- Alternatives (2:19)
- How to lie with statistics
- Rhetoric
- Subtext
- Theoretical lenses
- Asking questions (5:36)
resource
Short Videos on Design: Speculative Design
- Intro to speculative design (1:39)
- Chindogu
- Provocation
- Useless design
- Diagetic design
- A to B thru Z (1:32)
Short Videos on Design: Interface & Interaction Design
The Basics
- Attract, reward, inspire
- Telling your story
- Choosing your content
- The power of the hero image
- Call to action
Materialization
- Material Data (Part 1) (6:44)
- Material Representation (Part 2) (5:36)
Short Videos on Design: Creating
- 5 Es of experience (entice, enter, experience, exit, extend) (3:19)
- Creativity using SCAMPER (substitute, combine, adjust, modify, put to other uses, eliminate, rearrange) (1:30)
- SCAMPER: Combine (00:58)
- Universal design (3:33)
- 6 thinking hats of Edward de Bono (facts, emotions, benefits, ideas, planning, judgment) (1:22)
- Storyboarding (1:32)
- Graphic design basics: hierarchy (2:15)
- Graphic design basics: grids (1:47)
- Graphic design basics: Gestalt principles (2:45)
- Brainstorming (00:42)
Case Studies
- Mental Health During COVID19 (3:21)
Short Videos on Design: Understanding & Communicating
- Affinity diagrams, concept maps, mind maps, entity-relationship diagrams (3:40)
- SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) (2:42)
- Empathy maps (think, say, do, feel) (3:17)
- Personas and scenarios (2:15)
- Gantt charts (1:36)
- Value proposition statements (For X who are interested in Y, we offer Z, which provides A, that is unlike the competition’s B. We are C) (1:35)
- Feature, function, benefit sheets (1:31)
- 10 types of innovation (Configuration: Profit Model. Network. Structure. Process; Offering: Product Performance. Product System; Experience: Service. Channel. Brand. Customer Engagement) (1:39)
- Eras map (e.g. product trends, service trends, retail, activities, brands, cultural icons, cultural moments) (2:20)
- Testing (1:54)
Short Videos on Design: Data Collection
- 3 types of interviews (structured, semi-structured, unstructured) (3:25)
- Taking ethnographic fieldnotes with 3 column format (observations, emotions, interpretations) (3:09)
- Research prototyping (thinking through making, user study, modelling the domain) (2:49)
- Observation using POEMS (people, objects, environment, materials, systems) (2:21)
- Observation using AEIOU (activities, environments, interactions, objects, users) (3:14)
- Observations using 5 human factors (physical, cognitive, social, cultural, affective) (5:00)
- Gender data gap and the human factors (2:50)
- Diary studies (1:54)
- Narrative studies (1:30)
- Cultural probes (1:19)
Short Videos on Design: Introducing Design
- History of design approaches (styling, human-centred, participatory or co-design, post-human) (5:55)
- Types of design (1:08)
- Intro to design process models (2:03)
- 4-stage design process (research, analysis, synthesis, production) (1:14)
- 4-stage process including release (1:13)
- 6-stage design thinking process (empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test, launch) (1:43)
- Double-diamond prototyping model (divergence, convergence) (1:40)
- 3 types of research (primary, secondary, tertiary) (2:18)
- Epistemologies of knowledge production (sequential, aggregative, discovery, exploratory expressive, generative) (3:03)
About Short Videos on Design
Dr. Stan Ruecker and I have created a series of free, short lectures on:
- introducing design
- data collection
- understanding & communicating
- creating
- speculative design
- interface & interaction design
- critical reading
We have over 50 videos done at the moment, with more finished every day.
The videos are all available on Vimeo.
Health to you and your family.
Milena & Stan
LAST UPDATED: 8 December 2020
Mental Health During COVID19 Mini-Project
2020
Imagine that your brain is a jam jar. Just like a jar, it only has a limited amount of space for stress. When that space is filled—like it is for many people during a pandemic—the results can be serious.
“We are living in a pandemic” is meant to reduce the stigma associated with mental health, putting it in the context of our common experience of dealing with COVID19.
There are two versions of the poster. One version includes a list of supports specific to Alberta (Canada). The second has, instead, an editable field where you can add your own, local resources.
Please feel free to print, edit, and share!

Meeting Notes Template
Design Journals
qLab Colouring Feminist Activists Mini-Project
2019—
The qCollaborative is pleased to present our inaugural Colouring Feminist Activists, the first in a series of books designed by the lab to celebrate and contemplate the vital work done by leading feminist activists of the past and present.
21 colouring pages that include the following memorable activists: Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Malala Yousafzai, Tarana Burke, Greta Thunberg, Audre Lorde, Julie Rei Goldstein, Dr. Emma Sulkowicz, Chanel Miller, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, and more…
This book is intended as a space for both reflection and recognition of the public figures who model for us the kinds of work that need to be done, and who inspire us with their brilliance, bravery, and commitment to greater social equity. We see reflecting on and celebrating our feminist models as an important form of what Sara Ahmed in Living a Feminist Life (2017) calls homework: acts of working out our feminisms as a means of transforming and rebuilding the master’s house (in Audre Lorde’s infamous words) that we are often asked to negotiate and reside in.
- Professionally printed, staple stitched, with a card cover
- Measures 8.5 x 11 inches
- Printed on 100% recycled paper!
The books can be used by all ages. However, if intended for a non-adult, please consider that this book includes references to abortion, and the #MeToo movement.
Created in collaboration with the qLab—Brianna Wiens, Jennifer Roberts-Smith, Shana MacDonald, and Stan Ruecker—and the generous support from Michelle Priest and Dunia Tavcer.
And enjoy this free download of our Maxine Waters!

Kid Stuck at Home Mini-Project
For those looking at some unplanned trapped at home with kids time, I just finished making an activity booklet for mine and added a few pages of activities for “when you’re stuck at home”. Some of the other activities can be modified to serve the same function, and I added a few tips specific to our current social-distancing situation.
I hope it helps! Please feel free to share!
Arts & Humanities Education Mini-Project
Do you ever wonder why certain governments tend to seek the defunding of Arts and Humanities programs?
Building on The Humanities Matter! poster created by the University College London (UCL) Centre for Digital Humanities and 4Humanities, we created a new infographic arguing for the contributions made to contemporary society by arts and humanities education.
