Tutorial Week 6

Paper Prototype

Finalise requirements of the solution in terms of task and workflow.
Prepare information structure to show how your users accomplish heir intended goal.
Prepare wireframes for your solution.
Most importantly: please view all the required viewing to understand the process of creating a paper prototype and testing it.

I had never specifically produced wire frames before, not the way that the lecturer had shown us. It was a challenge for me to complete this task because of this reason and I was a little unclear on what we were to do. I researched the paper proto-typing videos that were linked in Moodle and watched several videos on the subject to produce the work that was required. Paper prototyping is a great tool for usability checking and I will ensure that I complete this task as early as possible in the future. I can see how this would be useful to use in my future as a graphic designer as it will allow for me to determine whether the usability is on point or needs to be tweaked/overhauled.

My initial idea for the solution was broad and unfocussed, after a discussion with the lecturer I was determined to narrow the scope and finalise the requirements. I had to discover the core issue I was trying to solve and not worry so much about the peripherals. I revisited my research and the lecture notes from the previous weeks to help guide my solution to be more in line with them. I then revisited the requirements I had set out and made them more specific. This allowed the solution to be more absolute and have an identity. The ability to narrow down into the details and determine what to keep and what not to will be vital in the future for both assignments and work. This will allow for a more well thought out product and therefore solution to the issues presented.

Tutorial Week 4

Refinement

Refine your selected idea. Review how it adresses the identified problem of your target users. Investigate if your target users find a need for the proposed idea. Based on your data list requirements of your proposed solution prepare a short write up listing: methods and methodology you used to investigate, how your idea conformed to users needs, requirements of the proposed solution (list of tasks that help users achieve their goal). List a few scenarios.

Idea

My idea is to have a chat room that connects UC students with each other as well as lecturers creating a support network that is informal and fun.

Identified Problems

Issues were identified through the following investigation methods:

• Research (Quantitative Data) - Data from the UES Consortium 2014 showed that satisfaction of student engagement at universities was only at 61% the lowest rated of the issues polled, and student support was second lowest with a satisfaction rating of 73%. This was my first point of solid research data which indicated that there was underlying issues surrounding these points. This data directed the questions I asked in both the interviews and the Questionnaire. 
• Interviews (Qualitative Data) - The interviews strongly supported the research gathered from the UES Consortium. The most common issues raised were no/little support network and lack of engagement, others raised were time management, finding people for group work, financial disadvantage and having no friends in class. These issues led to feelings of fear, being overwhelmed, being isolated, anxiety, feeling inadequate and a disassociation from the university. This data allowed me to generate a list of issues of which to address. 
• Questionnaire (Quantitative Data) - Finally a questionnaire allowed me to gather some numbers surrounding the issue and generate some figure values around what to address. 

Addressing The Issues

The idea addresses the identified problem of students feeling disassociated from the university and isolated from their peers. It conforms to the needs of the users as it will allow for them to be connected with each other generating feelings of belonging and feeling like they are a part of the university community.

Requirements

Outside of the requirements outlined in the brief, the requirements I identified were:

• Cultivate a support network 
• Help students find groups for group work/study 
• Assist with time management 
• Integrate students with the university and student community 
• Engage students 

Reflection

Being able to research the target audience was hard, the students who were dropping out were not really interested in being interviewed. This made identifying the issues as a primary source very difficult and seemed like an overwhelming task. I was trying to figure out how to interact with students in order to gather the data that I needed. Reflecting on the lecture and tutorial notes, additionally being encouraged that even 5 people would be ok (that I didn't need a large data group) I was finally able engage students in the online space via email questionnaire. The ability to engage the target user group is extremely important in the Graphic Design industry. To be able to create a user centric design having a network of participants who are willing to give genuine feedback is very important. Learning to engage with the audience will be a skill that I will need to develop further if I want to get anywhere in this industry.