Course Overview

The emergence and ongoing development of the digital media landscape is discussed through a historical exploration and critical analysis of the business, technical innovations, social, ethical, and legal demands which define it. Outcomes are critical perspectives from explorations of digital media aspects, which will act as a common basis for all subsequent discussion and collaboration between students with artistic, technical, or interdisciplinary backgrounds.

Course Objectives

• Apply critical thinking skills across the various aspects of product development
• Identify and utilize various design thinking approaches to problem solving
• Effectively apply generative research and ideation methods
• Strategically identify market opportunities and business models
• Identify key history, legal, ethics, and biases that affect the digital media industries.

Course Overview

Game Design and Gamification explores what motivates people, what constitutes “fun”, and how through these principles we can create more meaningful and engaging experiences. Primarily, we will focus on video games, ranging from indie to AAA, mobile to VR, to understand the core concepts of game design and discuss how these can be applied to other interactive forms through gamification. We will cover various aspects of games including mechanics, emotion, agency, balance, and player motivation through practical in-class activities, game deconstructions, and projects. In these projects, students will work in teams to design, prototype, and test their own games, with a focus on user-centred design and iteration. Projects will be iterative, with multiple rounds of feedback and revision, and will culminate in a final presentation where students will present their games to the class and invited guests.

Course Objectives

• Articulate the principles and practices of game design and gamification.
• Analyze and deconstruct existing games and gamified experiences.
• Apply game design and gamification techniques to create engaging, interactive experiences.
• Work collaboratively in teams to design and develop games.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of game design and gamification through playtesting.
• Effectively demonstrate designs and prototypes to faculty and students.

Course Format

Classes will begin with all students together. After Week 3, students will be divided into groups assigned to either morning or afternoon sessions, with one additional class scheduled during Week 8. Your instructor will confirm the schedule during Week 3.

Course Overview

This course provides students with the practical skills to improve collaboration with others, for the end goal of creating successful projects together. From improving their performance in team-based scenarios and developing strong presentation skills, to creating stories and characters on the fly, improvisation is an essential skill in a digital media industry that demands increasing flexibility and creativity, relies on innovative minds for its evolution and depends on rapid prototyping and iterative product creation for its survival.

Course Objectives

• Identify where and when improvised behaviors manifest in their and the team’s workflow.
• Exercise targeted activities to support how they collaborate, manage, design and innovate.
• Practice problem solving with others through scenario-based activities.
• Reflect on specific activities in order to deepen how improvisation can support collaboration.
• Develop their own vocabulary of exercises to improve their team-based work.
• Develop better communication skills (within teams, with clients, with others).
• Improve presentational skills (speaking, presence, focus, confidence).

Course Format

The course will be divided into rotating morning and afternoon groups. Because group assignments may not be confirmed until the week of, students should treat this as a full-day commitment for scheduling purposes. Group placement is determined by the instructor, and students cannot choose their preferred time slot.

Course Overview

Building Virtual Worlds is the first project course. Teams of students from different backgrounds and disciplines design and implement a digital artifact. These projects have an explicit role in teaching human-centered iterative design, project management, team collaboration, and project execution skills. This hands-on immersion into a team-based problem solving environment is designed to break down student inhibitions and to foster rapid project planning and prototyping. This course will focus on design thinking, production pipeline, user experience and project management techniques based on real-world examples. This course is extremely hands-on, heavily emphasizing critical thought, design, applied problem-solving, and rapid prototyping. The team-based projects will give students the necessary tools, background and experience to be successful at medium and largescale digital media projects and will prepare students as they move into Projects II. All MDM project courses are group-independent studies, where teams of three to six students work on digital projects during that semester. Projects I focuses on the design and implementation of artifacts (digital or physical) in order to solve a client’s problem. This rapid immersion into a group problem solving environment is designed to engage a student in project planning, management and execution. The course aims to provide a solid foundation of problem-solving, critical thinking and methodologies that will apply to future industry projects.

Course Objectives

• Define the problem space and the project goals
• Identify user pain points/needs
• Understand and apply user-centred and/or technology-driven design methods
• Effectively articulate the problem statement/business challenge
• Apply appropriate user research techniques to validate your solution
• Identify different prototyping approaches and their strengths/weaknesses
• Rapidly iterate design(s) and prototype(s) that solve the identified problem
• Effectively document the rationale for design decisions
• Successfully complete team-based assignments
• Understand and implement production methodologies
• Effectively apply strategies for team communication, conflict management, production process and project planning under time constraints
• Produce effective, well-written, and professional (i.e. appropriate for sharing with a client) documentation that provides context, project goals, and rationale for key decisions
• Demonstrate the ability to work in an interdisciplinary team
• Explain and apply the key principles of production management
• Create an effective, load-balanced project pipeline
• Demonstrate project planning in their projects
• Deliver a professional project within time and resource constraints

Pre-requisite: A B grade in DMED 520: Project 1

Course Overview

Advance your skills with a real-world, client-driven team project that challenges your creativity, technical expertise, and collaborative abilities.

Projects II builds on the foundations of Projects I, introducing more complex technical, artistic, and management challenges. Over a semester, you’ll work closely with an external client or collaborators to deliver innovative prototypes or proofs of concept using iterative design and team collaboration.

Course Objectives

• Learn to communicate effectively with clients, teammates, and the community in a professional setting.
• Tackle multidisciplinary challenges while contributing individual strengths to the team.
• Apply design thinking to create technology-driven solutions tailored to real-world needs.
• Reflect on team roles, processes, and performance to identify opportunities for growth and improve collaboration.

Course Schedule

Students must be on campus from Monday – Thursdays, 9am – 4pm.

Pre-requisite: A B grade in DMED 520: Projects 2

Course Overview

As a capstone course, Projects III cohesively builds on the Project II experience with increasingly complex technical, artistic and management challenges. Projects III is an independent, semester-length team-based project working with an external client and/or collaborators. Projects may include student-led pitches. Students learn, experience, and execute iterative processes through team collaboration and prototype/proof of concept delivery at a high level of professionalism.

Students also have the option to work on an entrepreneurial project in lieu of an industry project.

Course Schedule

Expectation is to work on campus Monday – Thursday, 9am – 4pm *exceptions for hybrid work and alternative hours can be considered with the discussion of the project supervisor and team. Circumstances will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.