Virtual Upper Peninsula
2000-2002 Prototype

Introduction by:

Anand Ambardar
Corinne Jivery
Elizabeth Hess 
Humanities 3120, Michigan Technological University, Fall 2000

The Virtual Upper Peninsula (V.U.P.) is a collaborative, inter-institutional project designed to document and share materials that explore the history, culture, architecture, and environment of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Participants and co-designers from around the U.P. research local materials and contexts, and use these to develop sustainable classroom and community activities. 

Students participating in a Scientific and Technical Communication class at Michigan Technological University, in Houghton, created the first prototype. We had the opportunity to work with community and university collaborators to incorporate a range of technical communication contexts: document-design prototyping, testing, and editing; participatory and collaborative approaches to design and documentation; project management; production considerations, and the possibilities and constraints of using communication and presentation technologies in our work. 

The interactive nature of our development led to improvements in both design and materials. For instance, the Brockway Diaries group had the opportunity to work with a sixth grade class from Gladstone, Michigan to help develop a user-interface. The Usability group gained feedback on the prototype by interactively presenting the VUP at local Hancock High School. Collaboration also came from Michigan Tech's English Teaching Methods class, who worked with the Interface group in drafting group papers. 

Topics for the VUP project include many diverse aspects of the area, from cartography to the Quincy smelting works to the cultural context of the beloved pasty. Through our research, design and testing we hope to provide an alternative and critical examination of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. 

Iteration 3.0

Thank you to our project consultants: