Students will work in teams of 4-5 people, ideally with a range of skills and domain expertise. Each team will invent, prototype, and evaluate a novel social computing experience that is functional and can be "played" by multiple people within a specific setting. Teams should strive to create a final project that relates to the course readings and discussions, but they are free to work on anything within the constraints outlined below. 

For inspiration, here are some current open challenges in social computing, but feel free to propose other challenges or novel ideas:

• What new experiences can be created around forming and sharing digital identities?

• How can we enable newbies to learn from experts in various contexts (e.g., learning a city, learning a university, etc.)?

• How might we enable creators through new forms of collaboration? And/or new forms of interaction with generative AI?

• What new social interactions can we enable within co-located audiences (eg., classrooms, networking events, parties, religious services, etc. ...)?

• How might we slow the spread of misinformation or build back trust in social media?

• How might we create space for cultivating empathy and sharing evidence for facilitating political discussions?

• How might social computing empower people with diverse abilities (e.g., visually impaired, motor impaired, etc.)?

• How might we create new opportunities for shared entertainment experiences?

• or, choose your own... strive for novelty!

Learning Goals 

• To understand how iterative design methods can be adapted to prototype and evaluate social computing technologies

• To envision and evaluate a concept for an open-ended design prompt

• To prototype and test interactions that involve multiple people

• To create a "mash-up" or "piggyback prototype" with existing Web technologies 

• To connect project work with insights from the readings and discussions

• To collaborate effectively with a diversely skilled team

Project Phases and Deadlines

For this team project, you can choose your own teammates.  Strive to create a team with a diverse mix of skills and expertise. The final team project accounts for 50% of the total grade. Within that half, the grade will be broken down across the three main phases:  P1=10%, P2=20%, P3=40%, and P4=30%, respectively.  

• P1: Find a Team and Pitch a Project Idea (10%). Team by end of Week 2; idea pitches by end of Week 4 (Feb 2). 

• P2: Conduct Research and Develop the Idea (20%). Due at end of Week 6 (Feb 16). 

• P3: Build and Test Social Prototypes (40%). Be prepared to demo and evaluate during Week 8 and 10.

• P4: Create an Online Portfolio and Presentation (30%). Due Finals week (due by March 21)