RMCAD+MAYA: An Academic Collaboration

MAYA Design has a perpetual interest in melding business and scholarship.

Throughout the company's history, many of our practitioners have taught and/or lectured at various universities. We have always invested a portion of our profits into a wide range of internal R&D initiatives. And, we have even kicked around the idea of launching "MAYA U" (some sort of a curriculum geared toward sharing our thought-space with the world at large).

In that spirit, we conducted the following educational experiment:

Introduction

During the Fall semester of 2005, Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design (RMCAD) teamed with MAYA Design to do a long-distance academic collaboration.

Fred Murrell, one of RMCAD's Department Chairs, taught an undergraduate course on Experience Design (in Denver, Colorado). Bill Lucas, the inaugural member of MAYA's Professional Practice Fellows Program, served as guest instructor/mock-client (in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania).

Following is an excerpt from the assignment the students were given on Wednesday, September 7, 2005:

In August of 2000, the Office of Strategic Planning for the National Park Service (NPS) published a Strategic Plan for FY 2001-2005. All of the “Long-term Goals” set forth in that document are due to be accomplished by September 30, 2005.

The pending expiration date conditions the need for a new strategic expression. Since this course is focused on the notion of “Experience Design,” students will develop a hypothetical roadmap for FY 2006-2012 that is devoted to advancing the NPS “Goal Categories” oriented toward “Visitor Experience.”

Students will be challenged to research and design various facets of an experiential system, then create a summary of their findings and recommendations.

NOTE: The NPS has never been a client of MAYA Design. The NPS was selected as the subject matter for this course because it is a valuable archetype — a public institution with design challenges that are typical of the entire marketplace.

Syllabus + Project Briefing

Initial Investigations

The NPS Strategic Plan called for each park to develop a set of local initiatives related to an overarching set of national goals. In turn, the students decided to focus their investigation (and their subsequent recommendations) on the Rocky Mountain National Park (located 63 miles from their campus).

During the first phase of work, the students visited the park, wrote a mission statement, identified marketplace trends, crafted six representative personas and developed a corresponding set of usage scenarios.

Conceptual Explorations

The class started this phase of work with a series of brainstorming sessions. After drafting an initial set of ideas individually, the students formed teams to target the following interface categories: Web, Signage, Environments, Printed Matter and Digital Devices.

Fred Murrell facilitated a series of iterative design cycles during weekly studio sessions. The students also received regular feedback from Bill Lucas via e-mail and teleconference. In addition, work-in-progress was critiqued in person by two visiting professionals (Hugh Graham and Bruce MacIntosh).

Final Recommendations

Each team refined their ideas and produced mock-ups to demonstrate the new directions. For example, the Web team programmed a few sample pages in "Flash." The Signage team built scale models. The Environments team used 3-D rendering software to represent their Visitor Center concept. The Print team fabricated a physical book. And, the Digital Devices team simulated their "Park Gear" (wearable computing) solution with fabric material.

In keeping with the theme of the course, the students unveiled their final recommendations by staging an immersive experience. They filled a large, round room with process sketches, prototypes, and thematic props (such as tents). After walking their audience through the final recommendations, they invited everyone outside to enjoy a makeshift campfire and toasted marshmallows.