IML 543 Documentation Book

Case Study Documentation

Informal Case Study

Written Documentation by Frankie & LeNaecha

 

Event details

 

PLANNING STAGE: Recruitment of Participants

Marketing and Outreach Notes. A flyer was designed as the communication tool in attracting participants to our event.  We used the flyer to promote the event to various prospects.  The opportunity of utilizing the connection to a special education teacher was challenged due to the time constraints of our event and the requirements for Los Angeles School District (LAUSD) approval.  Flyer distribution involved emailing various parent support groups and going door-to-door to community-based organizations.  Social media outreach included announcement blasts on Facebook with the urging of friends to share on their page.

 

Outcome from Marketing Efforts. Only one participant RSVP’d and it came from the Facebook announcement of one of our fellow media designers.  The rest of the participants came from dance students and faculty from Kaufman who were available to role play and try the games out.

 

Retrospective Thoughts. As our first run at conducting the playtest, we could have broadened language in outreach to be more inclusive of youth with a learning disabilities instead of limiting the invitation to just kids on the spectrum.  This could have increased our chances of recruiting more participants.  Accessibility to event location was also communicated to me as a barrier preventing many interested parties from being involved.  In further iterations of playtesting the RYBG systems, it might be helpful to bring the event to the the groups or organizations willing to host the event and have their members try out the games.  It might also make the participants more comfortable if the event is held in an environment they are familiar in being.  Time constraints in planning had a direct effect on the recruitment process. Because there was a large variety of dance movement variations uploaded by students having to add levels to each variation, we found it difficult to make a unanimous decision on which video to utilize for the students. In total we had two weeks to plan the event.  

 

 

EXECUTION STAGE: Running the Event

The lack of long term marketing and exposure of our event made it extremely difficult to access the target population, students ages 7-15. For that reason, we had to improvise and allow the dance students to role play as 7-15 year olds. Although we were greatly appreciative of the role playing acts, it would have been nice to observe and get feedback from actual kids with learning delays.

 

Lack of exposure to target population. Not having the needed interaction with youth on the spectrum, made it difficult to assess how to best prepare the playtest environment conducive to easing the apprehension of participants. Throughout the semester we were exposed to a great amount of research centered on how dance movement influences the brain, and the positive effects it can have on the population of students on the spectrum. Although we were exposed to research studies through games, articles, videos and VR, we were never directly exposed to the population of children on the spectrum until the day of the event.  Previous activities of interaction or observation would have been beneficial in facilitating communication with our target population when demonstrating the games.  It would have also helped us internalize the sensitivities of dealing with this specific group of kids.

 

Structuring the Playtest. There was confusion as to how many games would be tested on the day of the playtest.  Originally, it was decided that one analog game would be played but on the actual playtest date, more than one game was played.  While this made the event more dynamic, it also added to the confusion of how to divide responsibilities among the media students.  Due to the uncertainty of how a playtest works, we tried to anticipate how to best move participants from the different activity areas and adapted as we saw fit.  Thankfully, with the supervision of Professor McManus, the media students worked as a team and stepped in when when gaps of coverage were present.

 

INDIVIDUAL REFLECTIONS: Notes from the Case Study Team

Naecha: As point of contact for the event I was tasked with assisting with the planning and execution of the play test. In addition, I was responsible for developing and distributing flyers to recruit students for the study. In retrospect, the event went well regardless of unforeseen events, such as, dance students being instructed to present their variation of RYBG to the audience.

In the beginning there was some confusion around if participants should begin upstairs so that they could conduct a pre interview and fill out the media release forms/waivers. After observing the process and the amount of time being spent traveling back and forth we decided to bring the release forms downstairs where the playtest was being conducted. The participants would enter the dance room, sign the release forms, playtest, and interview upstairs. In the end, re-structuring the flow of traffic helped save time and made the process more logical for participants to understand.

The next time we conduct an event it would be to our advantage if we were more proactive in developing a communication outreach plan with local community centers, schools and businesses that work with children on the spectrum. Building relationships with businesses programs, and organizations who work with the target population has the potential to provide parents and/or guardians ease of mind knowing that the efforts of the study have been backed by professionals within the industry. Having the support from other local businesses, programs, and organizations in the area would have provided more leverage that could have been used to gain more participants for the study. Developing relationships with local youth centers would have provided us the opportunity to work directly with our audience, allowing a chance to get more familiarized with their communication and behavioral styles. During our playtest we had one child on the spectrum come out to participate. When entering the dance room and hearing the instructions he became unsure about participating and wanted to deliberate with his father. After going on a walk outside the dance room and deliberating with his father, he decided that he did not want to participate in the study. Because of our lack of exposure, we were a little apprehensive on how to encourage him to participate without making him nervous, intimidated or scared. The fact that the room was dimmed, with upbeat music, and no other kids his age could have also played a major influence on his decision not to participate. For future research, I believe it would be beneficial to do a communication outreach plan ahead of time to gain the support of higher officials who work closely with our demographic of participants.   
 

Frankie:  As the person responsible for video documentation of the event, I assigned two cameras to cover the different activities involved in our case study event. Camera A was meant to be designated for capturing footage of the dance game portion of the experience and Camera B, to the evaluation team conducting participant interviews.  I planned assignments based on a needs assessment of what can be expected, based from previous experiences of overseeing production shoots.  With my “Weight Changer” variation chosen as one of the games to playtest, I thought it was best for me to provide Camera A studio coverage, while Lizzy took on the task of Camera B upstairs in the interview room.  Logistically and for the purposes of this study, it was beneficial that the two areas were separated so that each scene had its own distinct environment, which allowed participants to react and adjust between dance activity mode to the quieter reflective nature of the interview mode.  In the studio, some of the challenges I experienced stemmed from me having to multitask between being a camera person and running my game.  In juggling both those tasks, I was forced to prioritize and manage expectations.  In future attempts to playtest my game, I hope to improve my planning and execution skills based on what was learned from this first experience and enhance it with each successive iteration.


Video Documentation: https://youtu.be/xYsxbMJErkk