Conducting interviews

Part of this week involved a trip to IUPUI to see the facilities there. The facilities on each campus differ, so it was useful and necessary to see that in person. Also, because team members have different specializations, the types of projects that tend to be highlighted on each campus can differ (although all 8 campuses have access to the AVL's knowledge and facilities).

Tyler demonstrating the VIVE, head-mounted display VR.

This week's big step was to start interviewing team members and collecting samples of the visualizations and media that will eventually go onto the website. So far, I have interviewed 4 team members. I have found that an informal style with some questions for guidance works for me. I like to have a conversation, eliciting the information I need that way.

Jeff showing some of his work on the IQ-Wall in the AVL's IUPUI lab.

The types of information I am gathering in these interviews involve the team members' roles and specializations, what sorts of projects they work on, and specific examples of projects. The questions fulfill 3 purposes: 

1. What are the user requirements for this portal? 
2. Who are my subject matter experts? 
3. What types of descriptors (search terms) will we need? 

So far, from the examples I have gathered, I have a list of over 100 descriptors ranging from type of media to technology tool to fields and disciplines--and I haven't looked at some of the areas the AVL works in. There is a lot that goes into building the search terms and metadata that will make this site work. I'm glad I took Representation and Organization, as that will help with building a vocabulary and creating facets.

Next week: more interviews, collecting more example work, and gathering more descriptors.

What this project is and what it isn't

Monday morning began with a meeting with my supervisor, the group manager, and the division director. We went over the work I had done so far, with me leading the discussion.

The meeting was helpful in clarifying a few questions I had encountered about what the project is and what the project isn't. The proto-personas I created were well-received, so I will continue fleshing them out as I gather more information.

We were also able to agree on the next steps, which mostly involves interviewing each of the group members and collecting some representative samples of the visual assets that the project is about. The interviews are brief, about 30 minutes each, and are helpful in gathering requirements. Part of the interview is requesting information on representative samples, as mentioned above, so I can start creating a list of descriptors. The descriptors will be useful for search terms in the eventual site.

I was able to do the first interview Monday afternoon. I have two more planned for Thursday and another planned for Friday, when I'll finally make a trip to IUPUI to see the other facilities. Interviews will take some time to complete because I have to work around everyone's schedules.

There are plenty of things I can do in the meantime. I've been reading up on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0). I have also been typing up my handwritten notes, which helps me think about what the notes mean. In typing them, I can add context and questions, and make connections.

Take away: Meetings aren't always bad. This was more of a work session than a meeting, with the goal of putting us all on the same page.

Week two: Diving in

Week two began with being thrown into the deep end.

No time for water wings!

One of the missions of the AVL is education. Several team members teach classes in addition to their daily work for the group, which led to my attending a virtual reality (VR) class to get a sense of both the VR facilities and the educational aspect of the group.

My intention was to sit quietly in the back, being as unobtrusive as possible, but this class session was hands-on and involved students trying several types of VR equipment. The three VR stations (the VCT, a room installation, and two Vives, head-mounted displays) were staffed, but an augmented reality (AR) station at the back of the room wasn't. After a quick, five minute lesson, I was put in charge of helping the students, giving instruction on how to use the HoloLens.

Takeaway: even though my project is completely different, as a team member, I was asked to step in and help out.

The rest of the week was much quieter, mostly involving typing up notes (a work station was finally installed at my desk), writing a draft of a survey for the project, and creating five proto-personas to be used in the design process. The personas are not complete. More exploration will help me flesh them out and possibly reduce them to two or three.

Next steps will involve talking to more team members, including a trip to IUPUI, meeting with the group manager and director, and hopefully moving forward with concrete goals and objectives for the project. One of the difficult tasks ahead is putting together an inventory of images, visualizations, and whatever other digital assets are deemed relevant.

Week one: Getting to know you

I have a desk.

The first week of my internship was dedicated to getting to know the group I'm working with: who is in the group, who does what, what do they do as a whole, etc. This was also a chance for them to get to know me a little.

Let's get started!

I haven't talked to everyone in the group yet. Several team members work at IUPUI, so I'll either need to travel to Indianapolis or video conference with them. The people I did talk with included the developers I will be working with on this project. They both shared very useful information that will help with the project: some thing to think about regarding the eventual coding as well as previous efforts that this current project builds on. Some of those efforts were more successful than others.

What I learned from seeing those previous efforts is that team buy-in is important, but also good design. One effort, a folder of visual assets for tours, is poorly organized, making it difficult to find specific examples. It is also limited to machines it has been loaded on. 

Another lesson learned is that technology can make a difference. One effort to curate AVL content, which was successful for the specific purpose it was designed for but is now outdated, was programmed using Flash. Even if the content were still being updated, Flash programming would be a problem now. Choosing how the new site is programmed is the job of the developers, but it is useful to keep this in mind to understand the choices they make.

Along with talking to the developers, I also took a tour of some of the facilities with several team members. The tour was a good introduction to some of the work the AVL does but also demonstrated part of the problem of digital assets being located in various places. 

Finally, I was able to clarify that the portal I am working to design will serve two purposes. First, it will be a portal that staff can use to access their showcase visualizations for teaching, tours, or other purposes. Second, it will hopefully also serve as a public face for the group. While they have an official webpage with the university, the portal would be a place they can refer people who want to see examples of the work they do.

All in all, my first two days were interesting and helped clarify what I'll be doing. I think the problem will be a good test of my skills and an excellent opportunity.

Getting started

Today marks the beginning of the new semester, a semester in which I will be working as an intern with the Advanced Visualization Lab (AVL), a group within University Information Technology Services (UITS) at Indiana University.

The project I am working on will use a variety of information architecture skills while working with a developer to create a web portal for their visual assets. For this project, I will need to assess what those assets are, what the needs are for accessing them, organize the assets (with appropriate tagging and/or metadata), design the interface, work with the developer to implement the design, and test the usability of the final product.

Today marks the beginning, although it really only consisted of filling out the required paperwork so I can jump in on Thursday. My goal for this first week is to get a feel for who is in the AVL and what the AVL does.