Project Overview

Title: [Descriptive Project Name]

Domain: [Application Domain]

Examples: Healthcare, Finance, Education, Transportation, Scientific Research

Problem Statement:

[Describe the specific problem or challenge that this design study aims to address. Be concrete about what users currently struggle with and why existing solutions are inadequate.]

Target Users:

  • Primary Users: [Main audience - their roles, expertise level, typical tasks]
  • Secondary Users: [Additional users who might benefit - their relationship to primary users]
  • Stakeholders: [Others who care about the outcome but may not directly use the tool]

Project Scope

Goals and Objectives:

  1. Primary Goal: [Main outcome you hope to achieve]
  2. Secondary Goals: [Additional valuable outcomes]
  3. Success Metrics: [How you’ll measure if the project succeeded]

Research Questions:

  1. [Research question 1 - what you want to learn about users/domain]
  2. [Research question 2 - what you want to learn about visualization effectiveness]
  3. [Research question 3 - what you want to learn about design process]

Out of Scope:

  • [What you explicitly will NOT address in this project]
  • [Limitations or boundaries you’re setting]

Background and Context

Domain Background:

[Provide context about the application domain. What are the key concepts, challenges, and current practices?]

Existing Solutions:

[Describe current tools, methods, or approaches used in this domain. What are their strengths and limitations?]

Why Visualization?:

[Explain why visualization is a promising approach for this problem. What aspects of the challenge are visual in nature?]

Project Plan

Timeline: [Start Date] - [End Date] (Total: [X] weeks/months)

Stage Duration Key Activities Deliverables
Stage 1: Abstract Phase [X] weeks User interviews, task analysis Task abstraction, user requirements
Stage 2: Design Phase [X] weeks Sketching, prototyping Design concepts, digital prototypes
Stage 3: Build Phase [X] weeks Implementation, testing Working visualization tool
Stage 4: Evaluate Phase [X] weeks User testing, evaluation Usability findings, design validation
Stage 5: Post-Study [X] weeks Documentation, reflection Lessons learned, methodology insights

Milestones:

  • Milestone 1: [Date] - [Key checkpoint and deliverable]
  • Milestone 2: [Date] - [Key checkpoint and deliverable]
  • Milestone 3: [Date] - [Key checkpoint and deliverable]

Team and Resources

Team Members:

Name Role Responsibilities Time Commitment
[Name] [Role] [Key responsibilities] [Hours/week or %]
[Name] [Role] [Key responsibilities] [Hours/week or %]

Required Expertise:

  • Domain Expertise: [What domain knowledge is needed and who provides it]
  • Technical Skills: [Programming, data analysis, visualization expertise needed]
  • Design Skills: [User experience, visual design capabilities required]

Resources Needed:

  • Data: [What data is needed, how it will be obtained, any access challenges]
  • Technology: [Software, hardware, licenses, computing resources]
  • Participants: [Number and type of users needed for research activities]
  • Budget: [If applicable, budget requirements for tools, incentives, etc.]

Data and Technology

Data Sources:

  • Primary Data: [Main dataset(s) to be visualized]
    • Source: [Where data comes from]
    • Format: [File type, structure, size]
    • Access: [How data will be obtained, any restrictions]
    • Quality: [Known data quality issues or limitations]
  • Secondary Data: [Additional supporting data]
    • [Similar details as above]

Technology Stack:

  • Development: [Programming languages, frameworks]
  • Visualization: [D3.js, Tableau, custom tools, etc.]
  • Data Processing: [Tools for cleaning and preparing data]
  • Deployment: [How the final tool will be hosted/distributed]

Technical Constraints:

  • [Any technical limitations or requirements to consider]
  • [Integration requirements with existing systems]
  • [Performance or scalability requirements]

Risks and Mitigation

Potential Risks:

  1. Risk: [Description of potential problem]
    • Likelihood: [High/Medium/Low]
    • Impact: [High/Medium/Low]
    • Mitigation: [How you’ll prevent or address this risk]
  2. Risk: [Description of potential problem]
    • Likelihood: [High/Medium/Low]
    • Impact: [High/Medium/Low]
    • Mitigation: [How you’ll prevent or address this risk]

Contingency Plans:

  • If data access is delayed: [Alternative approach]
  • If user recruitment is difficult: [Alternative approach]
  • If technical implementation is more complex than expected: [Alternative approach]

Expected Outcomes

Immediate Deliverables:

  • [Specific tool or visualization that will be created]
  • [Research insights and findings]
  • [Documentation and process learnings]

Potential Impact:

  • For Users: [How this will benefit the target users]
  • For Domain: [How this will advance understanding in the domain]
  • For Research: [How this will contribute to visualization/HCI research]

Future Work:

  • [Potential extensions or follow-up projects]
  • [How this project might scale or evolve]

Evaluation Plan

Success Criteria:

  • Usability: [How you’ll measure if users can effectively use the tool]
  • Utility: [How you’ll measure if the tool provides value]
  • Adoption: [How you’ll measure if users would actually use this]

Evaluation Methods:

  • [User testing approaches]
  • [Expert evaluation methods]
  • [Performance or efficiency measurements]

Validation Strategy:

  • [How you’ll validate design decisions]
  • [How you’ll validate research insights]
  • [How you’ll validate methodology contributions]

Communication and Dissemination

Stakeholder Updates:

  • Frequency: [How often you’ll provide progress updates]
  • Format: [Meetings, reports, demos, etc.]
  • Audience: [Who needs to be kept informed]

Documentation:

  • [What documentation will be maintained throughout]
  • [How process learnings will be captured]
  • [How code and designs will be documented]

Sharing Results:

  • Internal: [How results will be shared within organization]
  • External: [Conference presentations, publications, open source]
  • Community: [How insights will benefit the broader community]

Approval and Sign-off

Stakeholder Approval:

  • [Stakeholder 1 name and title] - Date: __
  • [Stakeholder 2 name and title] - Date: __
  • [Stakeholder 3 name and title] - Date: __

Resource Confirmation:

  • Team availability confirmed
  • Data access confirmed
  • Technology resources confirmed
  • Budget approved (if applicable)

Next Steps:

After approval:

  1. [First action to take]
  2. [Second action to take]
  3. [Third action to take]

Appendices

[Brief literature review or survey of related projects]

B. Preliminary Analysis

[Any initial data exploration or user research already conducted]

C. Technical Specifications

[Detailed technical requirements if available]

D. Budget Breakdown

[Detailed budget if applicable]

This template should be customized for your specific project and organizational context. Remove sections that aren’t relevant and add domain-specific details as needed.