Futures-Learn-Report_Final

UAL Futures Learn Report
How might we co-design a digital creative toolkit
for University of the Arts London?
ualfutures.tumblr.com | @ualfutures

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UAL FUTURES LEARN REPORT
Contents
Report Summary 4
Introduction 6
Outcomes - Stage One 10
Design Research
Speculative journey mapping
Identifying student needs, behaviors, desires
Outcomes - Stage Two 18
Introduction to co-design
Co-design workshops & concepts 20
Speakers 24
Key Findings 26
Conclusion 32
Acknowledgements 33
Appendix - Please contact l.whitehead@arts.ac.uk for appendix
(includes design research journal, workshop tools and materials, all concepts from
the co-design stage.)

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Report Summary
University of the Arts London (UAL) is one of the world’s
most renowned institutions for education in arts,
design, fashion and communication.
Delivering a transformative education that ensures
students reach their full potential requires us to work
in partnership with them, drawing on their natural
enterprise and curiosity.
UAL Futures is an initiative responding to the
challenges and opportunities digital technologies
present for the creative and cultural sectors.
Funded by the Higher Education Innovation Fund,
the project requires us to work in collaboration with
creative partners to inform services, experiences
and learning programmes that prepare students for
successful careers in the digital creative industries.
The Challenge
In 2015 UAL Futures invited students, staff, alumni and
creative industry partners to become co-designers and
help us explore ways we can support digital creativity
at UAL.
The project asked participants to respond to the
challenge question: how might we co-design a digital
creative toolkit for UAL?
Two UAL researchers were invited to design a series of
workshops with the aim of;
• Exploring and identifying themes in the current
digital skills and learning landscape.
• Identifying the needs and behaviours of students in
relation to digital skills.
• Mapping students’ creative journeys and ways they
access and apply digital technology.
• Bringing students and creative professionals
together to share insights, ideas and come up with
solutions to the challenge of improving digital skills.
• Exploring how outcomes might be developed into
income generating enterprise opportunities to
enable UAL Futures to become sustainable.
The project had input from over 100 students, staff,
alumni and creative professionals. In workshops
we were also joined by speakers from the creative
industries and education including the Tate, Hyper
Island, Hirsch and Mann, General Assembly and UAL.
Findings
Six steps to learning
We have identified six key elements to digital learning.
These broadly describe content, activities and
experiences a student wishing to learn digital skills
would benefit from having access to;
1. Defined knowledge - gateway resources to define
and demystify digital concepts and terminology
will help students contextualize them around their
interests.
2. Access to resources - products that students or
anyone wanting to learn digital skills needs access
to (technology, tools, software, hardware, learning
resources).
3. Access to learning - activities and services that
facilitate inspiration, learning and knowledge
exchange (talks, classes, workshops).
4. Opportunities to apply learning - projects
and experiences that help students apply new
knowledge and skills (prototyping, side-projects).
5. Access to people with knowledge - teachers,
mentors, technicians, but crucially peer networks.
6. Access to support networks - communities
where knowledge and experiences can be shared.

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5. Spaces to meet and make.
Participants consistently mentioned a desire for
an open, physical environment to meet, make and
collaborate. Shared UAL spaces that offer access
to resources, activities and which help create
community by facilitating collaboration.
6. Cross-disciplinary collaboration.
To mirror the changing nature of work in the
creative industries UAL needs to provide
opportunities for students to work on truly
inter-disciplinary projects - and recognise their
importance in developing digital skills and
enhancing graduates’ employability.
7. Shaped by students.
Solutions we develop should be built with students
and graduates. UAL Futures champions should
shape the project. And any digital products we
develop, such as an online platform, should involve
students in the process - to learn whilst making.
8. In partnership with industry.
Because they face the same challenges,
perspectives from right across the creative and
cultural sectors are crucial to help shape the way
we support digital skills and creativity at UAL.
Recommendations
Based on student needs and informed by creative
partners, these are our recommendations for ways UAL
can approach the delivery of new content, services and
experiences.
1. Defining and demystifying digital.
We would like to see UAL develop content and
resources that unpack fundamental digital
concepts for students. Short online introductions
and offline classes that act as a gateway to
understanding the skills, tools and approaches
used within a digital creative context.
2. Networked knowledge.
We would like to explore ways alumni, industry
mentors and peer networks can respond to
student’s need for access to expertise and
support. A pool of people with digital skills and
tech expertise would ease pressure on specialist
technicians.
3. Platforms for exchange.
We would like to see UAL to develop systems,
services and platforms that encourage peer-to-
peer collaboration, skills-sharing and knowledge
exchange and which reward participation.
4. Connecting digital at UAL.
We would like to see UAL explore ways of
connecting and highlighting the many individuals,
projects and initiatives happening across UAL
in this area. This would help students access
opportunities beyond their colleges and elevate
the University’s collective work in the digital space
to the wider public.
Futures.
To find out more contact l.whitehead@arts.ac.uk
or visit ualfutures.tumblr.com

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Introduction
Setting the scene
Section breakdown
• Opportunity and uncertainty of a booming
digital creative sector
• Introduction to UAL Futures
• Introduction to the report
• About the challenge - what we’re trying to solve
• Impact
• Approach: collaborative, co-designed,
sustainable
• Project stages
• Breaking down the challenge question
Opportunity and uncertainty of a booming
There has never been a more exciting time to be a
creative student. Last year the creative industries
contributed a staggering £77 billion to the economy
in the UK and to a digital economy that is also one
of the fastest growing in the world. The possibilities
new technology presents for creativity are seemingly
limitless.
Advancements in mobile technology, connected
devices and the Internet of things, wearable
technology, and big data are reshaping the creative
landscape for our graduates.
This connected, complex and multi-disciplinary
creative ecosystem brings opportunity but also
increasing uncertainty.
Against this backdrop it is difficult for creative students
to predict career paths, imagine future job roles and to
know what digital skills are required to be successful in
their chosen field.
How can knowledge of coding, data and user
experience help students studying across arts, design,
fashion and communication? What jobs can they
expect to have in the future? What skills will they
require?
How can creative educators meet employers’ need for
multi-talented graduates with a mix of traditional and
digital skills and ensure students have the opportunity
to explore the latest technologies?
Introduction to University of the Arts
London
University of the Arts London (UAL) is one of the world’s
most renowned institutions for education in arts,
design, fashion and communication.
We draw on and develop the natural enterprise and
curiosity of our students, encouraging them to be the
next initiators and innovators in their respective fields.
We place the challenges and opportunities of the
creative and cultural sectors at the centre of our
teaching, so that our students are well prepared for
successful careers and can realise their full potential.
Delivering transformative education requires us
to ensure that all our students can reach their full
potential. It requires us to work in partnership with
them to develop and deliver an education that is
responsive, responsible, imaginative and inspirational.
Find out more about UAL Futures at www.
ualfutures.tumblr.com. Sign up to the
newsletter for latest news and events.

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Introduction to UAL Futures
UAL Futures is an initiative from UAL responding to the
rate at which technology is transforming the creative
industries and creative work for our graduates. With a
growing discussion about the need for multi-talented
people in the digital creative industries, we’re asking
how education and industry can work together
to ensure graduates have the skills to thrive in a
connected future.
Its purpose is to define the digital skills UAL students
and graduates need to succeed in a digital economy;
inform the delivery of UAL services and products that
provide these skills; and to identify revenue generating
enterprise opportunities.
The project is funded by the Higher Education
Innovation Fund grant to UAL.
Introduction to the report
This report documents the initial stages of UAL Futures
‘Digital Creative Toolkit’ Co-Design Challenge. With this
challenge UAL Futures have invited University of the
Arts London’s community of students, staff, alumni and
creative industry partners to become co-designers and
help us respond to the question: how might we co-
design a digital creative toolkit for University of the Arts
London?
The design research and co-design stages of the
project are outlined here along with our findings.
The team:
Miriam Ribul,
Design Researcher and PhD
student at UAL.
Miriam explores new models
for design interventions
at the intersection of
collaborative and trans-
disciplinary practice for
materials research. Recent
research engagements included
TED’s ‘interconnected design
thinking and processes’
project with MISTRA Future
Fashion and her funding award
from COST, the European
Cooperation in Science and
Technology.
Joana Casaca Lemos,
Communication Designer
and PhD UAL.
Joana is interested in
practice-based communication
design research and her
PhD explores the role of
an ‘expanded practice’ of
communication design in
sustainability and social
innovation developed through
collaborative methodologies
with various stakeholders and
participants.
Luke Whitehead,
Project Lead, UAL Futures
In his role as Digital
Enterprise and Employability
and Project Manager at UAL,
Luke is responsible for
leading research, events and
partnerships that explore
how digital technologies
are changing the creative
industries and what that means
for our graduates.

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About the challenge - what we’re trying
to solve
Our aim is to offer solutions that will provide students
and graduates with the practical skills, knowledge and
connections to become natural innovators in the digital
space.
We want UAL to develop learning resources, tools
and experiences that expand students digital maker
skills, employability in the digital creative industries,
and understanding of the possibilities new technology
presents for arts, design, fashion, and communication.
Impact
The findings of this report will inform the development
of learning tools and solutions that form UAL learning
programmes, to enhance digital skills and knowledge
across the University.
In addition the project will identify income generating
enterprise opportunities so that we can continue to
develop UAL Futures activities.
Approach: collaborative, co-designed,
sustainable
Our approach to the project has been collaborative,
applying co-design, service design and design
research methodologies.
This has included developing sustainable, replicable
models for interactive workshops UAL Futures can
continue to use and refine to generate insights that
inform this project and future activities.
Introduction
Setting the scene
Section breakdown
• Opportunity and uncertainty of a booming
• Introduction to UAL Futures
• Introduction to the report
• About the challenge - what we’re trying to solve
• Impact
• Approach: collaborative, co-designed,
sustainable
• Project stages
• Breaking down the challenge question

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How will the toolkit
be experienced?
What experiences will
be in the toolkit?
How Might We Co-Design a Digital
Creative Toolkit for UAL?
Stage One
Design Research
Service Design
Stage Three
Development
Stage Two
Co-design
Stage Four
Testing
Project stages
This report’s focus is on the findings from stage one
(design research) and stage two (co-design). Though
we have begun to develop concepts and tested a
number at UAL’s annual careers festival, Artsmart in
July.
Our intention is that the model and processes
can be iterated and become part of a continuous
development loop. As we develop and test ideas,
feedback can inform further user-research and co-
design.
Breaking down the challenge question
The challenge brief divided the question into two parts.
The first focussed on the content and experiences
that might enable students to gain digital skills and
knowledge - the stuff in the ‘toolkit.’
The second examined ways students might access and
experience that content within a UAL context. This was
important because it helped keep focus on the needs
of users - primarily students - and to frame solutions
within their experience.

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The digital skills and learning landscape
The first stage of our research involved mapping key
themes and trends in digital technology - building on
UAL Futures research on the digital skills landscape
by identifying and grouping learning resources, tools
and examples of the creative application of new
technologies.
Listing examples of learning providers, resources, tools,
technology and communities related to digital learning
- both inside and outside UAL - we were able to build a
picture of the digital skills and learning landscape.
Guided by the questions “How do I learn?” “Where
do I meet?” “How and where do I make?” we visually
organised examples.
Grouping resources helped organise information
into sections that could be applied to the structure
of workshops, and define briefs for the co-design
challenge itself.
Outcomes - Stage
One - Design research
Workshop with UAL Futures team
Section breakdown
• The digital skills and learning landscape
• Creative technology trends
• What we learned

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1. Communities of practice
Cultures of practice using digital technology and
interest groups formed around specific research
questions, for example Girls in Tech and Hackathons.
Toolkit themes - Digital learning landscape
As we organised our research, six themes emerged helping us define the
digital learning landscape
2. Making spaces
Physical spaces for prototyping and experimenting
with new hands on tools, materials, techniques, for
example Makerversity and Fab Lab.
3. Learning spaces
Physical spaces to learn coding, digital skills and
new approaches to using digital technologies in
creative projects, for example Hyper Island and
General Assembly.
4. Learning tools
Online learning access to explore digital tools and
learn new skills, for example Codeacademy and
Future Learn.
5. Making/tinkering tools
Tools such as Arduino and Rasberry Pi which enable
experimenting and prototyping.
6. Applications
Applications of digital tech and skills to creative
practices. For example wearable technology and
augmented reality.

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Creative technology trends
Finally we identified examples of the applications of
digital technology and skills to creative practices.
Insights gathered via UAL Futures events, surveys,
interviews and desk research identified key trends and
themes in digital technology. For each trend identified
we listed examples from within the UAL community
and outside.
What we learned:
A student wishing to apply technology to a project, or
to learn a new digital skill, would benefit from access
to number of complementary resources, tools, and
activities including:
• Events and communities where they can meet with
people shared interests.
• Physical spaces to experiment with new tools.
• Physical learning environments to receive teaching,
support and feedback.
• Access to online learning tools and resources.
• Access to tools, technology and software.
• Inspiraton of tech trends and new projects.
Augmented
reality
Virtual
reality
‘Clouds over Sidra’ - Chris Milk, follows a 12
year old girl in Jordanian refugee camp
Holition - Digital Creative studio - contributers
to our WPP Retail Futures competion launch
Outcomes - Stage
One - Design research
Section breakdown
• The Digital skills and learning landscape
• Creative technology trends
• What we learned
These are some of the trends we’ve
indentified along with examples.
Ask for the appendix or see our blog for
loads more. www.ualfutures.tumblr.com

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RoboticsGamification
Data
Wearable
technology
Interactive
objects
Internet
of Things
‘The Alternet’ - Sarah T Gold, CSM Alumni. The
Alternet gives individuals control of their data
‘Lands End’ - Ustwo - Virtual reality puzzle game Blind Robot - Louis Phillipe Demers - Exhibited
at FutureFest 2015
Sam Labs - Internet of Things DIY kit
Studio XO - Operates at the intersection of
science, music, fashion and tech
Polyphonic Playground - Studio PSK - Exhibited at
London College of Fashion at LDF 2015

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Speculative Journey Mapping - how might
a toolkit be experienced?
The goal of this stage of our research was to frame
opportunities within student experience.
Journey mapping is a service design method for
exploring the key touch points a user has when
interacting with a service - in this case students are
the users, and the service or the journey is their UAL
experience - or their potential UAL Futures experience.
We chose to mimic the journey of a student over a
term or year - from enrollment, to getting a brief from
a tutor, and the stages to the completion of a creative
project.
Thinking about a student journey our aim was to
identify the current touch points, stakeholders and
key spaces where students interact. At each stage we
considered what their needs were, and speculated
how at different touch points there might be potential
of engaging with digital technology or UAL Futures
platforms, services or experiences.
The process identified various opportunities where UAL
Futures and a digital creative toolkit might:
• Complement existing resources or develop new
ones.
• Support teaching staff as well as draw from their
expertise.
• Facilitate collaboration among students.
• Provide inspiration by showcasing alumni work.
• Make connections to industry, develop
employability skills and identify employment
opportunities.
• Build a network of alumni with digital skills.
Outcomes - Stage
One - Speculative
journey mapping
Section breakdown
• Speculative Journey Mapping - how might a
toolkit be experienced?
• What we learned
DIAGRAM - The columns relate to different
points in a student journey. Rows relate to
ways students access resources and services
at different times; their needs at these
points; and an evaluation of how student
needs can guide further research. The final
two rows speculate on opportunities with
ideas for ways UAL futures might impact on
student needs during their life UAL.
What we learned:
• Key points where UAL Futures activities could
interact with and support tutors, technicians,
research groups and communities of practice.
• Touch points where UAL Futures could share work
of students and graduates.
• Opportunities to grow networks of collaborators
with digital skills [students, alumni, partners].
• Opportunities to connect with companies
and employers to access the skills of students
and alumni for freelance and employment
opportunities.
We’re still collecting student journeys.
If you would like to share your journey
with us drop us an email.

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Aided by UAL Futures
Resources
External examiner
chosen from list.
Student feedback to
student about toolkit
Student
Starting term
/ project
Term starts
Course
inductions
Self - directed
/ independent
study
Development Tutorial CritProject brief
CurrentTouchpoints
Offline/Online
SpeculativeReal
UserNeedsOpportunitiesNewTouchpointsTutorInvolvement
Offline: UAL +
individual college.
Understanding UAL
- what is available to
students?
Opportunity for
sharing - to sign up
to UAL Futures.
Opportunity:
UAL Futures
communications
- warm up event
- induction event
- UAL Futures sticker
Offline: Inductions to
workshops & library.
Online: email,
moodle, access to all
UAL sites.
Stakeholders:
technitians, library
staff, learning zone
staff.
Understand
limitations of college
/ UAL workshop
acces.
- Interdisciplinary
access restricted.
Tools that are relevant
to all courses and
that everyone can
access.
Presentation
- object, text, film,
online, interactive,
web.
Understanding -
how it sits in ‘course
pathway’ landscape &
industry.
- Sharing &
showcasing.
More connection
to industry through
sharing with UAL
Futures.
Exhibitions have
UAL Futures logo
in project to know
which benefitted from
futures / toolkit - proof
of impact.
Offline: Learning
zone, library, cafe,
studio, class,
workshops.
Online: Lynda.com
Space to make,
access to tools,
materials.
Further reading
Testing of ideas
sampling, prototyping.
Multi-disciplinary
maker space.
Enabling
collaboration within
& outside UAL maker
space.
Offline: course
specific workshops
for some students.
Others find their own
way outside UAL.
How to learn a new
skill / language?
Where do I go for
support?
How does UAL
Futures help me to
start learning a new
skill?
Futures workshops
available to all.
Peer2peer
Skill - share
Free events outside
UAL
Offline: space (studio,
lecture theatre...)
Online: booking
moodle.
Feedback from
industry : context &
feasibility.
Benefits from external
feedback.
Industry partners,
external to join -
alumni, pioneers,
database of names &
contacts.
Offline: brief
document with links
& resources.
Online: links &
resources moodle.
Inspiration
Open to possibilities
for the project.
Brief could include
more digital
references &
examples of UAL
projects.
E- library that links to
UAL Futures database
/ library of resources.
Project brief links
to UAL Futures
resources
Recognition of use of
toolkit
Resourcefor
updatingthetoolkit
FINALSTAGE
OFPROJECT

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Outcomes - Stage
One - Identifying
student needs,
behaviors, desires
Workshop with students & staff
Section breakdown
• Understanding student’s digital creative
journeys
• What we learned
Understanding student’s digital creative
journeys
In the next workshop students joined UAL Futures
for an interactive workshop to map their own digital
creative journeys - helping us test any assumptions
we’d made in the previous workshop.
Asked to think about how they approached a creative
project, students plotted their interactions and
experiences (both online and offline) with platforms,
people, spaces, tools and technology. The aim of the
exercise was to explore ways students access and
apply technology within their practice.
Working in pairs, students drew their journeys,
discussing questions around themes provided on
prompt cards. Once students had mapped out the
reality, they were asked to draw their ideal journey.
Where they encountered problems, they were asked to
find potential solutions.
What we learned:
• Identified student needs, behaviors and desires
in relation to digital technologies in their creative
practice and learning.
• Helped understand current landscape of digital
technologies and teaching practices within UAL.
• Identified where and how UAL Futures activities
could fit in student’s personal journeys.
• Provided quotes and real-life problems to inform
the co-design process.
• Generated ideas for ways to support digital
creativity.
Image: two students using the journey map to
identify where they interact with digital
technologies in the course of a project from brief
to completion.

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TABLE: This table reflects outcomes
of workshops. In total we gathered data
from 30 workshop participants through the
journey mapping exercise. Key themes and
findings are summarised in the table below.
Technicians
feedback key to
development of
projects.
Collaborative
workshops
UAL library,
materials library.
Finding
collaborators
within/outside of
UAL through own
contacts.
UAL library,
materials library,
Lynda.com.
Through social
media
More technicians
and support in
development
stage of project.
UAL wide, cross-
discipline spaces
for collaboration.
In a meeting-
making space
of digital tech
related work
UAL community/
network to know
which technicians
have which skills
for digital tech.
Online database
and library for
inspiration and
research
Searchable
database for
people within UAL
to collaborate
with
Online tutorials,
online learning,
free software
through UAL.
Real journey
Offline
TechniciansWorkshopsResourcesCollaborationLearning
Online OnlineOffline
Ideal journey

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Outcomes - Stage
Two - Co-design
Introduction to co-design stage
Section breakdown
• Introduction to co-design stage
• Re-defining themes to guide co-design
• Co-design workshop summary
Introduction to co-design stage
The design research stage of the project mapped the
digital skills landscape and resources both inside and
outside of UAL - identifying the needs of students and
opportunities for UAL to find solutions. The co-design
phase invited external collaborators to share insights
and inform the design process.
Creative industry partners and alumni joined students
and staff in two one-day co-design workshops.
Informed by insights from our research they generated
ideas and concepts for content, services, products,
activities and events that could comprise a ‘digital
creative toolkit’ and explored how it would compliment
the UAL experience.
Re-defining themes to guide co-design
In preparation for the co-design workshops we
identified themes that emerged in the journey
mapping exercises with students and staff. We
clustered keywords from the journey mapping data
into overarching themes, and attached quotes from the
workshops against them. From this process six themes
emerged - thinking, resources, learning, prototyping,
collaborating, connecting. These became the sections
of the toolkit.
Co-design workshop summary
In interactive prototyping sessions participants
responded to mini-briefs based on insights gained
from our research and workshops with students and
staff.
In each workshop participants were divided into six
teams. Each group explored a different theme based
on outcomes from earlier journey mapping workshops
with students.
Working together teams sketched potential solutions
to their particular challenge. They were then asked
to paper prototype or demonstrate their chosen
concepts.

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1. Thinking
Tools for THINKING and PLANNING that develop soft
skills and that are key to project development: For
example business model canvas, service design tools,
innovation methods, etc.
4. Prototyping
Tools for PROTOTYPING through hands on making and
experimenting: For example Arduino, Raspberry Pi, Fab
Labs, makerspaces, etc.
2. Resources
Tools for accessing RESOURCES and knowing the
latest digital tech landscape: For example: e-libraries,
platforms, etc.
5. Collaborating
Tools for COLLABORATING and building your
community: For example meetups, multidisciplinary
collaboration, online networks, communities of
practice, etc.
3. Learning
Tools for LEARNING new skills and pushing your
boundaries: For example mentoring, online learning,
workshops, etc.
6. Connecting
Tools for CONNECTING and for sharing and
showcasing your work: For example exhibitions, social
media, platforms, key industry events, etc.
Toolkit themes - Co-design workshops
In the co-design workshops each team was given a brief to respond to
challenges relating to different themes

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Concepts from the co-design workshops
Here we have described and reflected on some of the
most interesting concepts from the co-design stage.
There were many great ideas, which are listed in the
appendix.
Group: Resources
Concept: FLUX.COM
Description
Flux is a website with key features structured around
awareness of new tech skills; new ways to search and
access to language.
To provide awareness of digital concepts the group
proposed a ‘timebox’ learning model of 30 seconds, 60
minutes and 30 days depending on commitment to a
topic and required learning outcomes. The entry point
would be easily digestible digital ‘trailers’ covering the
basics and signposting to other resources.
To search the site, content would be tagged in a new
way - by what you make, not the skills you learn. So a
search for either ‘data visualisation’ or ‘animation’ might
both turn up Javascript as a suggested skill.
Sharing features would include real-time updates
of what people were learning to create and include
a live glossary of terms - to define the language the
community is using to describe digital skills.
What we think
All of these features offer solutions to the common
anxiety of a student or indeed any learner - am I
learning the right thing? The focus on access to the
basics and creative outcomes respond to student
worries about having time to learn new skills and not
understanding the value of knowledge they’re not sure
how to apply.
Co-design workshops
Concepts from the co-design
workshops
Section breakdown
• Resources
• Collaborating
• Prototyping
• Connecting
• Learning
How it might develop
At UAL’s careers festival, Artsmart, students built a
prototype for a ‘Futures Glossary’ - a website that
provided brief introductions to digital concepts, with
definitions, examples of projects and links to further
reading.
Group: Collaborating.
Concept: Crowdsourced Tech Workshops.
Description
A bottom up approach to short courses and workshops
helping students to develop specific skills. Students
create a profile and offer lessons in digital skills. When
a minimum of 10 students sign up and pledge a
small amount of money the lesson goes ahead, with
learners bringing along active projects. The platform
categorises skills into advanced and basic, creating
a portfolio of different workshops available. It also
maximises participation of the student body through
the crowdfunded sign up.

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What we think
By harnessing a pool of knowledge that exists and
is available across UAL this concept could help ease
pressure on specialist technicians. Being student-
led, UAL does not profit from these workshops but
the positive is that it helps students sponsor their
own projects. It could also help UAL identify talented
students who might become short course tutors,
technicians or associate lecturers.
With appetite from students willing to share skills,
this concept could be tested without the need for a
dedicated platform, if the reward (monetary or in kind)
for the teacher was subsidised by UAL at first. Building
crowdfunding features into a platform where money
was exchanged between students could prove difficult.
However, exploring other UAL specific currencies like
printing or art shop credits could be an interesting
alternative.
Group: Prototyping
Concept: Mobile Makerspace
Description
A mobile makerspace on wheels, that could travel
between UAL colleges. Digital making and prototyping
requires a physical interaction with materials to enable
the actual making of things. This concept would enable
students to access and experiment with materials,
such as Arduino and 3-D printing they might not
otherwise have immediate access to. There could be
specific days where the mobile units travel to specific
departments, or research hubs, to allow different
disciplines to interact with the materials.
What we think
The mobile unit would be a great response to a familiar
finding of this project - that there is not enough open
workshop space at UAL for all students. This solution
would help address that problem in all colleges.
A number of companies such as Little Bits and Sam
Labs offer easy to use electronics kits, that enable
people to prototype connected devices. These could
provide an opportunity to test the concept - before
adding wheels and bigger bits of kit such as 3-D
printers.

22
Group: Connecting
Concept: UAL Spark (formerly UAL Tinder)
Description
UAL Spark is skill-swapping app for students based on
the dating app Tinder. UAL Spark centered on students
connecting with other students, whether from UAL or
from other universities and finding matches based on
skills and interests. It’s built on a simple matchmaking
and dating app principle. You sign-up, create a profile,
say who you want to collaborate with and start swiping.
What we think
One of a number of concepts from the co-design
and journey mapping workshops that focussed on
skill-sharing and dating models. Similar concepts
suggested included ideas for matchmaking tools for
peer-to-peer skill swapping and matching students to
graduate mentors.
At Artsmart we developed a prototype of UAL Spark,
which allowed students to sign-up, create a very simple
profile and find matches. The prototype was a great
way for us to test the concept and gather feedback and
ideas. Created in a matter of days, the site still featured
a profile picture. Feedback we got - and hoped for -
was that first impressions should be of student work,
not a picture of them.
Co-design workshops
Concepts from the co-design
workshops
Section breakdown
• Resources
• Collaborating
• Prototyping
• Connecting
• Learning

23
Group: Learning
Concept: What’s my next step?
Description
An app and game involving a series of open questions
- steps - to facilitate, prioritize and focus learning. A
way of gamifying a student journey it could take the
form of an app or activity between students meeting in
groups.
What we think
One of a number of concepts developed to help
students navigate the overwhelming amount of
information available to them regarding tech skills. It
responds to the challenge set by students of ‘what do I
need to know, and for what?’

24
Speakers
The importance of industry
contributers
on Breakdown
At every UAL Futures event we invite industry
professionals and staff to present their practice. We feel
this is essential in galvanising the community, inspiring
students and confirming how important digital skills are
to contemporary creative education.
Due to the constant rate of change in new
technologies we felt it vital to keep a strong link with
industry throughout this project to make sure we were
on the right path.
For students it’s an incredibly valuable link to industry
that offers opportunities for future employment.
We hope these relationships will continue to grow and
support the UAL Futures community.
Matt Cooper-Wright - IDEO
“The design process at IDEO”
Erik Rodin - Hyper Island
“Benefits of collaborative design”
Michael Johnson - Technology Will Save Us /
Hirsch and Mann
Luca Damiani & Kat Braybrooke - Tate Digital
“Remixing the web - creative hacking at the Tate”
If you’re interested in speaking at
future events please contact Luke at
l.whitehead@arts.ac.uk

25
Fred Deakin - Professor of Interactive Digital
Arts at UAL “The necessity of collaborative design
processes”
Tommy Howard & Marcus Belcher - Holition
“The Future of Retail - augmented reality”
Tom Box - BlueZoon
“Producing a virtual reality music video”
Lynne Murray - Digital Anthropology Lab,
London College of Fashion
“The Future of Retail - Digital practice at
London College of Fashion”
Kate Pincott - UX designer, LCC Alumni
“How technology is shaping the role of the
designer”
Chris Follows - CCW Chelsea Jam
“Digital practice at University of the Arts
London”

26
Findings, themes, opportunities
Responding to the challenge together, students, staff,
alumni and creative professionals have offered a wide
range of innovative concepts. In our key findings we
have identified themes and areas of opportunity for
UAL to develop solutions that support digital creativity.
1. Defining digital skills.
Defining the terminology associated with digital skills
and creating a shared glossary of digital terms would
help students better understand technical language
and be a gateway to understanding.
Each of the workshops described in this report
included an activity that asked participants to think of
digital skills that are needed in their discipline, and skills
that they would like to learn.
Participants interpretations of digital skills varied
depending on experiences and discipline. Students
were more likely to list softwares such as Adobe or use
the broad term ‘coding’ without necessarily being able
to define it. Professionals were more likely to talk about
specific tools and those with technical backgrounds
were able to identify specific coding languages.
The diagram (next page) shows how we have begun to
cluster data on digital skills. We have not attempted to
analyse this data in detail.
The aim was to frame participants understanding
and get a consensus on what we mean by digital at
the beginning of workshops. The data will be looked
at by academics in future workshops to explore
how we approach developing resources and define
fundamental topics, concepts and themes.
2. Demystifying digital concepts.
Faced with the possibilities of digital technology,
students’ first challenge is simply knowing what they
need to know. There is too much to learn. And a
perceived pressure on students to know it all - which
is sometimes coupled with a false assumption that as
millennials, they know it all intrinsically.
Many students expressed an awareness of broad digital
trends and a desire to learn and apply skills like coding,
but did not know where to begin or how they related
to their discipline. Others lack awareness of what’s
possible and what technology is out there.
We’d like to see UAL develop content and resources
that define and demystify fundamental digital
concepts for students - essential introductions that can
unlock the immense potential of the digital world and
help contextualise digital skills and technology around
student’s individual interests.
During the co-design workshops a number of groups
focused on content that can act as a gateway to
understanding the applications and possibilities
of technology, demystifying the skills, tools and
approaches used within a digital creative context.
Key findings
Section breakdown
1. Defining digital skills
2. Demystifying digital concepts
3. Networked knowledge
4. Shaped with students
a. Peer-to-peer networks and crowdsourced
knowledge
b. Teachers and mentors
c. Futures champions
d. Building digital products
5. Supported by the creative community
6. Connecting and showcasing digital at UAL
7. Embedding UAL Futures around student
journeys
8. Inspirational environments to meet and make
9. Platforms for knowledge exchange
10. Cross-disciplinary collaboration

27
DIAGRAMS: These diagrams were created
collaboratively using Mural.ly. They map
the skills collected in co-design workshops
1 and 2 into different discipline areas.
UX Design
HTML / CSS
Web Design
User
research
Interface
Design
Wireframing
App Design
Websites
Front - end
web
development
Multivariate
Testing
Digital
research
methods
Digital Marketing
SEO
Google
Apps
Ruby
Angular js.
Javascript
Live coding
Wireframing
Info
architecture
Blockchain
Data analytics
Open data
Open Source
Digital
visualisation
Digital
Publishing
Blogging
Google
Analytics

28
Broadly these fell into two categories of content
or experiences that achieve learning outcomes at
different levels.
Online introductions to digital concepts - brief
definitions of concepts that outline the meaning of
terms, history, context and application in creative
practice and industry settings, and signposts to further
resources.
Online/offline workshop/exercises to unpack
digital concepts - short classes which explore
concepts further, with practical exercises and a clearly
defined learning outcomes.
3. Networked knowledge.
Access to knowledge, and specifically access to people
with specialist digital and tech skills was a discussion
point throughout the project - people who can help
explain new concepts, cement learning, or help
students through difficult points on a learning curve.
Students have highlighted that feedback from
technicians is key to the development of projects and
expressed a need for more skilled technicians. With
an increasing number of students recognising the
need to explore new technologies in their practice,
there are only so many specialist technicians, who are
understandably concentrated in digitally focussed
courses and departments.
We would like to explore ways alumni and industry
mentors can fill this gap by creating a network and
database of alumni with digital skills and tech expertise.
Recent graduates in particular, who are using the latest
tools, and have recently learned new skills could be
an invaluable and empathetic source of support for
students.
Key findings
Section breakdown
knowledge
journeys

29
A global Skype relay
A number of deas in our co-design workshops
focussed on mentoring - often presented as ‘mini-
mentoring’ - appreciating the fact that experts are
often time-poor, but that students often need task
specific support.
As part of UAL’s annual Artsmart careers festival in July
we tested a concept for ‘mini-mentoring’ with a Global
Skype Relay - when alumni and professionals from
UAL’s global network gave 30 minutes of their time to
mentor students online. Other mentoring concepts
we’ve heard include matchmaking mentor apps, or
coffee shop mentoring.
4. Shaped with students.
The solutions we develop in response to this challenge
need to be built with students and graduates. There are
a number of ways we would like to do this (and related
concepts from the co-design stage).
knowledge.
We want to develop systems/networks/platforms
that encourage peer-to-peer collaboration, skills-
sharing and knowledge exchange and which reward
participation.
b. Teachers and mentors.
We want to deliver classes and workshops for students
and graduates, by utilizing the expertise of those
individual students and collective courses that are
pioneering in their use of tech. Giving opportunities to
the many graduates who have expressed an interest in
teaching.

30
c. Futures champions.
We want to recruit UAL Futures champions to
become ambassadors, and to help shape the project
and communicate with fellow students. Providing
incentives, such as training, mentoring, opportunities
to attend events, create connections and learn new
skills.
d. Building digital products.
Any digital products we develop, such as an online
platform for UAL Futures, should involve students in the
process - with students and graduates learning about
technology whilst making - in a transparent way, with
the process documented and the learnings shared.
5. Supported by the creative community.
A feature of the project has been the valued input and
support from the creative and tech communities many
of whom are facing the same challenges. Perspectives
from right across the creative ecosystem are crucial
to help shape the way we support digital skills and
creativity at UAL. Partnerships are vital to the success
of the project and concepts that we develop.
6. Connecting and showcasing digital at UAL.
There is a lot of great digital activity at UAL, at a
college, course and individual level, but it’s not
connected. Bringing digital together and highlighting
projects and individuals will help elevate this important
area of activity.
UAL Futures could act as a space to showcase projects
and initiatives from around UAL. This could act as a
destination for recruiters and companies interested in
working with students.
Key findings
Section breakdown
knowledge
journeys
From a learning perspective it could highlight learning
opportunities that students say they are unaware of or
unable to find at different colleges.
7. Embedding UAL Futures around student journeys.
For learning programmes and resources we develop
to be a success, it will be crucial that Futures activities
are visible and accessible to students, woven around
key moments in their creative journeys at UAL and
professional life once they graduate.
The journey mapping workshops have identified
moments and recurring pain points where Futures
activities have the opportunity to impact.
We need to work with students and courses to look in
detail at when and how we can have most impact.
When do students need inspiration, when do they
need workshops, when could they use a mentor or
collaborator? And how do we support them once they
graduate?

31
8. Inspirational environments to meet and make.
Solutions focussed around physical makerspaces were
a theme that developed throughout the process - in
student workshops and in a number of co-design
concepts.
Participants consistently mentioned a desire for
an open, physical environment to meet, make and
collaborate.
Ideas focussed on ‘messy making’ spaces, open
to all, where students and staff could explore new
technology, free from the pressures of their courses.
Others imagined a structured space that could include
events and encourage exchange with external partners
- a kind of Google Campus for UAL.
What they had in common was that they responded
to number of challenges including lack of making
spaces, access to workshops, collaboration, knowledge
exchange.
9. Platforms for knowledge exchange.
An online platform can connect many of the solutions
offered and act as portal for users to access and
explore opportunities.
Participants suggested ideas and concepts for digital
platforms that responded to a single challenge or
proposed features that combined a number of themes.
These included ideas for platforms to improve access
and signpost to resources, facilitate connections and
collaboration, crowdsource knowledge and showcase
inspiring projects.
With other concepts, a website or app was proposed
as a way to compliment offline activities such as
mentoring, events, learning activities such as classes
and workshops.
Students felt current online options at UAL were
restrictive or difficult to navigate. Creating a new
platform would be a challenge. Ideally we would
approach it by having students build it.
10. Cross-disciplinary collaboration.
Students consistently mentioned a desire for more
collaboration across courses and colleges at UAL.
Even those students who had worked on collaborative
projects and highlighted their enjoyment, still
expressed a desire for opportunities to work further
from their comfort zone with students from other
disciplines.
Students liked the idea of tools to help foster
collaboration, connections and learning. And the co-
design stage concepts included matchmaking tools, to
enabler peer-to-peer skills-swapping and collaboration,
and matching students to graduate mentors.
The co-design stage also highlighted a theme for
extra-curricular collaboration, with suggestions for
volunteering opportunities and placements in industry
working on interdisciplinary projects. And even a free
period in the year for everyone at UAL to work on
collaborative side-projects.
UAL currently doesn’t have mechanisms to facilitate
collaboration. And we’d like to explore innovations that
attend this need.
To mirror the changing nature of work in the creative
industries UAL needs to provide opportunities for
students to work on truly inter-disciplinary projects -
and recognise their importance in developing digital
skills and enhancing graduates’ employability.
Our research into applications of technology in creative
practice, show that as digital creative projects become
more sophisticated, requiring many collaborators
with different and varied skill-sets, the lines between
creative disciplines become increasingly blurred.
Delivering content that dissects digital projects and
examines the people, skills, tools and connections
that made them, will help graduates determine where
their skills might slot into interdisciplinary teams. It
could also help students understand who they need
to collaborate with and give them the confidence to
reach out.

32
Conclusion
Finally, we have identified four themes that represent
areas of actionable opportunity for UAL.
A digital foundation for UAL
We would like to see UAL develop content and
resources that define and demystify fundamental
digital concepts for students - essential introductions
that can unlock the immense potential of the digital
world and help contextualise digital skills and
technology around student’s individual interests and
ideas.
A mix of online content and practical workshops that
can act as a gateway to understanding the applications
and possibilities of technology - demystifying the skills,
tools and approaches used within a digital creative
context.
A digital foundation that equips students with the tools
to think, imagine, experiment, prototype independently,
but also to learn and share collectively.
A digital foundation accessible outside the
curriculum, but which also fits with student journeys,
complimenting and enhancing work on their courses.
By designing learning experiences that provide
opportunities to explore a variety of skills and
technology, we can give student’s the context and
confidence to decide their future direction in digital
(even if they choose to stay analogue).
A digital foundation for all
By developing resources and tools as a UAL wide
initiative, bringing together expertise from each
college, we can create consistent content that can be
customized and scaled for different audiences.
Short courses in digital creativity, or professional
training for industry can generate income which
goes back into resources for students - creating a
sustainable model. Adapting resources for U16’s or
international audiences, can help widen UAL’s sphere of
influence and attract new students to the University.
A foundation delivered with the UAL community
Within the UAL community there are pockets of
students, staff and graduates doing incredible things
in the digital space. By drawing on this expertise we
can inspire others. Many students and graduates have
expressed interest in sharing their knowledge - with
support these pioneers can become educators.
Building a community and a culture
We would like to see UAL develop a clear strategy for
building a community celebrating and supporting
digital creativity. Using the disciplines of design to build
an open, creative, organic culture, with systems that
reward participation and collaboration. A community
that highlights interesting projects and allows new
forms of digital creativity to percolate and rise
providing inspiration for others.
Knowledge as currency
A community in which knowledge is the intrinsic
social currency, and where accomplishments in
learning new skills and sharing existing knowledge
are equally valued and rewarded. We’d like to see UAL
explore ways to curate, crowdsource and connect
knowledge. And create systems which encourage and
facilitate knowledge exchange with UAL (Peer to peer,
student-to-student, staff to student, cross colleges
and disciplines) and outside UAL (Knowledge transfer -
student to industry, staff to industry, across disciplines
and industries).
Joining students on their journey
We would like to work in collaboration with courses
as well as UAL departments such as Careers and
Employability and the Teaching and Learning Exchange
to find the best solutions at key touch points in a
student’s’ journey. This will help us explore how
students might progress within the community, toward
a digital foundation. We must work with employers
to determine their needs and see how learning and
progression might be recognized by the creative
community, and lead to employability.
What’s next?
This research represents a proposed way forward for
UAL Futures’ work. We hope the findings will inform
UAL’s response to the challenges we have highlighted
and encourage the creative community to work in
partnership with us to develop solutions beyond the
project’s funding term ending in July 2016.
Here are some ways we’ve made a start…
Prototyping and testing.
In July UAL Futures took over The Digital Space at
London College of Communication for UAL’s annual
careers festival, Artsmart.
In just a few days a team of students transformed the
space with interactive installations, activities and talks,
including prototypes based on concepts from the co-
design stage of the project.

33
Industry and friends
Andres Colmenares
Animade
Blue Zoo
Caper
Charlotte Moore
Deric Shen
Emily Dixon
Fuse
General Assembly
Heather Taylor Portmann
Hera Winata
Hirsch and Mann
Holition
Huge
Hyper Island
IDEO
James Bowskill
Joe Coppard
Kano
Kate Pincott
Louie Zeegen
Made by Many
Metail
Moving Brands
Nice and Serious
Onformative
Pebble {code}
Robert Frith
Ryo Terui
Sarah T Gold
Tate
Technology Will Save Us
The Dots
The Pink Pony
The Store WPP
Umajin
Vastari
Virginia Cruz
Acknowledgements
Thank you to everyone who has supported UAL Futures
so far, none of this could have been possible without
your support:
Project Lead
Luke Whitehead
Researchers
Joana Casaca Lemos
Miriam Ribul
Design
Georgina Bourke
Project Support
Annick Collins
Community
Anna Kolosova
Jordana Globerman
Kimberly Cunnigham
ArtSmart Team
Akshitha Victor
Annelise Keestra
Carolina Scarpetta
Ian Hutchinson
Kenneth Lim
Nathalie Zeitoun
Mamako Yamazaki
Vania Kristiani
Film
Florence Creffield
Kat Martin
Photography
Ilona Wolff
Cesare De Giglio
Students that came along were able to test concepts
includnig collaboration app, UAL Spark, a ‘Futures
Glossary’ website introducing digital concepts, and a
Global Skype Relay that matched students with alumni
from Barcelona, Berlin, Tokyo Singapore and Iceland. .
We’re excited to think what students could build given
time, support and in partnership with industry.
Defining Knowledge
We have begun to work with academics to define the
fundamental knowledge areas and digital concepts
that we’d like to develop into learning resources.
Futures Talks and Newsletter
The findings will inform our UAL Futures Talks events
series and weekly newsletter. So subscribe now ; )
Futures.

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