Molly M. Stevens: User Experience Design Projects

Homepage of Molly M. Stevens

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	Summaries of all projects appear below.	Master's Thesis: The Living Memory Box User-Centered Design: Infant Room Information System Business Plan: Child Care Information System Object-Oriented Character Programming: Garden Variety

title	description & link

The Living Memory Box	http://www.mollystevens.com/thesis.html Master's Thesis Project Summary: The Living Memory Box is a user-centered digital device for supporting the collection, archival, and exploration of memories about a child's life. I will develop user needs through previous and current ethnographic style qualitative research. In particular, I will address the frustrations presented by current capture, archival and re-experiencing methods. I will build a prototype of an interactive application demonstrating the exploration and development of an archive of material for one child. My primary focus will be on how the interaction design and information architecture can help add to the archive, not just through the addition of new items, but also through the weaving of connections between the artifacts and the individuals who access them. (read more)

Infant Room Information System	http://www.mollystevens.com/IRIS.html The original idea for the project was mine, and I designed the look and feel of the metaphor-based graphical user interface. • Worked in group on all aspects of the design process from prototype development and final implementation of touch screen system utilized to assist caregivers to record and preserve critical information in infant room environment in day care centers. • Participated in a range of technical and other activities to ultimately deliver an effective user-friendly touch screen system. • Conducted inclusive hands-on field research, including extensive interviews of workers in infant room, to investigate and respond to explicit user needs and to identify potential problems. Effectively administered a range of usability tests. The original assignment for this four member group project was "to evaluate some computing-related task/problem, to develop interface design alternatives for the task/problem, to implement a prototype of your design, and to plan and execute the evaluation of your design."

Child Care Information System	This project was an extension of the Infant Room Information System developed in the Fall of 2000. Patrick Quattlebaum and I decided to pursue a comprehensive business plan for the complete child care center project. Executive Summary: The Child Care Information System (CCIS) is an innovative new tool for both empowering child caregivers and informing the current practices of Generic Childcare Centers. CCIS is a networked information gathering, retrieval and analysis system that is integrated within all functions of the child care center. Developed using the latest techniques in the fields of human-computer interaction and information design, CCIS offers several benefits to its corporate partner: • CCIS's user-friendly interface and domain-specific functionality make the caregiver's job easier and more rewarding, helping to combat one the major problems currently endemic to the childcare industry – worker turnover. • CCIS improves the caregiver-parent relationship by collecting a broad range of data and is given to the parent as a detailed narrative of their child's day. • The system's powerful data analysis tools aid management in identifying patterns of success and failure within the center – patterns currently invisible outside of the individual classroom. • Once the system is installed, Generic Childcare Centers will experience greater profit margins through the reduction of operational expenses and an increase in center revenues. Full Business Plan Document

Garden Variety	http://wwww.mollystevens.com/6211 Garden Variety is a not linear experience that encourages exploration and discovery. With Garden Variety, users create a personalized garden without being limited by a prescribed set of possibilities. The flowerbed serves as a creative hub, allowing users to make innumerable arrangements and patterns. It is a garden of infinite variety.