In my paralysis, I decided to re-visit what they say about this project report, what my supervisor said in her commentary and then see if I can make a reasonable outline to start writing from.

Then with the outline, I’ll see if I can break what I have to write about into sections and use bullet points to explain what I’m going to talk about.

There is still time to do extra research.

Then, I’ll have a template to start writing from.

The problem is, everything I have to say, and even my research questions feel incredibly muddy in my brain.

But let’s start here.

Notes from lecture about the project report

• Project report “presents the outcomes of your research”. I should “critically reflect” upon the research carried out during the Honours project. The writing “should demonstrate an understanding of the underlying conceptual ideas underpinning the work”, address research questions, operate reflexively and consider how my design-thinking evolved through this work.
• It should include
  • Ideas, influences and inspirations
    • From Project Proposal and Development Portfolio
      • Vision Statement
      • Research Questions
      • Aims and objectives
      • Research and references
        • Creative direction
        • Conceptual ideas
        • Techniques and processes
  • Development and processes of creating your work
  • Reflection and analysis of the project
• Suggested structure
  • Introduction
    1. Communicate your Vision Statement and/or Research Questions
       1. Similar to 1.3 in Project Proposal and 1.2 in Development Portfolio
    2. State your aims and objectives
       1. Similar to 1.4 in Project Proposal and 1.3 in Development Portfolio
    3. Briefly describe your deliverables (the project itself)
       1. Similar to 1.5 in Development Portfolio
    4. Describe the artwork’s significance or uniqueness within your field. What does your project do that makes it distinct?
    5. Outline your analysis approach: Communicate how you will judge the success of your work. Explain what criteria you will use in your evaluation in “analysis and reflection” section. (Design framework)
  • Conceptual underpinnings
    1. Explain relevant theoretical concepts and research that informs your work
       1. Similar to 2 and 3 in Project Proposal and Development Portfolio
    2. Discuss your creative influence
       1. Similar to 2 and 3 in Project Proposal and Development Portfolio
    3. Describe your choices of media, processes, tools and techniques and how they relate to your project
       1. Similar to 2 and 3 in Project Proposal and Development Portfolio
  • Creation/production process
    1. Detail the different stages of your projects’ development. Describe the process of creating your work, highlighting any challenges and solutions encountered. Use supporting images where appropriate.
       1. Similar to section 3 in Development Portfolio
  • Analysis and reflection
    1. Consider how your deliverables actualised your vision statement or answered your research questions
    2. Contextual analysis: Position your artwork within the broader context of your field. Discuss how it relates to existing art or design, historical events, social issues, techniques or processes.
    3. Reflect on your performance in your work against the learning outcomes.
  • Conclusion

    1. Summarise your main points and reiterate the significance of your project.

    2. Future directions: Did the project inspire other more work or other direction that need investigation? Discuss potential avenues for further research or exploration inspired by your project

    3. Reflection and personal statement: Share your personal insights and reflections gained through the creative process. Relate your learnings in the context of our learning outcomes:

       

My project report plan few months ago

We had a presentation mid-way through module, where one of the sections was about the project report. My structure then was:

1. Abstract
2. Introduction
   1. In this section, I will introduce the topic of my research, my key research questions, design problems and challenges, and the practical methods I used to find solutions for these questions and problems (including tools and materials used and what the final game looks like).
3. Research Context
   1. In this section, I will analyse existing literature, games and other media/academic writing in relation to my honours project. I aim to cover locative gaming, riddles, narrative structures and (game) writing, as well as some of the themes in my story (things that happened in the past, tragedy of them, and letting go). I’m also interested in memory, location and the connection between the two.
4. Research Project
   1. Here, I’ll describe how the project turned out and what was learned from it. I will consider research questions, evaluate strengths and successes of the project, and the difficulties and weaknesses of it. I propose to structure the post-mortem in following sections:
      1. Landmarks and locative gaming, where I talk about how these were considered (and how effectively) in regards to
         1. Story
         2. Riddles
         3. Memory
         4. Landmarks to show new residents
      2. Story, characters and writing, where I talk about what these should have achieved, how well they did so, how I went about it, and what was learnt, in regards to:
         1. Emotional storytelling. Memories and ghost-progression.
         2. Player-character attachment. Talking to spirits.
         3. Considerations of the narrative structure.
5. Conclusion