Summer 2086

The process of picking out a project to work on was an interesting start to this course. I could have easily picked a UI/UX project but I decided that in this course, I would try something new. I work as a UX Designer at my job and am constantly working on UX related tasks such as designing, researching, planning, and learning the basics of frontend development. Even now as I take this course, I am learning React.js so that I can help the frontend developers with the project we are all currently working on. For that reason, I have decided to work on a project in this course that is not User Experience related but is still very much a digital project. I decided to work on creating and releasing a 4 track electronic music EP on all streaming and music store platforms. This project is intended to show how a musician without exposure can create a digital platform and create exposure as well as a fanbase to stream and sell their music as well as create a historical record of their work through their online platform. My project shall be called “Restless – Summer 2086” EP. It will be a 4 track electronic music EP composed of music with a futuristic feel.

Creating the proposal for this was easy as it is something I am extremely passionate about. I have been a musician for most of my life and now that I make music as a hobby and have a library of music created over the years, I figured that there is no better time than now to create this project and allow myself the opportunity to put my work out there in a way I had never done before. The proposal consisted of major progress milestones:

• Finishing the Music (4 tracks)
• Mixing and Mastering
• Creating a LLC at the bank for my music production company/independent label
• Choosing an online distributor
• Finish setting up all social media links
• Content creation for promotion (video clips, graphics, etc.)
• Setting a release date
• Scheduling a promotional campaign
• Pre-release content finished and scheduled

Each milestone is a huge step forward in the creation of this project. Using a structured method and being able to identify these milestones created a clear path to complete this project. It also has allowed for more detail and ideas to come to me as I create this project as well as when creating the milestones. Without having a plan of action like this, creating complex or highly detailed projects can be much more difficult and create more issues as you try to progress without a game plan in place.

Creating a project definition allowed me to realistically see how this project can be done, set the milestones and asses the scope of the project and see how possible it is to make this project come to life.

Measurable success criteria

Since major progress milestones are in order of priority, every milestone completed is a measure of success and progress.

Assumptions and constraints

Some constraints and assumptions to be aware of are the fact that the release date is always tied to the distributors release schedule. This may affect if the actual release date will happen during this course or after, especially if the next 5 weeks will be for getting everything ready for release.

Another factor to consider is whether the music as is will be approved for release or if there will be any technical challenges to the music on any of the music streaming/purchasing platforms.

What do you know as fact before you start

What can be considered fact is that this will be an EP of 4 tracks. This will be an electronic music EP spanning different genres. This music will be released on all major platforms and will be funded by not only my time and effort but financially as well.

Project dependencies

This project depends on my ability to create a 4 track EP, a paid marketing campaign, the distribution channels that will get the music to all online stores and streaming platforms, and the ability to grow a following with the music released.

The last part of the project definition helped me to understand the risks involved and if they were too great to make this project happen, or if the risks included were small enough to be able to move forward. Creating a plan may be a tedious precursor to a project, but without it the project would have no definition and would be much harder to manage.