FYP Project
K00121609
January 09/01/2017
Blog 5: A Rewrite summary points of
project:
I research several topics related to Briefs 2; that is
health, the environment and education respectively. Utilized decision-making
tools of the RSA resources to analyse topics I had in mind for this projects.
Decision on Brief 2 on health. I have always had and
continue to have an ongoing interest in health and the ‘holistic synergistic
approach’ to health which has been proven scientifically and has found
widespread popularity in current social culture.
I also have studied psychology and related subjects in the
past and a degree in Science and would like to combine my computer skills and
creativity with my psychology, arts and scientific training.
RSA Research Topics: I
have found from the research that most of the illnesses have a strong lifestyle
problem element and the RSA research points out that these health issues are
mostly concentrated in the low to middle classes, creating divides in society.
During my literature review I have also found that good lifestyle habits are
necessary for all sections of society. There are a multitude of medicines to
cure many illnesses but there are not that many lifestyle structures available
to people to adopt an improved lifestyle. Lifestyle choices are scientifically
proven to be a key factor in health. To construct a website to address such
issues therefore, would be a positive step forward for life.
Market research: There
are lots of websites and apps where a person can do things like measure their
BMI and track weight-loss. Also, business websites and apps have effective
tools for personal business management. There are downloadable hobby pages for
diary hobbies like planning your day, your shopping lists, exercise regime etc.
However, there is no integrated site with various personal life management
tool-kits and analysis techniques available to people.
I have found from the research that access to these
individual downloadable life planning pages has a twofold problem: first they
can be quite costly especially if a person is to use them over a period of time
ranging from: €20 to €300; second, most of them require many steps for access.
This is where once the user chooses their selected item, goes to download it
and they get various pop-up screens. I found that these have a pattern of
on-click of the download button the user is presented with options that they
must agree on in order for to access their selection. These in many cases
require you to agree that your browser history can be read, can be altered
amongst other undesirable requests, that if you click submit button the user is
agreeing to these terms. Therefore, there is a need to improve the user
experience at the front-end of website and app development in this business.
How to provide for and to improve
user experience:
From what I have identified above I find that there is a
need for and a business market for:
- An integrated website and/or app for personal
life management tool-kits, all in one place
- Ease of access to and use of the website
- Improvement of UI Interface experience in
addressing users concerns
What ideas I have to achieve these
factors:
There is a combination of: creative, originality, technical
design and analytic ideas and skills.
To create a ‘Life Management Website’ that would integrate
various life management tools.
A straightforward, easily accessible and usable website
that is a fun experience and appealing to the eye.
Template planners (e.g. mood
tracker, habit tracker, daily experience ratings):
Users can print out page templates with flower, tree, leaves
and star vector graphics, stickers with imagery and words, such as banners to
customize their own life Management plan. I will design all of these myself
using Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and a drawing tablet. There is a
considerable technical design challenge here in achieving a multiple of
examples of these elements.
Statistical analysis elements:
Interactive tables, graphs and charts to use as trackers.
These will be for example mood trackers and habit trackers. I have been working
on creating these in Microsoft Excel and have come up with a variety of types
to suit different users: tables and corresponding graphs that are interactive
that I have designed these and once the user enters their information in the
table the graph updates automatically.
There are also manual tables and graphs for those how prefer
the paperwork that can be printed out from the website. These trackers are not
only colourful, dynamic and fun to work on they also fulfill an important health
factor that is monitoring health and life balance activities. Here people can
easily see trends in their behavior and health which can only lead to better
awareness and an improved health outcome. (thumbnails will be presented on a
page to the user with tool-tips and they can select those they want) The design
challenge here will be in the website coding.
The project I am thinking about is a kind of extension of
diaries, however, it is diaries in action with analysis features.
Tutorial element:
I also have plans to create a demo tutorial for anyone
completely new to tables and graphs to work them both automatically and manually.
Things to do while waiting:
It has in the research been shown that people spend times of
waiting in queues. This is a valuable social and marketing area to explore. It
has also been proven that activities like games and word searches can improve
mental alertness and activity. This available time whether it be 5 minutes or
10 minutes is a good opportunity to target such potential audiences. A person
may be in a queue while shopping or waiting for a bus for example.
Accordingly, I have included in this website, things and
tricks to do while waiting. These are very short elements for example: card
shuffle, flux slider and their associated imagery, moving items around a page,
on-click features, and more I have yet to think about. Also, plugins like google
locator and weather apps and various widgets such as date-pickers.
These are immediate things involving tasks a person barely
needs to think about and if they like they can navigate to the life management
diary website.
Use of Databases in Microsoft
Access:
The data collected in the forms will be collected in a
Microsoft access database. (Perhaps to use this in SQL programming in MS Access
for user access and use of the tables and graphs).
Google Analytics: to
track user and marketing data
Further Research:
Related to ‘trackers’: history of diaries & similar in
film, books and society.
Related to ‘mind-games’: think of mind-games to add to that
page
Related to ‘implementation’: research into charging money
for access to health websites and apps.
