Overview
I-See-U is an informational Digital Media Art and Design Blueprint, authored by professor Bill Fischer, that supports and facilitates design citizenship through research and practice. It is an acronym that means: Inclusive, Socio-Emotional, Entertaining, & Universal
The term "blueprint" is used to express the functional intent of the information that lies within this publication. It borrows the term from the field of engineering, where a blueprint is a document that aims to predict functional and aesthetic outcomes. In the case of I-See-U, media user experiences are predicted with design prototypes and specifications that are derived from:
Review and application of secondary sources in the fields involving social, cognitive and design research.
Hypothetical-deductive reasoning based on fundamental social, cognitive, and biological principles.
Qualitative, observational field, and controlled user-testing, of produced media.
The blueprint is free for use under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (external link). Bill and his collective team can provide a variety of consulting, training, and design services. Find out more about that on the Services page. (contact Bill_Fischer@i-see-u.info)
How It Works
Artists, designers, and instructors can, for free, tap into the I-See-U principles, guides, templates, lessons, and case studies to support their commitment to art and design citizenship. There are four pillars upon which the blueprint is built and they are outlined below.
Inclusivity
Belonging and including are two sides of the same coin. We can flip the disenfranchisement of many diverse populations on its head with art and design that presents a model of the kind of world we want to live in.
Socio-Emotional engagement
We can create more effective content if it speaks directly to how our brains process our human experience. This includes appealing to logic, transferring knowledge, inviting belonging, and driving emotions.
Entertainment-based Production
Applying entertainment-based strategies will ensure attentiveness and compel audiences and users to lean-in to the content. We must compete with pop-culture, by building expectations, maintaining anticipation, and meeting our audiences where they live.
Universal Design
Universal design goes beyond the technical requirements for the accommodation of persons with disabilities and towards their full participation in the ongoing social fabric of the world in which we all live. Universal design allows people of all abilities to experience media together, at the same time, in the same place, on the same channel.
About The EPIC Project
Some of the field research that the I-See-U design guide is based upon has been executed through The EPIC Project at KCAD. This is a collective of faculty, students, schools, companies, and non-profit organizations that collaborate to produce free, innovative media that helps teachers create engaging classrooms and community advocates move populations beyond reaction, to action. We have collaborated with experts in universal design, neurodiversity, education, entertainment media, and inclusion to explore, develop and test digital and physical products. That action has included maximizing information retention, increasing empathy towards disenfranchised populations, taking steps to seek to improve one's mental health, and improving attentiveness through joyful learning. The Epic projects are research-driven and executed by collaborative teams of experts and end-users. Over 30 projects were tested by over 450 k-12 students in classroom environments. 300,000+ students from all over the world have engaged with EPIC projects as part of their learning experience. The app, website, animation, VR, and AR media were created in collaboration with 73 K-12 teachers and subject experts, 12 KCAD faculty, and 380 college art and design students, Learn more at The Epic Project website (external link).