8 Units 20183 Fall
Day: Monday/Wednesday
Time: 10:30-1:50
Location: The Garage, Tutor Center 4th Floor
Garage Open Hours: (8.21-9.4) M-F 8:00am-6:00pm. Sat-Sun closed. (>9.4) M-F 8:00am – Midnight, Sat-Sun 9:00am-5:00pm
Instructors: Dan Ryan & Steve Barth
Office: Stonier 330
Office Hours: By appointment (DR, SB)
Contact Info: Ryan: ryandj@usc.edu, Barth: sbarth@usc.edu)
IT Help: Academy IT
Hours of Service: M-F, 8:30am-5:30pm
Contact Info: ude.csu|plehyi#ude.csu|plehyi, 213.821.6140
Catalogue Description
Academy capstone experience, innovative projects leading to operational prototypes and viable enterprises, mentored by faculty and industry experts.
This capstone course comprises exploration, experimentation, and self-directed work on projects assigned in Academy courses. The course also includes labs, workshops, demos, and formative and summative critiques that students will propose and help structure. The Garage is a unique state-of-the-art facility with cutting-edge technology and mentored support. Students will build skills to develop innovative project proposals and produce operational prototypes. They have access to cutting edge hardware, software and mechanical tools for the production of prototypes, promotional materials and the development of professional presentations. Faculty from a variety of disciplines, industry experts and visionaries, and peer mentors will work with students to help them conceptualize their ideas and test their work with authentic audiences and consumers. Students will have an opportunity to “pitch” their ideas to potential employers, patrons, sponsors, and/or funding entities.
In Garage Experience I, taught in the fall semester, students will focus on in-depth development of multidisciplinary, team-based projects, culminating in a working prototype or finished product, service, or process. In Garage Experience II, taught in the spring semester, students will finalize their projects and will “pitch” their idea to potential employers, patrons, sponsors or funding entities.
Learning Outcomes
By the completion of this course, students will be able to
- Fabricate products and plan and launch services, and articulate processes
- Communicate ideas using multiple modalities including time-based and static images and graphical representations
- Facilitate and glean data from focus groups
- Develop market-vetted promotional and educational materials
- Understand the concepts behind supply chain theory and application
- Prepare a financial pro forma to inform business decisions
Course Notes
Prerequisite(s): ACAD 377a, 377b
Co-Requisite(s): none
Concurrent Enrollment: none
Recommended Preparation: Other Academy coursework.
**Other: ** Students will work, solo or in teams, with faculty project advisors, course instructors, and other expert consultants, as appropriate. Class meets twice weekly in the Garage, but some teams may convene off-site or in other workspaces some of the time.
Technological Proficiency and Hardware/Software Required
Varies by project.
Required Readings and Supplementary Materials
Varies by project.
Description and Assessment of Assignments
Primary work for the course is the conceptualization, planning, and execution of an innovation project approved in advance by Academy faculty.
55 percent of course grade based on final "product" and 3 critiques by panel of faculty graded on A (excellent), B (good), C (satisfactory), F (unsatisfactory) scale:
- Midterm faculty critique of presentation of problem reformulation (week 5)
- Midterm faculty critique of presentation of "deliverable 0" (week 9)
- Final faculty critique of presentation and product at semester's end (week 15)
Additional work product and process graded by instructors and project advisors includes: (1) research plan and memo; (3) weekly journey blog; (4) professionalism, attendance, participation, project management, and collegial contributions
Grading Breakdown
The grading for the Garage Experience course has three components:
- Deliverables/Artifacts/Outputs 60%
- Performance/Activity 20%
- Process 20%
What |
% of Course Grade |
Graded by |
Deliverables/Artifacts/Outputs (60%) |
End of semester product |
20% |
Faculty |
End of semester critique |
20% |
Faculty |
Mid-semester critique |
10% |
Faculty |
Deliverable 0 critique |
10% |
Faculty |
Performance/Activity (20%) |
Objectives meeting or exceeding expectations |
5% |
Advisor |
Average weekly booked hours |
5% |
Instructors |
Collegial contributions |
10% |
Instructors |
Process (20%) |
#WhereDidTheTimeGo Memos |
4% |
Instructors |
Research Plan and Memo |
4% |
Advisor/Instructors |
Journey Blog Posts |
4% |
Instructors |
Advisor Checkins and Milestone Meetings |
4% |
Advisors |
Class Attendance |
4% |
Instructors |
Grading Scales and Assignment Rubrics
The grading scales for the Garage Experience assignments are shown below.
Deliverables/Artifacts/Outputs (60%) |
What |
% of Course Grade |
Graded by |
Level of Achievement |
Grade |
End of semester product |
20% |
Faculty |
Excellent |
A |
Good |
B |
Satisfactory |
C |
Unsatisfactory |
F |
End of semester Critique |
20% |
Faculty |
Excellent |
A |
Good |
B |
Satisfactory |
C |
Unsatisfactory |
F |
Deliverable 0 Critique |
10% |
Faculty |
Excellent |
A |
Good |
B |
Satisfactory |
C |
Unsatisfactory |
F |
Problem 0.2 Critique |
10% |
Faculty |
Excellent |
A |
Good |
B |
Satisfactory |
C |
Unsatisfactory |
F |
Performance/Activity (20%) |
Objectives meeting or exceeding expectations |
5% |
Advisor |
80%+ |
A |
71-80% |
B |
51-70% |
C |
under 50% |
F |
Average weekly booked hours |
5% |
Instructors |
22+ |
A |
20-21.9 |
B |
16-19.9 |
C |
under 16 |
F |
Collegial contributions |
10% |
Instructors |
Top %ile hours donated, top %ile peer eval, top % public good blog posts, top %ile instructor observation |
A |
Noticeable and remarked upon |
B |
Satisfactory but unremarkable |
C |
Not a part of your GX |
F |
Process (20%) |
#WhereDidTheTimeGo Memos |
4% |
Instructors |
All (15/15) |
A |
13-14 |
B |
12 or fewer |
F |
- |
- |
Research Plan and Memo |
4% |
Advisor/Instructors |
Excellent |
A |
Good |
B |
Satisfactory |
C |
Unsatisfactory |
F |
Advisor Checkins and Milestone Meetings |
4% |
Advisors |
All, professionally handled, etc. |
A |
Most, professionally handled, etc. |
B |
Many not |
D |
Unsatisfactory |
F |
Journey Blog Posts |
4% |
Instructors |
14+ |
A |
10-13 |
B |
<10 |
F |
- |
- |
Class Attendance |
4% |
Instructors |
100% |
A |
90-99% |
B |
<90% |
F |
- |
- |
Assignment Submission Policy
Weekly checkins with faculty project advisor (including hours report) to be completed by 5pm Friday of each week) submitted via mechanism agreed to with project advisor and instructor. Journey blog update due Saturday 11:59 p.m. submitted via Slack. Prototypes, presentations and critiques per syllabus schedule.
Grading Timeline
This course features continuous feedback from instructors, project advisors, mentors, and peers. Feedback on written work and ongoing work performance from instructors and project advisors. Feedback and grading of presentations by panel of faculty and/or outside experts. All intermediate grades will be posted within one week of due date.
Additional Policies
Course schedule indicates sessions and events for which attendance is mandatory. Students are expected to be punctual to all sessions and events.
Course Structure
This course meets formally for 200 minutes, twice a week with the expectation of an additional 16 hours of outside work per week. Most classroom time is dedicated to project work — exploration, experimentation, research, and self-directed work on projects that build on previous Academy courses. The course also includes labs, workshops, demos, and formative and summative critiques designed in conjunction with members of the class. A general framework of major milestones and objectives and key results will be adapted to individual projects.
The default participation expectations is that students use class time not allocated to critiques or group activities to work in the Garage on individual projects.
Academic Conduct
Plagiarism – presenting someone else’s ideas as your own, either verbatim or recast in your own words – is a serious academic offense with serious consequences. Please familiarize yourself with the discussion of plagiarism in SCampus in Part B, Section 11, “Behavior Violating University Standards” policy.usc.edu/scampus-part-b. Other forms of academic dishonesty are equally unacceptable. See additional information in SCampus and university policies on scientific misconduct, http://policy.usc.edu/scientific-misconduct.
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Weekly Schedule
Each student or team will develop a work plan that articulates with a common framework of milestones at weeks 2, 5, 9, 11, and 15 and includes a set of team-defined objectives and observable results. Additional formative assessments of work in progress will be scheduled with instructors, course and peer mentors, and outside consultants.
PLEASE NOTE: Faculty project advisor check ins and Milestone meetings are scheduled, by default, on Wednesdays but each team/advisor will arrange these by mutual convenience. Attendance at all these meetings is mandatory so please schedule wisely. Course instructors will look for updates weekly so meetings should happen before Friday 5 p.m.
Phase I Starting Up
Monday 8/21
In this session we will review course goals, process, and evaluation. Role of mentors and advisors. We will distribute default project plan/schedule and milestone descriptions.
(more...)
All 10:30-1:50
Faculty: SB DR 10:30-1:50
Wednesday 8/23
Teams describe projects to class and have initial meeting with advisor.
(more...)
10:30-10:50 |
Check in and housekeeping |
10:50-Noon |
Common Knowledge: Because X I'm building a Y… |
Noon-12:30 |
Garage Lunch |
All 10:30-12:30
Faculty: DR SB
All 12:45-1:50
Faculty: SB DR DT AS SC EM BS PD
Monday 8/28
Student teams meet one-on-one with instructors (more...)
Students at work in Garage and consult with instructors
Faculty: DR SB
We will review research methods relevant to the array of projects being done in the class and workshop our research statement for phase 2 of the course.
(more...)
10:30-12:00 |
Empathy, Research, and Documentation |
12:00-12:30 |
GX Lunch #1 |
12:30-1:50 |
Lean Canvas and Project Work |
All 10:30-1:50
Faculty: DR SB
Wednesday 8/30
Student teams meet one-on-one with instructors (more...)
Students at work in Garage and consult with instructors
Faculty: DR SB
Conversation with project advisors: Did we get off on the right foot? are we poised for next work period? Is schedule realistic? Do we have personnel or process issues we need to get some help on?
(more...)
|
Communications Setup |
We want to get teams and advisors up and running on Slack for use with updates, report submission, etc. |
Account set up, practice messages, attachments, confident using main features. |
Still mucking about. |
R1 |
Slack account/team/channel/app installed |
Not started/Started/Completed |
R2 |
Test messages and documents and such |
Ready to use in production or not |
|
Team Relationships and Practice |
Success requires cooperation and coordination. What are your plans for producing these? Talk with teammates and advisor about the infrastructure and culture you want for decision making, governance, conflict resolution, etc. |
Student "gets" this at level beyond where things were in D&M and team/advisor have worked out logistic details (meeting times/places, etc.) |
Still need to work on this aspect of project/team management |
R1 |
Conversation |
Happened/Did not happen |
R2 |
Written statement of mutual expectations. (1) Contract: what you will do in exchange for what? As a team? For the team? (2) Norms: what behavioral expectations will support the kind of culture we want/need? What do we owe to our team? To other teams? Specify between team and class as well as members to team and members to one another and IYA to you/team. Consequences. |
Yes/Draft in need of revisions/No |
R3 |
Meetings Calendared, etc. |
Yes/partly/No |
|
Establish research plan for phase 2 |
What don't you know that you need to know? How will you find out? |
All components completed in professional memo |
Still mucking about. |
R1 |
Exhaustive list of unknowns sensibly organized. |
Done and content is solid/less than done and/or less than solid |
R2 |
Priorities, methods, timetables, and analytical plans. |
Usable workplan on paper/less than that |
|
Lean Canvas Sketch |
DTF |
DTF |
Still mucking about. |
R1 |
x. |
x |
R2 |
x. |
x |
|
OKRs for Milestone 2 |
Note that several of these are fixed (e.g., OKRs for subsequent milestones, research report). |
Useable OKRs on paper. |
Still mucking about. |
R1 |
List of objectives |
Complete and acceptable/Needs work/Not done |
R2 |
List of measurable results for each |
Complete and acceptable/Needs work/Not done |
Mandatory hour meeting with advisor per team schedule.
Faculty: DR SB BS PD DT SC AS EM
Phase II The Problem 0.2
Wednesday 9/6
Student teams meet one-on-one with instructors (more...)
Students at work in Garage and consult with instructors
Faculty: DR SB
Monday 9/11
Fast paced workshop covering 10 exercises in user related research (more...)
Faculty:
Student teams meet one-on-one with instructors (more...)
Students at work in Garage and consult with instructors
Faculty: DR SB
Teams get structured feedback from panels of classmates. (more...)
per schedule
Faculty: DR SB
Wednesday 9/13
Student teams meet one-on-one with instructors (more...)
Students at work in Garage and consult with instructors
Faculty: DR SB
Monday 9/18
Members of the garage lay out where they are for faculty panel. (more...)
Half of teams 10:30-1:50
Faculty: SB DR SC PD DT
Wednesday 9/20
Members of the garage lay out where they are for faculty panel. (more...)
Half of teams 10:30-1:50
Faculty: SB DR AS PD EM
At milestone 2 advisor meetings we will ask ourselves how has our problem evolved? What have we learned about needs, requirements, etc.? Do we have map of alternatives, fallbacks, prototypes we need to explore? Make sure 1/3 of the way into the semester we are homing in on rather than letting it get away from us.
(more...)
|
Redefine the Problem |
The research we did during phase one should lead us to clarification about the problem. What have we learned about what is desirable? What is viable? What is feasible? |
The "Problem 0.2" memo demonstrates both the capacity for productive research and the completion of research and use of it to take the problem with which the semester began to a new level. The revision of the problem should set us on a productive trajectory for the rest of the semester. |
Weak research, failure to aggregate information in a manner that answers questions relevant to this project, failure to focus and follow through. |
R1 |
Five concrete researchable questions researched |
0.0-1.0 |
R2 |
Archive of research results/findings/data |
Yes/fits and starts/No |
R3 |
Analytical memo written and reviewed by team/advisor |
Yes/partly/No |
|
Team formulated objective |
TBA |
{$c3} |
TBA |
R1 |
Measurable/Observable Result |
TBA |
R2 |
Measurable/Observable Result |
TBA |
R3 |
Measurable/Observable Result |
TBA |
|
Team formulated objective |
TBA |
{$c3} |
TBA |
R1 |
Measurable/Observable Result |
TBA |
R2 |
Measurable/Observable Result |
TBA |
R3 |
Measurable/Observable Result |
TBA |
|
OKRs for Milestone 3 |
Note that several of these are fixed (e.g., OKRs for subsequent milestones, research report). |
Useable OKRs on paper. |
Still mucking about. |
R1 |
List of objectives |
Complete and acceptable/Needs work/Not done |
R2 |
List of measurable results for each |
Complete and acceptable/Needs work/Not done |
|
Future objectives revised/tweaked based on progress to date |
self explanatory |
Yes |
No |
R1 |
Hold meeting to discuss future objectives |
yes/no |
R2 |
Revised objectives recorded |
yes/no |
Mandatory hour meeting with advisor per team schedule.
Faculty: DR SB BS PD DT SC AS EM per team schedule
Phase III Deliverable 0
Monday 9/25
(more...)
We assume that coming into this class you have already given thought to prototyping and MVPs in conjunction with setting your "Deliverable 0" Milestone OKRs. What we want to accomplish in this workshop is two fold. First we want to jumpstart the process of actually building that first prototype, advocating for sooner rather than later, and more rather than fewer iterations between now and the next milestone. Secondly, though, we want to stretch our senses of the motivations for and the forms of prototyping.
The workshop will start with a brief lecture introducing some concepts and principles and a menagerie of species in the genus prototype. Next we will each work out the relationship between what we know, think we know, know we don't know, and don't know we don't know and our need to prototype. Finally, we will design a range of prototyping exercises that make sense for our project being sure to stretch the idea of "makes sense for" to its extremes.
Faculty:
Student teams meet one-on-one with instructors (more...)
Students at work in Garage and consult with instructors
Faculty: DR SB
Based on project needs, a brief masterclass/workshop. (more...)
Attendance TBD
Faculty: SB DR 10:30-1:50
Wednesday 9/27
Student teams meet one-on-one with instructors (more...)
Students at work in Garage and consult with instructors
Faculty: DR SB
Monday 10/2
On the importance of structured thinking and communication. (more...)
We will learn about "the pyramid principle" and do some workshopping around it.
Faculty:
Student teams meet one-on-one with instructors (more...)
Students at work in Garage and consult with instructors
Faculty: DR SB
Wednesday 10/4
Student teams meet one-on-one with instructors (more...)
Students at work in Garage and consult with instructors
Faculty: DR SB
Monday 10/9
A self-help workshop in which participants get smarter about entity formation and intellectual property (more...)
- Overview Lecture and Logistics for Workshop (20)
- Participants move to tables and carry out research (30)
- Download, cluster, and cross-teach (20)
- Produce physical artifacts (30)
- Lunch Break (45)
- Show and Tell (30)
Faculty:
Monday 10/16
Based on project needs, a brief masterclass/workshop. (more...)
Attendance TBD
Faculty: SB DR 10:30-1:50
Wednesday 10/18
Members of the garage lay out where they are for faculty panel. (more...)
Half of teams 10:30-1:50
Faculty: SB DR SC PD DT
In this meeting the conversation goes like this: This milestone comes at the end of a solid month of work. What do we have to show for it? Can we put an MVP in front of our advisor? What does it point us to in terms of what we should be trying to accomplish before the end of the semester? What is our week by week plan for getting there?
(more...)
Project by project presentations of progress to date centered on demonstration of prototype, proof-of-concept, minimum viable product, etc.
- Teams present in 15-18 minute windows in stadium classroom.
- Teams to post slides by 9 am so they can be included in deck on presentation computer. Please convert to KEYNOTE.
- Teams to post one paragraph summary: What-We-Are-Showing-and-What-We-Are-Asking to Slack #deliv0_feedback channel by midnight before presentation.
- Five minutes for presentation, ten minutes for questions and iteration-forward critique.
- During presentation, audience to post comments and questions on thread following team's post on Slack #deliv0_feedback.
Mandatory hour meeting with advisor per team schedule.
Faculty: DR SB BS PD DT SC AS EM
Phase IV Bell Laps
Monday 10/23
Members of the garage lay out where they are for faculty panel. (more...)
Half of teams 10:30-1:50
Faculty: SB DR AS PD EM
Wednesday 10/25
Student teams meet one-on-one with instructors (more...)
Students at work in Garage and consult with instructors
Faculty: DR SB
Monday 10/30
Some reflections on what it means to be innovative. (more...)
Faculty:
Student teams meet one-on-one with instructors (more...)
Students at work in Garage and consult with instructors
Faculty: DR SB
Wednesday 11/1
Student teams meet one-on-one with instructors (more...)
Students at work in Garage and consult with instructors
Faculty: DR SB
Monday 11/6
Teams get iteration-forwarding feedback from panels of peers. (more...)
Three rounds of parallel sessions in which assorted panels of classmates provide feedback on each project. Panels scour Slack channel ahead of time to prepare questions and comments and fill out a written evaluation form for the team.
ALL
Faculty: DR SB
Student teams meet one-on-one with instructors (more...)
Students at work in Garage and consult with instructors
Faculty: DR SB
Wednesday 11/8
Student teams meet one-on-one with instructors (more...)
Students at work in Garage and consult with instructors
Faculty: DR SB
Monday 11/13
Teams get iteration-forwarding feedback from panels of peers. (more...)
Three rounds of parallel sessions in which assorted panels of classmates provide feedback on each project. Panels scour Slack channel ahead of time to prepare questions and comments and fill out a written evaluation form for the team.
ALL
Faculty: DR SB
Student teams meet one-on-one with instructors (more...)
Students at work in Garage and consult with instructors
Faculty: DR SB
Wednesday 11/15
Student teams meet one-on-one with instructors (more...)
Students at work in Garage and consult with instructors
Faculty: DR SB
Conversation: What will the final month look like? (more...)
|
Team formulated objective |
TBA |
{$c3} |
TBA |
R1 |
Measurable/Observable Result |
TBA |
R2 |
Measurable/Observable Result |
TBA |
R3 |
Measurable/Observable Result |
TBA |
|
Team formulated objective |
TBA |
{$c3} |
TBA |
R1 |
Measurable/Observable Result |
TBA |
R2 |
Measurable/Observable Result |
TBA |
R3 |
Measurable/Observable Result |
TBA |
|
Milestone 5 OKRs |
self explanatory |
Yes |
No |
R1 |
Meet to discuss OKRs |
yes/no |
R2 |
Revised OKRs recorded |
yes/no |
R3 |
En Charrette to do list |
yes/no |
Mandatory hour meeting with advisor per team schedule.
Faculty: DR SB BS PD DT SC AS EM
Phase V December
Monday 11/20
What and how to present when the stakes are high. (more...)
Time to start planning for what you will present as your final deliverable. Is it a “pitch deck”? Although you’re not ready to approach investors, fundamentally, the purpose of a pitch deck is to attract the attention and the resources you need to take your idea to the next step. Whether that’s money, advice, connections, whatever. It’s also a way to bring all of your recent thinking together and for 10 minutes, on stage, to sound totally grounded and confident about working on something that is real, worthwhile and winnable.
What do we expect in your presentation? We expect you to anticipate and have good answers to the kinds of questions you might get from several distinct audiences (distinct in concept - the same person might embody more than one of these):
- The Shark Tank Part - imagine “tycoons” asking questions to inform whether or not they will invest their own money in the project - you need to think about ROI, help us figure out know “is this worth my money?"
- The straight forward business part: Every part of lean canvas should be considered up for grabs - that is, you had better be prepared to have something solid to say in response to question about any part of it.
- The Iovine-and-Young-and-Nowhere-Else (IYAundnirgendwosonst) Part - what makes this a product that can only come from the Academy?
- The Delta part: real measurable results - show us, on one slide, many concrete accomplishments; what do we have to show for the 15*24 hours that's gone into this?
Faculty:
Student teams meet one-on-one with instructors (more...)
Students at work in Garage and consult with instructors
Faculty: DR SB
Monday 11/27
Class members brainstorm redesign of The Garage Experience for next semester (more...)
Faculty:
Student teams meet one-on-one with instructors (more...)
Students at work in Garage and consult with instructors
Faculty: DR SB
Wednesday 11/29
The conversation: Review the semester. Lessons learned? How does this re-arrange our ideas about where we go next semester? (more...)
Mandatory hour meeting with advisor per team schedule.
Faculty: DR SB BS PD DT SC AS EM per team schedule
Monday 12/11
All 10:30-1:50
Faculty: DR SB EM BS SC DT AS SC PD