available resources.
- Scoped appropriately to be tackled by a small team of students in 15 weeks.
Two helpful resources:
- Design Project Scoping Guide: Please read through this document, produced by the Stanford d.school, for detailed guidance about what does and doesn't make for a good human-centered design project.
- Project Scoping Checklist: Created by Design For America, this checklist is a quick and handy resource for gauging how well-suited a potential project might be for a design thinking approach.