Reflection
Our first lecture this week was really about setting the scene for the dissertation, and it definitely helped me get a clearer picture of what’s expected. We went through the main components — intro, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion — which broke it down into steps rather than one big, overwhelming task.
We touched on looking at wicked problems. It made me think differently about the kind of issues I could explore, and how design plays a role in bigger, more complex challenges. The ideation workshop and warm-up exercise helped me start thinking more creatively about potential topics, and the MUDG walkthrough was interesting — I hadn’t thought about AI tools in that way before.
We were reminded about the pitch coming up in Week 4, which is something I’ll need to keep in mind as I start shaping my ideas. Another useful point was the emphasis on building a critical bibliography and making sure my sources are peer-reviewed, as this will strengthen the credibility of my work.
We were also recommended to read Writing for the Design Mind, which I think will be useful for getting into the right headspace for academic writing. Overall, the first week has made me feel more prepared. I don’t have a solid dissertation idea yet, but I feel like I’ve got some tools and starting points now, which makes the whole thing a little less daunting.
This week we were introduced to a new AI tool called MUDG, which is designed to provide a clearer way to explore, connect, and deepen understanding. My first impressions of it weren’t amazing, but I can appreciate that it’s still in the user testing stage and is a work in progress. I do see the potential behind the idea, but at the moment it feels like it isn’t fully executed yet.
Some parts of the experience I didn’t enjoy were the way names were changed in the chart view, not being able to start a new thought with the same prompt, and some glitches in the UI. These things made it a little frustrating to use. That said, I think with further development it could become a useful tool, especially for mapping out ideas in a more visual and connected way.
My first idea was to do something around the personality colours model from Thomas Erikson’s book. At first this seemed like a strong direction, but through further research I realised it wasn’t the best model to follow, as it has received criticism and isn’t universally well-regarded.
After a discussion with my lecturer, it also became clear that there are simply too many personality models out there, which could make it difficult to focus on just one. From this, I started to think that it might make more sense to look at specific personality traits instead, as this would give me a clearer and more focused foundation.