Individual reflection essay
Individual reflective Essay Brief
As individuals, you need to reflect on your learning over the course of your project management. This should include a minimum of 1,500 words. Your reflection should include: o The professional context of your project o Market research and audience identification based on user-centric design principles for your project and user personas o Critical reflection on innovations and influences – positioning of your work o Evidence of user testing o Sketches, videos, screenshots of the process of development Use appropriate academic and professional references in your work. You need to submit the text to TurnItIn, but you also need to publish it on a web site/blog that you have created and include the link in your final submission. ___________________________________________________________________________ 1.0 Introduction · About the project · Threats to Earth · Why it’s important 2.0 Market Research · User-centric design · Personas · Gaining momentum on Social Media Platforms · Launching on Earth Day 3.0 User Testing · Google forms · Videos · Report 4.0 Process of Development · Sketches · Videos · Screenshots 5.0 Conclusion ___________________________________________________________________________ 1.0 INTRODUCTION In the modern world there is hardly a corner without the effects of plastic pollution. One way or another it is present in our lives, especially in islands surrounding the sea. The currents and waves bring in and out waste dumped into the seas from many corners of the world. At any rate 14 million tons of plastic is dumped into the ocean every year. This makes up 80% of the ocean garbage found from surface water to deep-sea sediments (IUCN, 2021). Most people are not aware of its affects because it doesn’t directly affect their lives. Additionally, it is affected most by the children and young people habituating low level islands surrounding the sea. The children in these communities are the future generations of this earth. In one of the meetings held in Maldives, a UNICEF representative recognized the climate crisis directly linked to plastic pollution as a child’s right crisis (Unicef, 2021). As in every child should have the right to thrive in an environment where they do not have to fight for survival due to humans mistakes with waste mismanagement. These islands sometimes suffer from severe water scarcity due to the heavy water pollution. Following that some islands use desalinated water shipped by a boat. These measures are taken to bring confidence in the water they drink and to reduce the number of cases related to water borne diseases (Unicef, 2021). For all the reasons awareness is the most important measure we can bring to help bring change. Without the knowledge of such events taking place people might not take it seriously of how bad the situation really is. This project called ‘Blue Earth Vision’ is a campaign dedicated to help raise awareness about issues surrounding plastic pollution and waste management through interactive digital story telling methods. Furthermore, making engaging social media posts to create momentum and assist people in participating and spreading the message through a united movement. This we can do to help bring change. Habits are hard to break, but with time and effort it is what must be done for the sake of our earth. Earth has been generous to us for many generations. Now it is our time to take action to preserve what the earth has so generously offered. There is only one earth, and we must protect it with all the might we got. The digital story highlights the state of the environment, the threats to marine life and how refusing and rethinking plastic can be the best way to overcome the crisis.  (IUCN, 2021) 2.0 Market Research
2.1 User Centric Design
It is believed that a product or a service that is designed to help people in a way is user centered design. For example, a car key that cannot be locked without the keys prevents drivers from locking the keys inside the car (Renee Wever & Jasper Van Kuijk, 2008). A simple design but a problem free design achieved.
Similarly, I believe creating an interactive digital story is a user centered design for the people to start their journey towards a more sustainable behavior in their lifestyle. The different decisions played in the story are a small step towards reminding people that this same story can be applied in their own lives.
Additionally environmental education is the key to form a new generation of choice makers (James Ellsmoor, 2019). The interactive digital story is designed to help create awareness in the younger generation in mind. It can be used in the classroom settings as an educational tool to make the younger generation understand the irreversible impacts the plastic pollution has on the planet and how we can lead a more sustainable lifestyle to minimize it.
The ‘Blue Earth Vision’ website is created as an awareness tool. It includes the digital story which can be interacted by the audience. Next, a page that shows how generous mother earth has been, after that a page that shows what we can do to help or minimize unsustainable waste. Lastly a page linked to a donation by UNICEF (Henry Fersko, 2019).
This donation is directly received by the organization, and they will help transform plastic waste into schools as educating future generations creates generation leading a more conscious lifestyle (Henry Fersko, 2019). The audience can play with the website and donate to hopefully change a child’s future for the better. All these pages are in the Blue Earth Vision website to help create an all-rounded effect and in a way the user can participate an engage in a problem to help people. Hence creating a very user centered design feel.
2.2 Personas
During the research period, I interviewed 3 people from different backgrounds dealing with plastic waste. I interviewed a swim coach, a marine biologist and an NGO that tackles with plastic pollution. All these interviewees mentioned that educating the younger generation is the baby steps we can take to create a lifestyle that practices sustainability.
Their interview gave me insight and helped me shape blue earth vision to the image it is now today. I wanted to create something that will help impact the younger generation and address the issue of plastic pollution. Below are some points they highlighted in the interview I had with them in September 2021.
Persona created after Interviewing Hamsha who is an Activist at Zero Waste Maldives (Hamsha, 2021)  Persona created after Interviewing Zana who is a Marine Biologist in the Maldives (Shiraz, 2021) 
Persona created after Interviewing Firass who is a Swim Coach in the Maldives
(Afeef, 2021) 2.3 Gaining Momentum
To Gain momentum crating a social media page on Instagram. Furthermore, hyping up the Launch for Earth Day. Launching on a day that is recognized highly is a way to spread the word faster and with more meaning.
Moreover, posting about facts, challenges and how people can help at home with the issue of plastic. The audience can participate and share their journey through social media. Social media allows the whole world to be connected rather than one little part. Thus, it is the perfect place to talk and spread awareness about the plastic issue as it is a global issue as a wide range of people can be reached in a small amount of time.
All the posts will be put out in a timely manner in efforts to successfully hype up the release of the interactive digital story for Earth Day.
3.0 User Testing 3.1 Google Forms        3.2 User Test Report
The user testing form included 10 questions and a total of 20 responses were received Short and brief questions that can be finished with in 5 -10 minutes. Discovered how usable the website is and how it can improve
The responders were between the ages of 9 – 50. Among them the highest responders were below 20. From which 55% were Female and 45% were Male. Among these 20 people, 15 people that is 75% agree practicing sustainability is a priority in their lives. The other 5 people, 25% agree it is not a priority to live a sustainable lifestyle. Meaning that they are not mindful of their plastic usage and avoiding them isn’t a priority in their daily lives.
However, 100% of the responders believed that plastic pollution is an issue that needs to be addressed. The next question I explored was if the interactive story was perceived by the audience to be a tool which could raise awareness about plastic pollution. 75% of them agreed that it can be used, 30% said maybe and no responders disagreed. Therefore, it can be proven that the public approves interactive digital story telling can create change.
Moreover, all responders believed the ‘Blue Earth Vision’ Website has content relevant to raise awareness about Plastic issue. Furthermore, in evaluating what the responders understood from the interactive story it can be concluded that all the users understood that plastic pollution is a real problem and that their actions have consequences. For example, one responder wrote “it is important to take care of the earth as we need to think about the future generations and the damage we are causing to the earth”.
Moving on to how user friendly the story plot. 95% agreed that they did not get confused at any point and did not encounter any missing links. However, 1 responder felt the story was a bit confusing but got the general idea of the story.
Next, they were asked if they had any comments to make It better. 17 people that is 85% responded that it is good. The other 3 responders had comments such as that there could be more story plots with different characters to make it long. Overall 60 % of the people said they were likely to share the website to their family and friends.
Apart from the form, one of the users privately messaged me that the website moved his family so much and his son requested to donate to the UNICEF building school out of waste donation to help these kids. It made the research very successful to have such impact on a very young heart. The more the younger generation knows, the more they care, and different more conscious generation is brought up those practices sustainable lifestyles. 3.3 Photos Some photos of Users that participated in the interactive digital story  4.0 Process of Development   I referenced the Richard William’s run cycle for me to have my animation of the run cycle a success. This bit took a bit of experimenting and playing around to make the character look as if they were running. I first animated the legs before I animated the top half of the body (Wroe, 2013)
Following that I imported the background assets into my animating file and continued to animate the other parts of the scene. I quite enjoyed the story plot coming to life from the key frames I previously presented in my prototype. It gives the whole story much more life than simply key pictures of selected moves.
I also looked for royalty free sounds of certain moves such as running sounds or plastic sounds. I also used an artificial intelligence text to speech software to produce the sounds of mother earth talking. I felt it would be more appropriate to have a sound as such. I used the online software TTSMP3.com for it (Speech, 2022). Connecting the Story Links in Stornaway.io  Planning the Instagram feed   5.0 Conclusion Most people are not aware of how to properly dispose waste. They tend to mix all types of waste together, making It hard to recycle. Raising awareness about these issues and creating change is the first step to a blue earth hence, the name for this awareness campaign. Blue Earth Vision’ is a campaign has an interactive digital story which can help create awareness about waste pollution, management and practicing sustainability. It is targeted to young children and students as they are the future. The more they understand the threat to the earth, the more they are likely to be engaged in reducing such events. In finale the interactive digital story will help create awareness about the plastic pollution and bring positive change through baby steps. After all change doesn’t happen overnight. 6.0 References Works Cited
Fisher, S., 2018. 8 Steps To Creating A Social Media Campaign That Gets Results. [Online] Available at: https://www.mojomedialabs.com/blog/8-steps-to-creating-a-social-media-campaign-that-gets-results
Medhora, N., 2021. The AIDA Model in Marketing (Why It’s Important + What It’s Used For). [Online] Available at: https://copywritingcourse.com/aida-formula/#:~:text=Why%20Is%20The%20AIDA%20Formula,Buy%20a%20product. Unicef, 2021. Government of Maldives, United Nations urge greater action to address devastating impact of climate change on children and young people. [Online]Available at: https://www.unicef.org/maldives/press-releases/government-maldives-united-nations-urge-greater-action-address-devastating-impact [Accessed 20 January 2022]. IUCN, 2021. International Union for Conservation of Nature - Marine plastic pollution. [Online] Available at: https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/marine-plastic-pollution [Accessed 20 January 2022]. Renee Wever & Jasper Van Kuijk, 2008. User-centred design for sustainable behavior. International Journal of Sustainable Engineering, 1(10.1080/19397030802166205), pp. 9-20. James Ellsmoor, 2019. Forbes : Environmental Education Will Shape A New Generation Of Decision-Makers. [Online]Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesellsmoor/2019/08/25/environmental-education-will-shape-a-new-generation-of-decision-makers/?sh=78c46c5d4e31[Accessed 1 April 2022]. Henry Fersko, 2019. UNICF : Turning trash into building blocks for children's futures. [Online] Available at: https://www.unicef.org/stories/turning-trash-building-blocks-childrens-futures [Accessed 1 April 2022] Hamsha, A., 2021. How does Plastic Pollution Effect Your Life [Interview] (1 September 2021). Shiraz, A. Z., 2021. How does Plastic Pollution Effect Your Life [Interview] (1 September 2021). Afeef, F., 2021. How does Plastic Pollution Effect Your Life [Interview] (1 September 2021). Wroe, N., 2013. The Guardian. [Online]Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/apr/19/richard-williams-master-animation [Accessed 14 January 2022]. Speech, T. t., 2022. Text to Speech. [Online]Available at: https://ttsmp3.com [Accessed 14 January 2022]. |