Hello again,
For week four we had a meeting with our academic mentor Sean. At this point we had already got a good outline of the mid-term presentation which allowed us to go through it with Sean making sure it was efficiently informative of our research. Specifically, we went through our goals for the project along with our prioritization and stakeholders. The meeting acted as a reassurance for us that we were on the correct path. With the conclusion of the meeting we decided that the main stakeholder as the target for the project would be students, tailored for the JRA rather than the council.
Furthermore, the seminar gave us some time to go through relative literature about different digital civics projects. For example, one of the inspirations that we had from said literature was the VoxBox, a playfully nostalgic booth that provided the user with a reward in the form of a simple ball. With the addition of an old phone set with a clunky aesthetic it stood out in public and tapped into the public’s curiosity. This led us to the importance of grabbing the user’s attention before they even become a user of the prototype, furthermore this example showed that there is a lot of freedom available for the design of the prototype that could make it eye-catching and intriguing.
Hello team, thanks for the brief entry; and thanks for providing a bit of an insight into what kinds of examples you’ve found as inspirations. The VoxBox sounds like a relevant project. I appreciate that you’ve been discussing what features it provides users that might encourage engagement. However, in regard to the final reflective log, I would encourage you to look for further examples; or reflect in additional detail about further examples you found, especially the design components you have listed and shown us in your InVision document… What examples were you searching for, why did you select the examples you selected; equally for the aspects of systems you listed, what inspired you about those, and why did you include them in your example search. Perhaps you could also mention briefly what the role of an example search is, in reference to Jake Knapp (“The Sprint” — reference on blackboard). Ideally, through this, you’ll get an idea of existing systems, what the state of the art is, and what ‘ingredients’ might become part of your digital concept.
Hi team! This is a very simple blog that outlines your progress in Week 4. Looking toward the final assignment and the reflective log, I would encourage you to deepen your reflection further. More information about the discussions you had with your mentor during that session and how these contributed to your project would be good. I would also like to see more information relating to examples, both academic and non-academic, and how they have influenced your thinking about your prototype. We saw in your mid-term presentation that you have a lot of examples so including these in your reflective log would be good.