Design@Cornell: Any Designer, Any Study
This project had started when Mardelle Shepley, Cornell Professor and chair of the Department of Design and Environmental Analysis, had reached out the Design Tech Initiative with a vision for a website that would serve as a central resource and community for all design-affiliated people at Cornell.
Problem Spaces & Goals
Cornell University is an institute to some of the most aspiring design students in the world. All Cornell students have an equal opportunity to learn, aspire, explore, experiment, and create with a community of designers.
Our goal for the Design@Cornell website is to design and develop a centralized repository information website for faculty, staff, current and future students interested in design at Cornell.
A few problems spaces that I have decided to focus on are listed below:
Low Awareness of Design Opportunities and Resources at Cornell
Lack of a unified design school: Design majors and disciplines are scattered across the 9 colleges
Limited networks: Design events, course recommendations and student orgs are mostly passed by word of mouth. This limits awareness to those interested in design from other majors and departments, and also can lead to poor diversity.
Privilege as a head start: A centralized repository site of design opportunities will level the playing field for those who did not go to high schools and prep schools that provided design related courses and opportunities.
Elitist attitudes and unhealthy competition within the Cornell design community
As a university, there are major issues with high pressure to overload on credits and extracurriculars as well as a toxic internship/job culture that have both contributed to very poor overall mental health on campus. The design community is unfortunately not too different, which high emphasis placed on getting into competitive project teams and research, landing “brand name” internships and obtaining “clout.” This culture and mindset is intimidating and exclusive, especially towards those just starting out in their design careers.
I hope to design a website that not only levels the playing field between different student experiences but also creates a positive, collaborative, encouraging and ultimately healthy environment and general mindset for the Cornell design community.
Target User
Faculty, staff, current and future students interested in exploring, experimenting, and creating through a community of designers at Cornell University.
Roles and Responsibilities
As a project that was just adopted this semester by DTI, the Design@Cornell team consists of two members:
Ying Yang, Product Manager: Ying’s responsibility in this project is collecting user research and insights, setting product requirements and success metrics, creating a feasible starting timeline for this semester, and creating both a development and marketing plan for the site.
My main responsibilities as Product Designer include:
Defining content on the Design@Cornell website
Finalize V1 design of Design@Cornell
Create an identity and branding for the website
Scope and Constraints
During this semester, my goals for the project were to create an identity for the site as well as a solid V1 framework for future designers to build upon as the project and team expanded in coming semesters. I am currently the only designer working on this project, though I am collaborating with a project manager to better understand the problem space, conduct user testing, and continually brainstorm and design for needs as they come up.
While there is a lot of creative and artistic liberty that I can take with the branding, there are constraints relating to Cornell’s branding and website regulations since we are creating this site under a Cornell-owned domain (design.cornell.edu). Constraints include regulations on how the Cornell name and logo is presented, color selection and contrast for accessibility, etc.
As for the site, there are a lot of constraints with what can be included in this semester’s design since it is a new project: the primary goal this semester is to create a basic version that can get up and running with development next semester, and any additional ideas and features will be prioritized later on.
Process
Work is currently in progress, we have gone through low and mid-fi drafts and now a Version 1 of the site is being finalized so that development can start next semester.
Static: Design Courses
Static: Majors and Minors
Design Organizations
Dynamic Pages: Portfolio Database
Branding and Identity
General Values
Inclusivity - There is a massive lack of diversity in the design field; The last thing I want is for someone to look at this site and get some sense that this is not a space for them.
Wide Appeal - Not just for a select few majors; but a philosophy and process that applies to every field
Design is hard to define - I think this is one of the great things about design. It gives freedom to designers to have their work define this new field, and not the other way around.
The visuals of this site should
have timeless appeal
be distinct yet digestible
reflect the changing nature of design and its use
acknowledge connections between diverse design areas
challenge personal notions of design and encourage open-mindedness
inspire students who are interested in exploring design
