welsh assembly interview

a few weeks ago i applied to the welsh assembly for a placement as a research officer in their members research department. the job involves researching information for assembly members, spending a lot of time in their library faculty. however, what interested me in particular was their specification for development of their intranet, revamping their public-facing website, and developing a weekly web-based communications system

the interview was this morning at the bay, so i got suited up and got a cab down. i met alun richards, who showed me around his department before taking me to the interview. i think it went pretty well, and i described my interest in applying information architecture theory to their web services. unfortunately, they explained that their website is part of the overall assembly site, and that there's little scope for anything but slight modifications :(

despite that disappointment, i found the interview experience invaluable in preparation for further job interviews this summer; and i got take a tour round the new assembly building, which is very very cool!

easter!

we had the final set of research project presentations with stuart and debbie this morning, with some really interesting ideas being discussed; and as of 1.30 it is officially the easter holidays for 4 weeks!

tpf.podcast

had a great day at pop factory!...my proposal for a podcast for tpf records was approved last week, and this morning huw (my new boss), jen long (xpress radio station manager) and myself had a meeting to discuss the in's and out's of content, distribution and technical wotnots

the idea is to launch a fortnightly 45-minute fanzine-format show for the welsh music scene, covering everything from the established acts to emerging groups in the indie/alternative/rock scene, with track playbacks, interviews and competitions

with the tragic demise of soundnation magazine a few months ago, there's a gap in the market begging to be filled. considering that huw was instrumental in the creation of the welsh music foundation and soundnation, we're in a unique position to develop something that has good chances of success. part of the reasoning behind soundnation's downfall was rising costs, so what better than a virtually production-cost free audio show to take it's place?

fingers and toes crossed

as a director for tpf records, huw will provide branding and industry contacts; jen's experience at xpress and love for radio and music has effectively landed her her own show straight out of uni; and me? i get to play techie and general dogsbod...uh, web evangelist....

i'm also developing a site for tpf records, getting to do the information architect bit, with pretty much a free reign to coordinate the project over the next few months

i'm *really* looking forward to working on this. we plan to launch april 24th. 4 weeks time. watch this space!!

www.tpfrecords.co.uk
www.xpressradio.co.uk

design for change complete!

we gave our design for change presentations today, and rather than spread them across two days as originally planned, we crammed them all into one session. i didnt enjoy this presentation too much, due to a bad powerpoint on my part, and i don't think i did a very good job of explaining the concept. as i discussed my research, i think i lost most people through too much technobabble

carol won 'best dfc concept', which was thoroughly deserved not just for a super presentation, but for actually mocking up her entire system, and to a really high standard - well done!

its a good day today. this was our final piece of coursework to hand in - from now on, all attention goes to our research projects, and i'm looking forward to getting stuck in to it!

you can download my dfc report and presentation from the submissions dropmenu

dfc report

i've almost completed my design for change proposal report; i just have to review my pest analysis and put together my conclusions

for my prototype, i decided to draw an a3 representation of the finished product, making use of all those things i learnt on product design. unfortunately, i'd lost my graphix pens, so had to use damn pencil crayons. once i'd sketched it out, i scanned it into photoshop, cleaned it up and printed it back out. i then added colour, before scanning it back in, adjusting the brightness & contrast, and adding a pretty reflection a'la apple-style

i also need to build a powerpoint for the presentations. i'm not quite sure how to explain my concept without everyone falling asleep - in my head it all makes sense, but i'm not too good at explaining it in layman's terms! i think some pretty graphics are in order

dfc primary research

a few days ago i emailed a US company called sunbeam, regarding a product line they launched in 2000 which pushed the idea of devices around the home all connected by wireless communications. the product line failed to become established in the marketplace, so i enquired into what went wrong, and outlined my concept to garner their impressions of it

their feedback was positive; they explained that their product line failed as it was a few years ahead of its time, relying on as-then unestablished technologies, and that they feel that current web technologies would allow my updated concept to prove successful

dfc secondary research

i've finished my secondary research for design for change; i've looked at wireless internet technologies, existing products (both digital alarm clocks and products similar to my concept), rss & podcasting, how the product will communicate with the internet, and data mashups

i believe that my concept is feasible using existing technologies, and have even come across a few suggestions for similar ideas on the bbc's developers network and idea-a-day.com

media careers fayre

today was the media careers fayre at city hall, organised by cardiff university. lou, steve, liz, jack, joe, raymond, alicks, james and myself went down to see what was on offer, and to check out the interactive media presentation at the end of the day

i spent a bit of time wandering around the stalls, caught up with kirsten from buzz magazine, and spoke to the bbc about their new media placements. ray pointed out bournemouth university's selection of MA courses, of which the interactive media MA particularly caught my attention

am i up to an MA though? computer says hahaha

for the presentation, we were treated to speeches from grahame davies (head of welsh language new media for the bbc) and simon someoneorother from the cardiff uni journalism school. while giving entertaining testimonies, i think everyone was a little disappointed: too much self-history and not enough substance. i did take a few notes for cv enhancement however, as follows:


if possible, do a charitable work placement: demonstrate community spirit

list skills, e.g. familiarity with blogging, podcasting, cms's, php/mysql, html, photoshop, dreamweaver, wiki's, rss, social software/networking, and so on

list experience, e.g. cisco experience, ctc+ (rolls royce, bbc, electric december, nesta), work experience, what you've actually done (research project, freelance work), ideas you have, career philosophy, etc

produce two cv's: a brief paper-based one, and a detailed interactive one


after the presentation, lou and i decided to do a bit of brown nosing with grahame, laying some groundwork for applying for bbc placements in the summer. lou had met him before through dimension 10 and made short work of whoring herself and her golden pixl award; and i'm pretty sure he won't forget my piercings...although i'm not sure if he was staring out of disbelief or jealousy. i reckon the latter

rp literature review

i've just uploaded an updated version of my literature review following marking. click the image below to download it as a pdf

dfc tutorial with stuart

i had a dfc tutorial with stuart this morning, concentrating on deliverables for the report and presentation. notes are as follows:

rationale/feasability
primary - interviews/email feedback/quotes
secondary - journals/blogosphere/google
DUE analysis, where appropriate

research
define market
bluetooth/wireless/rfid, home entertainment systems, intelligence
link to/extention of mobile device/home entertainment system > both? either?

concept
how does it improve on the existing situation?
why buy it?
how does it change your life?
why this product? low cost / high concept

report
history of product/evolution?
background/market research
identify market gap
technology available
PEST

presentation
overview report
audience = layman
selling points (humanistic terms)
prototypes - high concept/impact; why it should work