Week Eleven: Case study and finished coursework

This is the first week back from the Christmas holidays and it was taking me a while to get back into the correct mind-set for work, however by the end of the week I felt like I hadn’t even had a break! In the lab this week we went over what to include in a discussion, the tutor then looked at my presentation and blog for coursework two and three respectively. In the lecture we continued with the foundations of interaction design including good and bad design. Over the holidays I completed the case study and the majority of the write up for coursework two.

I learnt that good design should focus on simplicity and understanding of what users really want from a product. It involves creating user experiences that enhance and extends what a user can do. Design should focus on simplicity and understanding of what users really want from a product to develop usable products. Usability is defined as easy to learn, effective and providing an enjoyable experience. I also learnt that there are a number of questions to think about when designing a product, including: who are the intended users? What activities are they likely to perform? And what interaction method is taking place?

Over the Christmas holidays I had my first opportunity to conduct a case study. It was an interesting experiment and enjoyable to conduct, I felt like I was conducting my first proper piece of research. Next week I have to present my findings to the class and this will be my first presentation at university. In a way I’m looking forward to it and in another I can’t wait until it’s over!

These eleven weeks studying interaction design have consisted of many ups and downs. I have thoroughly enjoyed learning the foundations of this vast subject, carrying out my first proper research project, and designing an interactive TV. Before beginning the course I was apprehensive to say the least, I believed that this module wouldn't be much use to me in any future carer. After studying the module for eleven weeks, my view has completely changed. This module is one of my favourites and I have enjoyed completing the work that has been set and learning all I can about the facets of interaction design. I am also greatly looking forward to continuing studying this subject and it may become not only relevant to any future carer but the basis of any future job decisions.

Week Ten: New Course Leader

During this lecture we found out that we have new course leaders, at least three of them! This will result in a “shake up” of the current module and will hopefully benefit us as students. We spent the first half of the lecture going over certain rules that we should all abide by, I believe this talk was essential because lectures are currently too noisy. The second half of the lecture we went over the foundations of interaction and iterative design.

The first thing I learnt this week was that I have to give a presentation about my research project, this wasn’t welcome news but acceptable especially when taking into consideration the extension we were given. Important principles of interaction design include: the target audience (needs and requirements), usability, user experience, and evaluation of design faults. I also learnt that the iterative design is used to develop understanding, creating design ideas, and testing out ideas. The “faces” of iterative design are shown in the diagram below.

This week I have been thinking about the type of research method I should use because a questionnaire is no longer applicable to my current research. After speaking to my tutor during the laboratory session, I have decided to use an experiment within a case study. I will have a single participant that will carry out an emotion matching test (match faces showing emotions to the words of those emotion), an intervention (playing the FaceSay game) and will finally take the emotion matching tests again to see if there is any improvement in their results.

Week Nine: New Tutor

This week as I entered the classroom I was not greeted by the usual tutor but a new one called Marian. Our new tutor started the lesson by explaining to everyone that there is an extension to our research coursework which, to be honest, made my week! She then went on to explain what to put into the appendix and what to write in a conclusion. Outside of class I was part of a research project conducted by the lecturer's aid, it was interesting to see the process from the participant’s view-point.

The new tutor helped everyone individually with their research coursework, and in doing so, taught me what to put into my appendix (full results, completed questionnaire) and what to write in my conclusion (what reasonable conclusions can I draw from my work? And how can I support those claims?). I also learnt how to design and implement a good questionnaire; this may prove useful for my project.

I have been researching different pieces of interactive software designed to aid individuals with autism in a variety of ways. I have decided I would like to base my research project on this software, in particular FaceSay, an interactive video game by Symbionica. Therefore my new question will be: “Can FaceSay, an interactive video game, be used to aid an individual with a moderate ASD to develop their understanding of human emotion?”

FaceSay, designed to improve emotion recognition and social interaction in individuals with autism

Week Eight: New Research Topic

We began this week’s laboratory session by discussing a petition that had been created and signed by some of the students. I don't believe the details of petition should be spoken about online and are therefore not going to discuss that any further. We then went on to speak about the scores we had received for coursework one, and why certain people had received certain scores. I was given more feedback on this blog and lastly, we looked to the future and went through our research proposals and decided the best way to move forward with our research and designing the final document.

This week I learnt about designing a blog and that it is best to use a simple template rather than a cluttered, over-stimulating template. Luckily my blog has always had a simple template, although I do want to add a few extra features in the not too distant future. Whilst, I was doing well on one piece of coursework it turned out that my research question for coursework two is too broad; ambient intelligence is a large subject, possibly too large for my first research project. This is a shame because I had already conducted the questionnaire; however I can use everything I learnt to improve my new project.

For the next week I need to concentrate on deciding a new research topic. It will most likely still include some aspect of autistic spectrum disorder, as this interest me greatly, however it will no longer include ambient intelligence. I could possibly review an interactive piece of software that has been designed to aid people with autism.