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michka:project_definition [2014-01-20 11:57] – michkamichka:project_definition [2014-01-20 15:21] – [Scheduling] michka
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-=Notebook Collection Phase=+====Collection Phase==== 
 + 
 +===Paper Notebooks===
  
 I have been offered this Transiency in June 2012, and wrote down any inspiring topic I may want to address during this period until the actual start of the Transiency, in November 2013. I have been offered this Transiency in June 2012, and wrote down any inspiring topic I may want to address during this period until the actual start of the Transiency, in November 2013.
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 {{ :michka:img_3324.jpg?400 |}} {{ :michka:img_3324.jpg?400 |}}
  
-As I do not have smartphone, I use old style paper notebooks to write down burning questions/comments/ideas, references and field notes. I write down stuff almost everyday, on quite many different topics. Therefore, I decided to ease the browsing process by adding up small tags into brackets to whatever I was writing down. Here are some tag examples:+As I do not have smartphone, I use old style **paper notebooks** to write down burning questions/comments/ideas, references and field notes. I write down stuff almost everyday, on quite many different topics. Therefore, I decided to ease the browsing process by adding up small **tags** into brackets to whatever I was writing down. Here are some tag examples:
  
-  * [REF] is used for litterary and online references +  * **[REF]** is used for litterary and online references 
-  * [LMK] is used for Landmark Papers +  * **[LMK]** is used for Landmark Papers 
-  * [PROJ] is used for projects I would like to implement in the future +  * **[PROJ]** is used for projects I would like to implement in the future 
-  * [FUT] is used for mid-term to long-term ideas of what I may like to do as a profession in the future. +  * **[FUT]** is used for mid-term to long-term ideas of what I may like to do as a profession in the future. 
-  * [ADR] is mainly used when I travel for addresses I would like to remember, like nice coffee places, or spots to watch beautiful landscapes. +  * **[ADR]** is mainly used when I travel for addresses I would like to remember, like nice coffee places, or spots to watch beautiful landscapes. 
-  * [GDS] is used to record transient magical moments I would like to remember over the long term. +  * **[GDS]** is used to record transient magical moments I would like to remember over the long term. 
-  * [FoAM2013] was used to record any Transiency-related content.+  * **[FoAM2013]** was used to record any Transiency-related content.
  
-One major phase of the project definition process was therefore to browse the eight notebooks I filled since June 2012 to recover any [FoAM2013]-labeled content.+One major phase of the project definition process was therefore to browse the eight notebooks I filled since June 2012 to gather any [FoAM2013]-labeled content.
  
-=Post-it Classification Phase=+===Numerical Content===
  
-Some of this content was outdated, so I decided to operate a first filtering step at the root level, and gathered onto post-its only the topics which still seemed relevant to address in November 2013.+When doing online search, I directly used the computer to write down inspirationnal material regarding the Transiency. In my "numerical & online notebooks", I had:
  
-I started by just accumulating post-its in a unordered way during one browsing day. Ordering seems easier when you reached a kind of critical mass.+  * **Web bookmarks** into the bookmark management tool [[http://diigo.com|Diigo]] under the label "FoAM2013" 
 +  * As I did not use my personal computer at work, I also had to process **E-mails** with links grouped under the label "FoAM2013" 
 +  * A **text document** called "FoAM 2013" for random non-links stuff like keywords and direct references to activities or Metabolhomics processes 
 +  * A **folder** called "FoAM 2013" filled up with PDFs to read, images, and other stuff. 
 + 
 +All this material was classified together with the Paper Notebooks material. 
 + 
 +====Classification Phase==== 
 + 
 +===Post-it Classification Phase=== 
 + 
 +Some of this content was outdated, so I decided to operate a **first filtering step** at the root level, and gathered onto post-its only the topics which still seemed relevant to address in November 2013. This induced lack of traceability, as I have no direct access to the whole set of topics I would have liked to adress during this Transiency. However, it lightened the amount of material to sort, which was already representing much more than the amount I would be able to work on within a year. 
 + 
 +I started by just **accumulating post-its in a unordered way** during one browsing day. Ordering seems easier when you reached a kind of critical mass.
  
 {{ :michka:img_3330.jpg?400 |}} {{ :michka:img_3330.jpg?400 |}}
  
-[...]+From this critical mass emerged a first classification in three **categories**: 
 +  - **Practices**: a set of activities I want to learn or practice during this year. 
 +  - **Metabolhomics**: elements regarding the DIY upcycled bio-based self-sufficient habitat I plan to map and prototype this year. 
 +  - **Language**: a set of keywords describing the approach, methods and activities performed during this Transiency. 
 + 
 +More details about the **sorting algorithm** which helped me sort this into categories are available [[http://transiency-diary.tumblr.com/post/73420206199/iterative-ideas-sorting-algorithm|here]]. 
 + 
 +{{ :michka:img_3335.jpg?400 |}} 
 + 
 +After more days of notebook content gathering, a bigger amount of post-its allowed to **define sub-categories** to the first basic classification scheme. Some categories where restructured when balance in the content would change with the growing number of post-its. 
 + 
 +As more post-its were added to the wall, **further sub-categories** where created, some **specific contents** were highlighted by being put on post-its with different colors. The final result of the post-it classification looked like the following picture - where you can only see the classification of the Metabolhomics category. 
 + 
 +{{ :michka:img_3708.jpg?400 |}} 
 + 
 +Post-its have mainly been used as precursors of mindmaps. Post-its are quite handy because they - theoretically - can be re-positionned several times and still stick to the surface. When dealing with large amounts of content to classify, I think that post-its are handy for three reasons: 
 +  - You get physical with your ideas 
 +  - You are able to do and undo classification schemes in very intuitive and quick way 
 +  - You can keep an holoptic view more easily with a big wall than with a small screen 
 + 
 +However, as you do not want to archive your wall forever with the right classification, I have then switched to mindmaps. 
 + 
 +===Mindmaps=== 
 + 
 +Thanks to the freeware version of [[http://www.xmind.net/|XMind]], I obtained compact and readable mindmaps out of my quickly-handwritten-and-unsticky-anymore-post-its. 
 + 
 +I kept almost exactly the same organization than on my wall, and obtained, for instance, the two following maps: 
 +  * {{:michka:practices_december.pdf|Practices}} 
 +  * {{:michka:metabolhomics.pdf|Metabolhomics}} 
 + 
 +The content may look a bit cryptic to you, but I promise I can understand myself better than with the post-its :) 
 + 
 +In addition to these mindmaps which define project strategy from high- to low- level content, I created a workbook for more practical sutff. Logically, I called it "Practical FoAM2013". 
 + 
 +===Practical FoAM2013 Tables=== 
 + 
 +This [[http://www.openoffice.org/|Open Office]] workbook contains eight tabs. 
 + 
 +  - A **General Objectives List**, where I write down things [[http://transiency-diary.tumblr.com/post/73421005974/reading-list-priorizing|I would be sad not to have achieved at the end of the year.]] 
 +  - A **Short-Term To-Do List**, where I write down short-term tasks I want to achieve in the following days. 
 +  - A **Reading/Watching/Listening List** where is stored all the references collected in my paper and numerical notebooks. 
 +  - An **Exploration List**, complementary to the previous one, where I write down names and keywords about topics I found interesting, and I would like to dig into a little bit more. 
 +  - A **Connected Projects List**, where I list projects I feel are connected to Metabolhomics and the general spirit of this Transiency. 
 +  - A **People I Should Connect With List**, where I list... people I should connect with. 
 +  - A **Diffusion List**, where I start to list contacts of people interested with my work, and to whom I should send some kind of newsletter. 
 +  - A **Questions List**, where I list the topic I would like to adress during my regular meetings with FoAM's Core Team members. 
 + 
 +This workbook articulates day-to-day Project Management elements like the Short-Term To-Do List with more global Project Definition elements, like the General Objectives list. 
 + 
 +====Scheduling==== 
 + 
 +The next task is to produce a schedule of activities, showing how they will articulate until the end of the year. 
 + 
 +Right now, the schedule is pretty rough, as it only cuts the whole Transiency in two main phases. 
 +  - The ***Definition phase (November-March)***, during which gathering and processing of informations are the main tasks. I will be involved with research, reading, mapping and design tasks to prepare the second phase, which will be... 
 +  - The ***Implementation phase (April-November)***, during which I will prototype a system of objects out of the Metabolhomics Map. 
 + 
 +A more detailed schedule is currently under construction. 
 + 
 +====TODO==== 
 + 
 +> Processing language: essential key words and essential anti-key words. 
 +> Getting physical TD link
  • michka/project_definition.txt
  • Last modified: 2014-01-20 15:21
  • by michka