Time flies! In the last sprint we changed our goal for this project. Our focus has shifted from the chatbot to documentation. We want to add a stand-alone component to the existing SCREAM platform to digitize, organize and prioritize the way people document their (non-)digital artifacts.
PLANNING
In sprint two we wanted to understand the setbacks and pleasures of the documentation process. The data that we got out of this, would be translated into personas and an infographic. We used two methods to get the data:
- Method 1: a conversation tool that would help us find out how other MediaLAB teams think they document and how they feel about documenting;
- Method 2: analyzing the digital folders from other MediaLAB teams to find out how people actually do document.
EXECUTION
Method 1
Our conversation tool consisted of three elements:
- Categories;
- Cards;
- Fill-in story.
We came up with 6 categories for the conversation tool to get people to think about their documentation process:
- Platforms;
- Events (related to the Scream method);
- Attitudes;
- Sharing (with);
- Problems;
- Kind of documents.
Besides that we created cards with examples that relate to the categories. For example: Google Drive, Slack and “my notebook” were cards that belonged to the ‘Platforms’ category. By giving them categories and cards we wanted to lower the barrier for them to think and talk about their documentation process. To make the data even more concrete, we created 5 fill-in stories for them. They could use the cards from the different categories to fill in the gaps.
Method 2
For the second method we asked the other MediaLAB teams to add us to their digital folders such as Google Drive and Dropbox. We tried to map the ways in which they structure their files. Besides that we looked at who uploaded what kinds of documents.
INSIGHTS RESEARCH
- People have personal preferences when it comes to documenting;
- Customization of the platform is important, but an “easy to use platform” has more priority;
- People already document consistently, but not for the purpose of sharing (with the team and/or the world). This makes the documentation only understandable for themselves;
- It is hard to classify behavior, especially with teams that are multidisciplinary and international
SO, WHAT IS DOCUMENTATION?
While researching we discovered that people have different opinions on the definition of documentation. We tried to create a diagram to map the terms that are related to documenting. We divided the files that you collect during your process into internal and external ones. We decided that the essence of documentation is within an extra layer of information. This information provides context for the reader of the documentation. This extra layer will be the SCREAM FILE, which will be the prototype that we will try to make and test next sprint. During the coming sprints we will refine our definition of the SCREAM FILE and its relation to the Scream method.
WHAT IS NEXT?
As you can see, we tried to do a lot of research on “how do people collect and create documentation?” in sprint two. In sprint three the focus will shift towards “how do people look for and read documentation?”. Besides that, we will start on making and testing a specific part of our documentation tool.