Entrepreneur

Explanation

 

Human Factors Design takes a close look at how humans interact with ever-changing computing technologies and interfaces as advancements are made.  The explosion of technological availability in both personal and work life reflects an importance shift in behavior, as more and more people have access to several computing devices- surpassing the human population itself.  Understanding the shift in behaviors associated with human interaction with computing devices is imperative for future creation, usability, and safety. The completion of this course required each group to develop a product in which we could create a paper template and perform usability testing in an effort to truly understand the importance of Human Factors Design.  Our group decided on a note-taking application in which students at Old Dominion could collaborate together on the creation of an electronic notebook for class notes and create study materials like flashcards.  

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Reflection

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This project really required us to think about how users would interact with our product, and how we would portray our product on paper.  It required some outside-of-the-box considerations with portraying a computer image on paper and forced us to focus on individual steps involved in the completion of a task.  I had so much fun working on this project with our group, as it highlighted the importance of understanding the work that goes into the creation and operation of some of my favorite applications on my technology devices.  

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Discussion of Skills

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-Work in a team structure: The class was split into two teams, both of which were required to come up with an individual product to have the other team test out.  Together, our team delegated tasks between one another, took turns sharing how we would present and perform during our usability testing, and collaborated with one another to ensure everyone had a part to play in the overall creation of the project.

-Make decisions and solve problems: When we encountered an issue, we collectively would discuss the best method of approaching the issue so everyone was aware of the change. While we were a team, everyone had some amount of creative freedom in developing their part, and we would collaborate afterward to identify any issues we thought may cause issues later.    

-Communicate verbally: We met when class would afford us the time to work on our project.  We also created a group chat in which we would discuss and share images of what we were working on.  When necessary, we would meet in Zoom to collaborate so that team members never felt like they were being left alone to do the bulk of a task.  

-Analyze quantitative data: For the completion of our usability test, those who tested our product were analyzed and given a feedback form, from which we calculated data to assist with interpreting the overall usability of our notebook application. 

-Plan, organize, and prioritize work: We collaborated constantly as a team to ensure we completed work before the deadline.  We kept all of our documents and papers associated with the project in a large plastic envelope so that nothing was ever missing.  We would make suggestions for information to change or content to be reviewed, and would discuss them during class time.  We would prioritize tasks to complete before certain dates to ensure we had ample time to collaborate prior to turning in our work.  We were also adaptable to everyones schedule with the use of zoom.  

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Future Application

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This experience helped me to understand the importance of technology in our life, and got me to thinking about how I could implement the steps and tools associated with Human Factors Design into my passion for research.  Understanding human behavior associated with the use of technology will be incredibly helpful to me in the future, as we move more and more toward a technological world where computers and interfaces become the primary method of data collection.