Journal Entry 5

      This week I have been working to get a good prototype of my project into PowerPoint. In chapter 10 of Designing Interactions, Moggridge (2007) states, “prototype early and often, making each interactive step a little more realistic” (p. 643). I feel that if I can get my design and layout the way I would like for it to look, then once I get into Captivate I can focus on the interactivity. One of my classmates made the point that by having your design and graphics complete before working in Captivate, it will be easier to manipulate buttons and other interactivity features. It will also save time because the graphics will be completed.

       Other items I have worked on this week are creating my video for the shelf marker song and taking pictures of my media canter for the “Where’s Walker” tour. As I was filming my video, a student happened to be in the media center watching me. She thought it was neat that I was singing a song to teach shelf marker skills. I actually had 2 songs that I was working with and she heard both of them. She approached me and asked me whom I was making the video for and what age group would be watching it. I was floored that a child could think ahead about audience. This is one of the very important things we discuss in Studio as part of the design process and I couldn’t believe I had a child asking me that question. I thought to myself what a smart child! Moggridge (2007) states, “his first principle in design is to think first about the people part of the design: Who are the users? What do they want from the experience? What will give them satisfaction and enjoyment? (p. 665). With that child asking me that question, I knew which song I had to use because the other one just did not fit my age group. I want my students to understand how to effectively and appropriately use the media center at my school. I want my project to look kid friendly and have the basic information needed for the students to be successful when they come to the media center.

       My goals this week are to continue working on my prototype in PowerPoint, continuing sketching some graphics for my site, and use Photoshop to insert Walker (an eagle) into my pictures for the media center. I would love to be able to get everything into my PowerPoint prototype, so that I can begin working with the interactivity in Captivate soon. I really like the way things are looking for my project, and I continue to be excited to work on it each week.

                                   

References

Moggridge, B. (2007). Designing interactions. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Journal Entry 4

       I really enjoyed the group desk crit. It was helpful getting feedback form multiple people at once. I also liked seeing what other people in the class had come up with so far for their projects this semester. We really have some creative people in our cohort. Some of the suggestions given to me were to either create an icon; an eagle perhaps, for students to click on to enter each module or simply add text boxes. Dr. Kopcha suggested actually cutting and pasting these things onto my original drawing to see how much real estate these items take up. In feedback that he gave me this week he also suggested getting my drawing into PowerPoint to create another prototype. I have met my goal for the last journal of creating my drawing and getting it into Photoshop, so I think creating the prototype is going to be my next goal. I am really enjoying getting to work on this project. It is always easier to get things done when you enjoy what you are doing.

        Last week in class we talked more about giving desk crits and the purpose they serve for us as designers. This made me think back to Gibbons article “Contexts of Instructional Design”. His article discussed finding a purpose for creating projects and thinking about the foundations of which the project is created for. Gibbons (2011) states, “The importance of design contexts begins with the assumption that what designers think they are designing guides their choice of the design architecture and of the building blocks they use in their designs” (p. 11). Not only am I thinking of the building blocks for my project, but others are helping me get to a final product that is beneficial to the user through the desk crits and design conversations that I have in class. As I continue to receive feedback and develop my project I need to remember that “A designer’s job does not involve choosing one design problem to the exclusion of the others as much as it involves climbing upward using the continuum of problems to reach the level of problem that leads to the most powerful and innovative design solutions for a given context and purpose” (Gibbons, 2011, p. 10). My design context can involve more than one trajectory and I can move up the ladder through time, however it may not always be necessary. One thing throughout the process is to remember that things can change and change is not always a bad thing.

                       

References

Gibbons, A. S. (2011). Contexts of instructional design. The Journal of Applied Instructional Design, 1(1).