Professional Project

For this module, students will be required to work together on an interactive media project as part of a multidisciplinary team. Individual students will be expected to contribute to their team by taking on a professional role suited to their area of study. As part of the module, all students will be expected to: communicate with clients and relevant stakeholders; participate in pitching and presentations; research and test technical pipelines; create project documentation and planning materials; and contribute to the iterative design and development of a final interactive prototype.

Through engaging with the module, you will develop the Intellectual, Professional, Digital and Active Citizen Abertay Attributes. In particular:

• Master their subject, understand how it is evolving, appreciate the importance of interdisciplinarity and recognise how what has been learned can be applied.
• Be able to evaluate information critically and rigorously, and tackle uncertainty and information gaps with confidence and self-awareness.
• Be able to work both independently and collaboratively, understanding the values and responsibilities of equality and playing a leadership and a team-member role as required.
• Be prepared for the world of work and understand the likely impact of digital technology in their chosen subject and across contexts.
• Be equipped for workforce transitions and lifelong learning, including the ability to learn online.
• Actively engage with relevant stakeholders to make a real contribution to society locally, nationally and internationally.
• Be inclusive, globally conscientious and socially respectful, and self-reflective.

By the end of this module the student should be able to:

1. Contribute to the full pre-production lifecycle of a defined interactive media project including ideation, iterative development, testing, enhancement, completion and delivery of a functional prototype that constitutes a vertical slice of functionality.
2. Demonstrate the ability, comparable to that of a professional practitioner, to integrate their own contributions with those of team members from a range of disciplines to deliver, together, a cohesive and functional end-product.
3. Demonstrate teamwork, appropriate communication skills, and the ability to interact with all stakeholders, including fellow team members, clients, mentors, and academic tutors in a professional, respectful and productive manner throughout the production and delivery of a team project.

1 Team Organisation and Management

Attend and participate in team meetings, keep meeting minutes, and assign roles and responsibilities; Identify and overcome team problems, understand conflicts and approaches to conflict resolution, and engage with team building. Work together to break down top line features into implementation tasks and use industry standard project management software to assign and track these tasks as part of an iterative development process.

2 Communication and Professionalism

Demonstrate the ability to communicate within the team, with tutors, with clients/mentors, and with other stakeholders in a professional and respectful manner.

3 Development Methodologies

Understand and apply appropriate development methodologies framed by the requirements of a project and balance of a team, e.g. agile, scrum, lean, spiral, feature-driven, waterfall/traditional.

4 Research and Concept Development

Research similar products and competitors; Research and interpret the product marketplace, considering platform, user profiles, costs, regional differences etc; Conduct visual and audio research; Iteratively develop design concepts in response to a given brief.

5 Technologies and Pipelines

Research software and hardware technologies; Develop a technical plan for game development; Research, develop, test and document production pipelines.

6 Style and Branding

Develop a brand for the team and the project; Research, develop, document, and communicate a defined visual and audio style; Produce marketing and promotional materials.

7 Pitching and Presentation

Develop and deliver a project pitch in response to a supplied creative brief, and deliver presentations to clients, tutors, and other stakeholders; Respond to client and tutor feedback, revising aspects of the project design.

8 Prototype Development, Testing, and Iteration

Use appropriate software, hardware, game engines, and other tools to deliver a working digital prototype; Engage with regular user testing to inform design iteration, demonstrating an appreciation of user experience.

9 Release Management

Manage the software development process using source control, defect tracking, and build processes.

10 Project Delivery

Consider the methods for delivering products to the market, including market cycles, digital distribution, and the publisher-developer relationship; Deliver a complete prototype with accompanying press kit.