Dispatch #10

It’s the end of the semester! Graduation happened, but I still have more to share about this class (2 more dispatches, to be exact).

Something I learned (or rather, reinforced) about myself during this process is that I don’t enjoy doing things when I “have” to do them. I’d much rather go with the flow, do things when I feel like it, and when I remove the pressure, things DO tend to happen, but on my own timeline.

The final assignment asked students to propose a digital activation for Index Space: a a curated set of existing resources, or something new, or anything combining the class themes (audience, taste, distribution) into something appropriate for our “client.”

Because these students come from liberal arts background with less design experience, sometimes presenting visual work can be a challenge. As an experiment, I introduced them to Figma Make, Figma’s new AI platform that allows you to create a website through text. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but figured they’d try it and dismiss it since many of them prefer avoiding AI (and other students boo at commencement speakers who mention it!).
Instead, the class was abuzz with the sound of typing and clicking. Students were enthralled in their screens, smiling as they visualized their ideas. When I shared a doc for students to post their URLs of what they did in class, everyone was excitedly oohing and complimenting each other’s sketches.

For the activity (not the final project), I gave them a demo where I stripped the default style of the sketch, and otherwise let them run wild. What surprised me was how similar their experiments felt to when I teach students to code “the real way” for the first time. While the tools are different, the forms reflected the immediate pleasure of having your ideas come to life inside the web browser, out of their imagination and into the public in a matter of minutes. They made fun things like: a tarot card reader, a compatibility generator, a fully interactive remix of a classic arcade game, and a few meditative visual sketches. Some students also used the time to sketch out proposals for their final project.

One student told me that even though she hates AI, this was her favorite class so far. She liked working back and forth to get it closer to her intention. Two others said it made them want to “actually” learn to code and wanted to work backwards to study the code Figma generated.

I thought that was interesting. Since AI tools often expedite processes, educators worry about what students aren’t learning, but here, because the students were motivated and having fun, it introduced them to what’s possible more quickly, and inspired curiosity to go deeper.

Maybe there’s something to be said about doing things on your own time for your own joy, and then allowing discipline and knowledge to grow organically from there.