Get Up, Get Moving model
My spread sheet model is suited for the target audience as the information is laid out in an organised way – personal details, activity plan, predicted weight and menu. The spread sheet model is laid out so the user follows it as it is step by step, top to bottom. The purpose of the spread sheet model is to provide the user with an action plan on what they need to do, to become healthier and more active.
On the final version of the model it was recommended I use more than one colour as I used different shades of green, it was recommended that by using more than one colour I could connote more thoughts and feelings to the user. Another recommendation was to adjust text sizes and fonts so that it will be easier for the user to follow the spread sheet model. Another suggestion was to lower the amount of choice the user had for the meals to select and what activity they wished to do as there were loads which made it hard for the user to go through them all to find what they wanted. Another recommendation was to change the style of the graph to make it more alive as it just blends in with the background as it doesn’t draw attention.
In addition to improving my spread sheet model by doing the points above I can also add a mini video in the spread sheet showing the user different features of the model and how to use them, the video could be recorded by using ‘hypercam’ which records the screen. When using hypercam I can also use audacity which is an audio editing software to create a voice over for the video recorded by hypercam. After this I can combine the voice over and recording using Microsoft movie maker or similar software.
Get Up, Get Moving report
My report is suited for its target audience, teenagers, as it doesn’t overwhelm the user with lots of data rather it shows small amounts of key information which will appeal to my target audience. It also shows data from the model as an easy to read graph which will also appeal to teenagers as they can easily compare the data on the graph visually.
On the final version of the report it was recommended I add something which would make my report more interactive for the user. It was also recommended that I add an explanation for the user so they know the benefits of following the plan; this should’ve been done already as it is specified on the CAB website. It was also recommended that I add more colours or use more colours in my report as I only use different shades of green in my report. By using more colours I would’ve been able to connote thoughts and feelings to the user which would’ve made my report more effective and successful in what it is trying to achieve. It was also recommended that I make the graph more ‘alive’ as it is boring, it isn’t special or unique.
To make my report more interactive I could add a button on the report where the data shown on the report is sent to my website, after the data has been sent, I can create a page on the website where people who are doing exceptional well in terms of fitness data will be shown to everyone accessing the website. This will also make the website more suited for its purpose as people visiting the website will see people who are doing exceptionally well and think that they can also do the same. To make the graph seem more ‘alive’ I could’ve used a colour which contrasted with the colour green to make it stand out for example the colour red.
Digital poster
My digital poster is suited to my target audience as it appeals to teenagers by using a simple layout, basic colours and using key points of information instead of large paragraphs of information. The purpose of the digital poster is to advertise and promote Get Up, Get Moving and to get teenagers to get involved in the campaign by making the campaign sound like it could make a big difference in their life.
On the final version of the digital poster it was recommended I add motion / movement to the digital poster as the slides themselves don't do anything special or unique which would attract people to take time to look at the digital poster. It was also recommended that I add a voice over / commentary to my digital poster so people walking past the digital poster will stop to see what the voice is saying.
To further improve my digital poster I can do what was said above although when my digital poster is displayed to the public, they may not be able to hear it for example if the digital poster was displayed on the side of the motorway, people won't be able to hear it because they are in their cars. Although adding a voice over will be useful if it were placed in a shopping centre as the centre will be busy and it is unusual for their to be a 'talking' digital poster so it would attract attention. To improve the digital poster I could also make the poster interactive as there are touch screen digital posters about which let the user get more involved in the digital poster. To make my digital poster interactive I could add a mini game or quiz into the power-point which is what I used to make the poster.
Podcast
My podcast is suited to my target audience as it is in a suitable format for teenagers to be able to hear, my podcast is saved as an .mp3 which is the most common audio format used by teenagers because of music downloads which is why my podcast is saved as an mp3. The purpose of my podcast is to promote Get Up, Get Moving by telling users what tools and content I have created for them to use. My podcast was for use in my website so by saving it as an mp3 I was able to put it on my website directly without editing it to make it suitable for use on a webpage.
On the final version of the podcast it was suggested that I create my own background effects by doing this is would be more suited to my voice over and also the background effects would be clearer in sound quality. It was also recommended that I shorten the podcast as it is long even though it is within the time set by the Get Up, Get Moving CAB website. It was also suggested that I use more sound effects to accompany the voice over rather than just the one that plays throughout the whole podcast this would make my podcast appeal to my target audience more. It was also recommended that I use a more unique voice which would’ve been more memorable making the podcast more effective and successful for its purpose.
To further improve my podcast I could make my own background effects also I could use a more unique voice to make the podcast more memorable to the user also make them listen more closely. I could also use a wider range of sound effects to make the podcast more attention grabbing making it appeal more to my target audience.
Website
My website is suited for my audience as my website is aimed at teenagers and the website is simple and easy to navigate through which will appeal to teenagers, also the colours are simple and not too ‘heavy’ on the eye. The purpose of my website is to promote the Get Up; Get Moving campaign to do this my website allows the user to download different tools I have created, so they can use it.
On the final version it was recommended I add a slideshow of healthy meals and people doing workouts onto my website homepage which changed frequently, because the slide would’ve changed frequently it would’ve connoted that Get Up, Get Moving is about keeping active and healthy. Also it was recommended I make a small adjustment to the colour changing background; so that when the cursor is moved away from the box it goes back to the original colour rather than staying on the colour it changes to. Also it was suggested I add a mini video or voice note to the webpage explaining how to use the website to get the tools needed to start making changes in the user’s life.
To improve my website I can implement the feedback I received above. Also I could have added an interactive element to my website for example a mini-game, or word search. Also I could have added transitions to my webpage so that when the user accesses another page it plays a transition from one page to another. Also I could re-design my website so that it looks like a note pad which would’ve made the website more memorable to the traffic and more appealing to my target audience as they are likely to write on note pads, when they see the website designed as a note pad they will automatically link the two.
Evaluation
I think the way I managed my time was good and bad at the same time, good because I finished all work required from me before the deadline and bad because my coursework folder is not as good as it could’ve been if I had managed my time better. For example instead of talking in class I could’ve done a substantial amount of work in that time or being late for class which meant I had less time to work on my coursework folder. Also when I wasted time I would have to spend over time doing what should’ve been done already which meant I was falling behind.
The most useful skill to me when creating my folder was ‘independence’ as a lot of my work was done by me solely. Other skills which I thought I had shown were being ‘resourceful’ and ‘resilience’. For example when I was creating my website I needed to create buttons for my user to use to navigate through the website, I used inspiration from other websites and searches of Google Images to help me create the buttons I needed to; I believe I showed resourcefulness at this time. Another example was when I was doing the coding for the moving text on my website, the coding wasn’t right so the text didn’t move side by side so I kept altering the HTML coding until I found the problem with my coding – I forgot to include ‘<p>’ and ‘</p>’ at the beginning and ending of the marquee coding.
I came into many difficulties during this project and how I approached them varied. In some situations I would read a book to help me overcome the problem I faced, for example I had troubles coding the background for my website and then I used ‘Adobe Dreamweaver CS5 Digital Classroom’ to learn the HTML code for the background. Another way I faced issues was to simply search on Google, for example when I was doing my ‘investigation and profile’ I didn’t know what many of terms were so I searched them on Google, words such as ‘BMI’, ‘Activity Levels’.
To make my work more successful and better for the end user I could’ve done a wide range of things to my coursework folder. For example if I had managed my time more effectively the quality of my work would’ve been better; in terms of appearance and content. Also I could’ve made my work more successful by asking my test buddy to get more in depth with his feedback this would’ve helped improve my work as I would’ve been able to understand better what was good and bad with my work. Furthermore I could’ve asked other people in my class other than my test buddy for feedback as I would’ve got more viewpoints giving me a better understanding on what was good and bad about my work.
During the project I had two teachers, both provided me with good feedback which I found greatly improved my work. For example on my website I had a slideshow which was big, bulky and irrelevant which I thought of keeping but my teacher said “it’s a waste of space” so I removed it and it greatly improved the look of my website. Also when my teacher gave my spread sheet model a once over, I was told some of my formulas which relied on data on another sheet wouldn’t work because the formula was written wrong, which I later rectified.
My test buddy helped me a lot throughout the whole project giving me good feedback and the reasons behind his feedback. Also my test buddy was ahead in the work so he would regularly give me tips on what to do when I got to the point he was at so I won’t have as many problems as he did. For example before creating my website my test buddy told me that when creating my website I should work out the size I wanted the columns to be on my webpage to avoid me adjusting my whole website as I wanted to change the size.
My role as a test buddy was to provide feedback to my test buddy about his work. As a test buddy I believe I done well as I would regularly give feedback to my test buddy rather than at the end when he would’ve finished his work. I think this was good as he would be able to make improvements to his work as he was doing it rather than waiting till he had finished then going back to make adjustments. I also told my test buddy the reasons behind my feedback I think this helped him because he would better understand why I thought something was good and bad about his work rather than him blindly following what I said.
Overall in this project I think my performance had positive and negative aspects. I performed well in terms in completing my work in time but I also performed poorly when it came to the quality of the work. This meant I had to go back and ‘fix’ certain parts of my coursework folder which meant I had less time to create other content which was required of me to create. Time management was my poorest skill during this project as I didn’t manage time well and had to spend more time then I would’ve wanted ‘fixing’ work when I should’ve been using that time to create new content for the campaign.