|
 |
| Team Management
Structure |
| Team Member |
Role |
| Shane Ahern |
Project Manager |
| Laheem Jordan |
Design Manager |
| Judy Ma |
Documentation Manager |
| Vam Makam |
Evaluation Manager |
| |
|
| Revised Problem Statement |
Researchers in the field of IT and Regional Development
have the complicated task of researching field projects and academic
literature. Field projects are usually located in developing regions,
often focusing on the implementation of a technology solution in
an underserved region. There is no comprehensive existing directory
that serves as a starting point for research in this area of work,
and users often turn browsing the Internet through search engines,
and following that up with searches on a variety of more generic
databases (such as digital libraries) and web resources (such as
sites of international agencies).
In addition to the time lost in scattered searching, a major
disadvantage in this model of interaction is the lack of access
to experiential knowledge, for instance, that of third-party field
observers who observe some of these projects. The experiences
of such observers, is usually available only to the agencies they
operate under, though researchers agree that such knowledge would
be invaluable if easily available and reviewable.
Similarly, there are academic research and case studies conducted
on this topic throughout the world, which do not get widely disseminated
due to the lack of a well-known and open-structured data repository
for researchers and professionals to share information.
Researchers also add a second layer of complexity: they have
their own opinions and comments on literature and on field project
implementations, which they would like to share with others, just
as they would like to know of others’ opinions. Usually research
in one country is limited to that country, and valuable input from
other people in other countries is never shared. There is a need
for a system that is open, highly interactive, and equipped with
useful features to allow users to annotate and interlink online
data. |
| Explanation and Justification of Personas and Goals |
We interviewed three people in our study: one was a post-graduate
Public Policy Researcher, with experience in the industry and
in academia, another was a graduate Computer Science Researcher,
and the last person was an employee of a non-government organization.
We chose our first two interviewees based on their different
technological expertise and field of study. The Public Policy
Researcher was chosen to represent a person who was not very
computer-savvy, and avoided computers whenever possible. The
Computer Science Researcher, however, used computers extensively
and would probably have no problem using the Internet to find
useful information. Finally, our last interviewee gave us information
on how she works, and also useful descriptions of other people
she knew who had worked with her. All interviewees were chosen
based on their interest in the main topic of our repository system
-- developing countries. In our group, a few of us have similar
interests so we were also able to use our own experiences to
make our personas more complete and realistic. We used these
interviews to develop three primary personas: the Academic Researcher,
the Field Researcher, and the NGO Fundraiser.
The results of the interviews showed that there is a diverse
set of information sources for these groups. It is not easy for
them to find quality information in some cases on specific topics
such as ‘Women and Macroeconomic Changes in India’ because
there is a lot of information that crosses boundaries into other
disciplines, and a lot of resources that do not distinguish between
commentary, fact, and research. It is hard to determine what
type of information is in a document until the Researcher spends
time reading the document. This is obviously time-consuming and
inefficient.
We also looked at a group of similar existing websites and projects
that attempt to provide information on developing countries,
and we assessed their usefulness, popularity, and problems in
our analysis. We attempted to use the site to find certain pieces
of information just as a real researcher would do to see how
the site works, what information is available, and how it is
presented. During our analysis, we thought of how our personas
would react to certain features and aspects of the site in relation
to their goals.
|
| Persona
of an Academic Researcher |
| |
| Name: |
Stephanie Kam |
Member of: Engineers without Frontiers
|
| Title: |
PhD candidate |
| Organization: |
UC Berkeley School of Information Management and Systems |
| Age: |
29 |
| Education: |
Computer Science and Development Economics, Stanford
University |
| Specialties: |
Microfinance networks, IT for Development |
| Responsibilities: |
Interview Users
Define Requirements
Produce Visual Designs
Produce Specifications
Coordinate Usability Testing
Produce UI Style Guide |
|
Summary:
Stephanie is a 29-year-old graduate student at the University
of California, Berkeley, pursuing a PhD in Information Management
and Systems. Her focus is on Microfinance networks, and she plans
to work in South East Asia once her degree is completed in 2005.
Before coming to Berkeley, Stephanie lived in Oahu, Hawaii, where
she was the director of a non-profit working for community participation.
For the past six years, some part of Stephanie's work has involved
research in development-related projects, work which has increased
significantly since joining Berkeley in 2003. Stephanie starts
her day early, and has a more or less fixed weekly schedule of
classes and research hours. She uses the Internet as her primary
research tool - Google is her most favored starting point.
Stephanie likes to go a free text search on Google, and has
been a faithful user of its searches for over four years now.
She cannot remember the last time she used any other tool as
a primary online research tool. Stephanie often uses websites
of international organizations and funding bodies to back up
information available to her through the net, since a lot of
her work involves international agencies. She finds her search
process fairly tedious as she runs through a number of sites
for each topic she researches, often coming up with the same
information over and over. She finds the UC Library systems useful
as a second layer of search, and frequently uses it to search
for articles. Whenever Stephanie comes across the name of an
individual in her area of studies, while surfing through Google,
she makes it a point to do a quick search of that name on Pathfinder
to check for publications.
Stephanie is skeptical of most of the papers she finds on the
Web. Her rigorous academic mind finds much of their contents
to be exaggerated, vague, or short on empirical evidence.
Goals:
- Locate quality research, sift out speculative, unsubstantiated
claims and find rigorously documented research.
- Advance understanding of the role of technology in sustainable
development.
|
| Persona
of an NGO Region Specialist |
| |
| Name: |
Jeff Calder |
|
| Title: |
Regional Program Director, Sub-Saharan Africa |
| Company: |
Schools Online |
| Age: |
31 |
| Education: |
BA Political Science and International Affairs, Columbia
University |
| Work Experience: |
Peace Corps Volunteer, Uganda, US Department of Commerce
African Trade Policy Analyst |
|
Summary:
Jeff works for Schools Online, a non-profit organization based
in San Jose, California whose mission is to help students gain
access and use the communication and information resources of
the Internet for learning and cross-cultural dialogue. They accomplish
this by providing appropriate technology and Internet access,
developing locally-driven and sustainable Internet Learning Centers,
facilitating teacher professional development, cultivating online
cross-cultural projects, and sharing our knowledge and experience.
Before coming joining Schools Online, Jeff was a Peace Corps
volunteer in Uganda where he worked on projects to develop new
schools in rural villages. During his time in Africa he developed
a passion for working on improving living conditions for the
poor of the world, and developed a strong network of contacts
in government agencies in Africa and non-profit organizations
such as UNICEF and the United Nations. Upon returning to the
United States, Jeff took a position in Washington, DC in the
Department of Commerce where he was a research analyst specializing
in US-Africa trade policy, and after two years there, joined
Schools Online to refocus his career on his twin passions: education
and Africa.
Jeff's current project as regional program director for sub-Saharan
Africa, to develop a new education initiative for high school
students. To develop these programs, Jeff does extensive research
to learn about related projects and organizations, often drawing
upon his extensive network of contacts in Africa and Washington.
In addition he searches through as many newspapers and journals
he can, and uses his phone quite often, setting up meetings and
discussing ideas. Many of his notes are scribbled on pieces of
paper while he travels, and prints out many articles he may come
across online in fear of not having future access to that same
article. He is also inundated with several conferences and seminars
that all seem to overlap and have similar goals.
Goals:
- Find quality information on programs using technology in
education.
- Find background information on people and organizations
working in his target region of sub-Saharan Africa to determine
if they will be reliable and fruitful partners.
|
| Persona
of an NGO Fundraiser |
| |
| Name: |
Betsy Pointifico |
|
| Title: |
Fundraiser |
| Company: |
SaveZimbabwe.org |
| Age: |
33 |
| Education: |
B.S. in Communications |
| Specialties: |
Grant writing, networking, graphic designer |
| Responsibilities: |
Write Grant Proposals, Contact other organizations via email,
phone calls, Attend conferences, Research current and past regional development
projects. |
|
Summary:
Betsy is a woman in her early thirties, focused on generating
interest and funds for her non-profit organization SaveZimbabwe.org.
The non-profit’s aim is to raise awareness of issues affecting
Zimbabwe and help solve the countries’ health and environmental
issues.
Coming from a communications background, Betsy is quite familiar
with interacting with others and establishing clear relations.
She has spent a few years working in telemarketing with a local
real estate firm, but now focuses on leveraging those skills
for a more positive cause. Betsy is an inexperienced web surfer,
but is clearly skilled with email, office software, and database
searching.
Betsy started her day by checking email and catching up with
her phone calls. She understands the importance of an overview
meeting with her fellow Zimbabwe field researchers, and tries
to grasp the current situation of their progress. She then determines
what individuals and organizations are most important to contact
based on numerous disparate sources including her contact list,
past contributors, Philanthropy Journal, private foundation directories,
and her favorite web tool - Google.
At this point, Betsy must contact the available leads to hopefully
bring in enough funding, but realizes her chances are slim.
Goals:
- Achieve expected budget
- Generate new interest and excitement about her organization
- Successful in securing new donors and grants
|
| Task Analysis |
| Key: |
high
frequency
(hi) |
medium
frequency
(med) |
low
frequency
(lo) |
* = optional task |
| Task |
Stephanie Kam |
Jeff
Calder |
Betsy Pointifico |
| Locate Relevant Research |
Search via search engines
|
hi |
hi |
hi |
| Search via library information systems (journals, existing published
research) |
hi |
hi |
low |
Search for information on individuals/organizations
|
med |
hi |
hi |
| Increase Exposure/Awareness of Organization |
| Link to websites with similar content/users |
low |
low |
hi |
| Post information to mailing lists, forums |
low |
hi |
med |
| Writing grants, papers, research results |
hi |
low |
hi |
| Disseminate information at conferences, meetings* |
low |
low |
hi |
| Find new Contacts & Funding Sources |
Find entities with existing programs
|
low |
hi |
hi |
| Search through existing contacts to develop new contacts |
low |
hi |
hi |
| Search through fee-based donor lists/databases |
low |
med |
hi |
| |
|
