Thursday, February 21, 2008

Assignment 3 - Designing Probe

Nightmare indeed. We were warned by Mr. Reddy that it was the proclaimed "Nightware assignment" by past students of the module. Yes it was.

Its not so much about the workload per say, but trying to find a solution (which might never exists!) No right or wrong (which sometimes happens to be more difficult!) Boon, min and myself spent quite a bit of time brain storming, what methodology to use and all.

To make matter worse, it was e-learning submission week~ Meaning we had to submit our presentation online (which was nightmare to us - our submission just hung it there for several times. Finally got it uploaded though)


General Theme

As it was e-learning week, we thought of using the theme of a Radio show to convey our design probe for lecture learning experience. It is similar to radio shows that invites guests into the record room to "learn from the experts".

Methods

We used mainly 3 methods, VBR (visceral, behavioral and reflective) analysis on 4 lecture theatres, cultural probe and laddering. It is quite a weird combi per se, but Mr. Reddy did mentioned that we ought to improvise and mix-&-match techniques and methods. That's what we did. Heh.

Research and execution

We sought of spent quite a bit of time surveying suitable lecture theatres, and executing the laddering and cultural probe. Most were not sure what they were, so we gotta explain and show-tell what to do etc. It didnt turn out too bad, as laddering enabled us to go down to the root of the problem.

Recording voices and dialogues

We brainstormed for quite a long period as to how we can convey our dialogues through a "conversation". In the end, we came up with 3 fictious characters, a lady DJ (min), a prof (Boon) and a research assistant (me!). We chose the library discussion room for the recording of the dialogues as there's this "echo" feel that the room can provide, which mimics the recording studio's.

NGs

Yes, we cant possibly record the entire conversation at a go! And guess what, we had a total of 62 NGs, heh. We spent like around 3 hours recording in the room.

Analysis

We finally came out with a conclusion, based on 6 factors that affects the overall experience.

They are:

Main factors
  • Lecturers
  • Students
  • Content
"Minor" factors

  • Technology
  • Time
  • Place

Below is the proposed cycle that all can use it as a reference in providing a better LT learning experience.

Preparation work must be done by the lecturer, knowing the subject matter and preparing the teaching materials (interesting ones if possible).

That's how you can get the students engaged and have a 2 way interaction/communication. With this achieved, students will thus be interested in learning.

To further engage students, there should be challenging activities and content that students can construct new knowledge and higher order thinking, and not memorization or other traditional way of learning.

There will be decent payoff, say students construct new knowledge, and will be able to apply the knowledge to new scenarios etc.

Lessons learnt

It was a tough "need" to satisfy, and there's no one solution to this demanding need, as no students learn the same way. However, we can assume that there are several distinct groups whereby the way of learning is similar. We hope our framework can be applied to all the groups though. :)

Monday, February 4, 2008

Assignment 2 - RMA, Story, 4 Pleasure Analysis & Product Spec

Reverse Marketing Analysis

Product Feature

  • Ralph Lauren Leather Boots

Physical


  • Fair type skin
  • Black dark hair
  • Long tied hair
  • Perfect eyesight (but will wear no degree spects)
  • Denim. fur and leather person

Background

  • 27, Female
  • Singaporean
  • Graduated overseas
  • 175cm, 55kg
  • Chinese
  • Only child
  • Merchandiser with Club 21
  • Family stays in a bunglow at Holland village

Character

  • Highly independent
  • Well to do
  • Individualistic
  • Westernized
  • Sociable

Hobbies

  • Riding
  • Shopping
  • High class dining
  • Jet setter
  • Extreme sports
  • No pets



Story of Fion Lim



Background


  • Being the only child in the Lim family, Fion, 26, is not really exactly spoilt per say but extremely pampered. Since young, she had in possession of many things that other kids can only dream of. Branded clothing, expensive toys, posh meals and a well-decorated room fully customised to Fion's liking
  • Although her family has their own family business dealing in importing and exporting of canned foods, she did not liken the job industry. She was really interested in the fashion industry. Thus, immediately after her O levels, she applied for a fashion-designing course in France and studied for 3 years before returning to Singapore. She would have likened to work overseas, but her parents objected aggressively

Career

  • Being a merchandiser with Club21, she gets to enjoy the frequent travels that her job requires her to. She never fails to clinch business deals. For that, her company recognized her achievements and treat her with high regards

Fine dining and posh restaurants

  • Fion has never stepped into a hawker centre or an ordinary food court. What she prefers are posh restaurants at city/town area. But she can’t do without a company. She enjoys gossiping with them while enjoying her meals

Extreme Sports and Riding

  • Apart from her classical hobbies such as shopping and dining at posh restaurants, she does have an extreme side of hers

  • She likes extreme sports, such as adventure rides into the forests in Malaysia, water skiing and mountain climbing. But in order to maintain her fair type skin, she will never go without her XXX sunscreen during outdoor activities. She simply enjoys the thrill of taking part such activities but hated the ugly tan lines and uneven tones

Riding a Harley and BMW


  • Once a month, Fion will always meet up with her riding partners for a trip up north to Malaysia. Having owning 2 bikes, mainly the BMW 1200 GS and the Harley Davidson 1200 Roadster cruiser, she is able to cruise and tour around Malaysia

  • Alternatively, she can do her adventure rides, riding and conquer terrains in the forested and deserted areas in western Malaysia

  • As a lady who enjoys wearing leather and fur, it isn’t difficult to know that she is not an animal lover. Despite the fact that her family owns an Alsatian dog, she usually avoids interacting with the dog

Shopping and dressings

  • On average, she usually spends almost half of her monthly salary in shopping. Her dress code changes daily. From the posh dresses to rugged look to classy shirt and plan. But, the denim and leather are definitely found in her clothing.

  • Boots are a must have for her. She bought a two by four metres square cupboard just to store her collection of boots that she bought around the world

  • Regardless of her perfect eyesight, she enjoys shopping for no-degree specs, especially those in bold colours such as red or yellow

Hair care

  • She enjoys keeping her hair in shape to maintain her classy look. She also likes the feeling of her hair being washed and styled. Fion usually visit her hairdresser once a month to get her hair trimmed

  • Even her hairdresser, Goliath, joked on her frequent visits to his salon,” Easy money for me. It’s usually ½ a centimetre off her hair ends and fringe. 10 minutes work. $250. I would love to have more customers like Fion.”

Boy-Girl relationship (BGR)

  • Of all the five relationships that Fion had previously, none of them actually exceeded 3 months. It is mainly due to her frequent travels that her boyfriends are unable to cope with

4 Pleasure Analysis

Physio - pleasure

  • Extreme sports enable her to burn off her calories (from dining fine class food) and stay in shape (Need pleasure)

  • Enjoys the thrill from extreme sports (Appreciation pleasure)
  • Enjoys splurging money on high end goods during shopping (Appreciation pleasure)

  • Enjoys hair salon sessions. Likes the feeling of her hair being cut, washed and styled. (Appreciation pleasure)

Socio - pleasure

  • Enjoys being with her friends, especially during riding trips up north (Appreciation pleasure)

  • Owns the most expensive bikes (she has 2) among her riding friends, thus most are envy of her (Appreciation pleasure)
  • Liken the enjoyment and company during fine class dining, where good food, gossiping and chit chatting must haves (Appreciation pleasure)

Psycho - pleasure

  • Always have a sense of achievement after completing a long distance trip (say to Kuala Lumpur or Hainoi) (Need pleasure)
  • Feels good when she is able to communicate with foreigners on foreign land with different languages each time, whenever she flies out of Singapore for her overseas business trips

Ideo - pleasure

  • She seeks to be an aspiring and successful career woman. She never fails to clinch business deals. Thus her company and her fellow colleagues recognize her deeds and accomplishments (Appreciation pleasure)
  • She is always seen and perceived as a very classical and posh lady, be it when working or riding or during extreme sports. Her dressing to details and personal etiquettes ensures that she is perceived as one (Need pleasure)



Product Benefit Specifications of a handphone for Fion

Introduction

  • With such a lavish and luxury lifestyle of Fion's, only a handphone that is elegant and posh will be able to match and protray her image and status

  • One handphone that suits Fion perfectly is definitely the Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte





Specifications

  • Has a gemstone on directional pad of the phone (posh and class)

  • Wrapped with coffee brown leather at the front and back of phone (elegant look, suits her dressing)

  • Tri-band phone type

  • Networks: GSM 900, 1800 & 1900 (allows excellent connectivity in Singapore and overseas

  • 3G and GPRS supported (able to surf the net while travelling)

  • Lightweight and slim (able to store it easily in handbags or carry)