Project

=Project= The project for this term will focus on designing the user experience for the Canadian Art Database Project, a project by the [|Centre for Canadian Contemporary Art.] //The CCCA's Canadian Art Database Project is a work in progress. With the overall objective of broadening public awareness of contemporary Canadian Art in Canada and abroad, the CCCA is documenting the careers of some of Canada's leading professional artists, designers, art writers and curators, as well as some important Canadian art institutions and organizations that have helped shape the Canadian art scene since the 1960s.

The CCCA is also taking on additional projects containing information that informs and lays the groundwork for the core project. A wide range of previously hard to access material [images, texts, media works, and related ephemera] from a variety of sources across Canada is being assembled into the fully searchable, bilingual, database.//

This project will begin with an investigation into how and why people are accessing the database, as to gain a deeper understanding of its contexts of use. In doings so, we will be looking for new opportunities that enhance the stated goal of the Canadian Art Database Project of "broadening public awareness of contemporary Canadian Art//"//. These solutions will include designing new processes and interface dynamics to improve the current user experience while also developing new levels of engagement with Canadian contemporary art.

**Process**
There will be 4 phases to the project. The first phase involves creating a envsioning a new user experience for the CADP. This will serve as your creative and conceptual framework for designing this new system. The second phase will involve building a functional prototype with enough functionality to simulate a user experience. The third phase is to design a user test in order to evaluate the success of this functional prototype. The fourth phase is to refine or re-design theprototype based on the results of the user test. At this point the prototype would theoretically be ready for implementation by a client. A style guide is needed as a manual for other designers to use as the system is implemented, updated, edited and modified.

**Breakdown**
P1: Envision 20% P2: Prototype 25% P3: Test - 25% P4: Reiteration 30%

This is a group project and will be coordinated in teams of 2-3 people and will be ongoing throughout the term.