This paper is the culmination of a fifteen-week design study in partnership with a high school teacher to utilize design thinking in a classroom context. A procedure for guiding the educator through the design process was developed and implemented to gain understandings into whether incorporating design thinking in a classroom context would enhance educators problem-solving abilities and empower them to effectively tackle complex problems. The findings suggest that design thinking is a powerful tool for educator’s and can have a positive impact on their classroom environment, though continued support is key. The paper begins with a situation analysis report to discuss the mission of the partner organization, as well as goals and expectations of the study. It continues with the theoretical inspiration statement which articulates the theoretical underpinnings of the study. Then, the design statement and prototype describe the outline of the procedures developed to guide the collaborating teacher through the design process. The paper concludes with the design enactment report which includes a narrative of the process and details the findings.

Current educational systems are trying to transform their practices with those that align with critical thinking skills, collaboration amongst students and allowing students to feel motivated and engaged in learning. Within a special education classroom at a Title I high school located in South Tempe, Arizona, a design was innovated in order to attempt to enhance this learning environment to foster students’ ability to build intrinsic motivation and engaged within their classroom through collaboration and the autonomy supported by the teacher and this innovation. Throughout this paper, you will be able to see the contextual analysis, theoretical inspirations, design constructs and analysis of the implementation within two separate class periods.

This mixed methods research report examined the user experience preferences and expectations automotive enthusiast audiences have for Discount Tire's marketing blog and provided a WordPress theme recommendation on the basis of data collected via a mixed methods cross sectional survey of over 100 participants. Participant behaviors in the context of online tire research were analyzed against collected demographic data.

The purpose of this project was to evaluate the State Bar of New Mexico's (SBNM) new podcast series, SBNM is Hear. The podcast was initially developed as a member outreach tool and a new platform for professional development and survey questions were developed to gauge the podcast’s effectiveness in these two areas. An electronic survey was deployed to active members of the SBNM through email. Respondents were asked questions regarding their demographics, whether they had listened to the series, and what content they would like to hear in the future. The survey resulted in 103 responses, of which 60% indicated that they had not listened to the podcast. The results showed that listenership was evenly divided between generations and that more females listened to at least one episode. The open-ended responses indicated that the two cohorts of respondents (listeners and non- listeners) viewed the podcast a potential connection to the New Mexico judiciary. Future recommendations include conducting an annual survey to continue to understand the effectiveness of the podcast and solicit feedback for continued growth and improvement

This applied project investigates the methods, modes, and tools used to communicate between different audiences at Divine Unity Community Church (DUCC) to create a communication guide. Communication is an integral part of the church’s function and effectiveness, not only externally to the congregation and surrounding community, but also internally to ministers, leaders, and volunteers. As the church continues to grow, it has struggled to maintain a consistent, efficient, and scalable communication culture. To document and sustain the communication culture, I drafted a communication guide that provides a comprehensive explanation of the church’s culture and tools for communicating in different contexts. The guide was developed with feedback from focus groups and observations of DUCC’s communication practices, and is being used as a training resource for leaders and volunteers.

As the impact of technology on daily life continues to grow, online learning platforms for primary, secondary, post-secondary, and professional institutions find ways to:

1. Connect peers and instructors through digital communication.
2. Engage users more fully in learning.
3. Provide access to resources that enhance deep-impact education.

Online learning platforms, or learning management systems (LMS), are used to connect instructors and students through synchronous and asynchronous engagement tools, provide space for the transfer of resources and ideas, and track progress. However, these platforms were designed with more mainstream purposes - and more digitally savvy - users in mind.

Adult learning programs (with members ages 50+) currently have no online learning and sharing platform specifically designed to fit the needs and desires of their users. Despite the multitude of barriers to successful use, adult learning programs recognize the need to engage with members digitally and are seeking an online learning platform centered around their users.

This project, utilizing best practices in technical communication and mixed methods user experience research, broadens the boundaries of communication design by creating an online learning platform prototype specifically for adults ages 50+ through the lens of information design, content management, and user experience outcomes.

For more than 50 years, my aunt was a professional chef and baker who catered hundreds of events and owned a bakery before retiring. Her recipes have never been formally documented and are rarely shared because only she knows them. The purpose of the cooking website content strategy was to document five decades’ worth of my family’s recipes and write a cooking website content strategy report that will be used in the future to create the cooking website. Creating the website preserves the recipes and provides a resource that can be cited and referred to by future generations of my family. The cooking website applied project consists of a website content strategy report, including a social media strategy and website designs, documented recipes and oral histories, content audit, and content analysis.

This report aims to provide The Arts Partnership, an arts-based non-profit organization in the Fargo, ND-Moorhead, MN area, with recommendations on improving its “Connecting the Dots” weekly e-newsletter. The research was conducted using three separate channels – a quantitative survey of the current e-newsletter recipients, a qualitative coding exercise to uncover themes in each e-newsletter, and an analysis of the top-clicked links in each e-newsletter. The original research, combined with information gleaned from the literature review, results in seven recommendations The Arts Partnership can implement into its current program. These recommendations include reducing the amount of HTML in each e-newsletter to avoid SPAM traps, keeping the email as scannable as possible, maintaining its subscriber base to eliminate waste, ensuring its e-newsletters are mobile-responsive, improving the subject line of the e-newsletters, and finally, considering using a different email program that provides more features The Arts Partnership can use to continue to improve its newsletters.