(Summer 2005-Fall 2006, Individual project, Completed)
Grassroots is an asset based mapping tool for communities. It was born out of a local need vocalized by community members to make compelling visual arguments, such as asset maps, to promote community change.
Using Grassroots, users can :
- Create maps showing important features of their community
- Save and share the maps they create with others
- Create new, specialized maps by starting with any map that is already shared
- Find maps by searching by geographic region, by users and groups, or by tags that identify maps' purpose, features, etc.
Interactions in storytelling toys for children
(Fall 2005-Spring 2006, Individual project, Dormant)
The aim of this project was to create a storytelling toy(s) that will not only tell stories to children, but will also aid them in telling their own stories. While most toys available in today's market tell stories, there are only a few that enable children to tell their own stories, thus empowering them to create.
The project proposal has more details. Unfortunately, this project has been stalled for the lack of funding and resources.
Plug- Envisioning participatory democracy
(Fall 2005, Group project, Completed)
Our goal was to design a system that would allow students to participate more effectively in the decision-making process within university settings (dorm residents at MSU in this case). We also looked at the bigger issue of democratic participation as a part of the project.
The class was 'Information and Interaction Design' and we focused on the methods (Contextual Inquiry & Rational Unified Process) used to design a system. We started out by defining a social practice we wanted to modify and then let the research and work-models define the product.
Extending the U.S Army Corps of Engineers NRM Gateway to Non-Corps Audiences
(Fall 2004-Summer 2005, Collaborative report, Completed)
Our team conducted Design Research for extending the U.S Army Corps of Engineers 'Natural Resource Management (NRM) Gateway' to Non-Corps audiences. Research involved task analysis, interviews and questionnaires. The report includes results, discussions and a set of recommendations.
We also tested hypotheses that led to the development of interactive interfaces in resource-based recreation management.