Project documentation skeleton

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Reference to which sections project documentation should have.

1. Title & Overview

  • Project name (and subtitle if needed)
  • A one-sentence “elevator pitch” of what it is
  • A short paragraph describing the concept, medium, and intended experience

2. Context & Inspiration

  • Background (course name, semester, collaborators)
  • The problem, question, or curiosity driving the project
  • Influences (artists, designers, technical works, cultural references)

3. Goals & Intended Outcomes

  • What you hoped to achieve (creative, technical, experiential)
  • Success criteria / what “finished” looks like for you

4. Process & Development

  • Timeline of work (including major milestones)
  • Sketches, storyboards, prototypes, and iterations
  • Decisions and changes made along the way, and why
  • Challenges and how you solved or worked around them

5. Technical Breakdown

  • Tools, frameworks, languages, and hardware used
  • Architecture diagram or workflow diagram if applicable
  • Installation/setup instructions (if someone else wants to run it)
  • Code repository link (GitHub, GitLab, etc.)

6. Final Implementation

  • Detailed description of the finished piece (features, interactions, visuals, sounds, etc.)
  • High-quality photos, video documentation, and screen captures
  • How it works from a user’s perspective

7. Reflection

  • What worked well
  • What you would do differently next time
  • What you learned (technical, creative, collaborative)

8. Credits & Acknowledgments

  • Collaborators, instructors, mentors, and anyone else who contributed
  • External code, libraries, datasets, or assets credited appropriately

9. Resources & Links (optional)

  • Press or blog posts about the work
  • Related research or references for further reading
  • Downloadable files or project assets