Part 1 Criterion A
1. Select a suitable desktop publishing package and justify this selections
When I typed "free card maker" in google, I found some good looking websites for card making.
https://www.canva.com/create/cards
http://www.fotor.com
https://www.picmonkey.com/online-card-maker
I decided to use "fotor" (the second one) because I felt like most of the people would do "canvas" (the first one) and I didn't want to use the site that lots of people use so I looked at the "fotor" and "picmonkey". But as I tried making a test card, I found out that it had too much tools and I was a little lost with what to start with. After that I looked at "fotor" and found it as a suitable site for me because it gave me some templates for times when I have no idea for how to make my cards. It was also simple to use and it only had tools that I really needed. So I decided using "fotor".
When I typed "free card maker" in google, I found some good looking websites for card making.
https://www.canva.com/create/cards
http://www.fotor.com
https://www.picmonkey.com/online-card-maker
I decided to use "fotor" (the second one) because I felt like most of the people would do "canvas" (the first one) and I didn't want to use the site that lots of people use so I looked at the "fotor" and "picmonkey". But as I tried making a test card, I found out that it had too much tools and I was a little lost with what to start with. After that I looked at "fotor" and found it as a suitable site for me because it gave me some templates for times when I have no idea for how to make my cards. It was also simple to use and it only had tools that I really needed. So I decided using "fotor".
Part 2 Criterion B
1. Use the desktop publishing software you decided on to create two different style cards.
These are pictures of cards that I made using "Fotor"
These are pictures of cards that I made using "Fotor"
Part 3 Criterion C (Creating the Solution)
1. Construct a logical plan
- Describe what you will need to include in your instruction manual.
- My voice (using voice over in Imovie) explaining briefly what I am doing
- What format will your instruction manual take?
Video - Why do you think that this is an appropriate format?
I chose 'video' as the format for my instruction manual because when I need a walkthrough for Poptropica (a computer game that I play), I find it easier to just watch video of someone else playing than reading the instruction. For example, when it says "Swim left, and jump onto the log to jump over the block in your way", some of the time,I don't have a way to figure out how much I have to swim left or which log I have to jump over. When I actually see what the other person did, I can just follow exactly what he/she did. And honestly, I sometime get lazy reading the manual when I see paragraphs of words. So based on my experience, I think video is suitable for the instruction manual for card making.
2. Justify changes made to the design
I followed all my initial plan except for 1 important thing. While I was editing the video, I thought that 'voice over' wouldn't be a good idea for this instruction manual because people could misunderstand or miss my words in the video. So I thought that if I write down some key things that people need to know in the video, it would be easier for the audience to know what is happening in the video and it would be easier for me too because I just have to write some key points in the video.
3. Other's comment
Caitlin: "I really liked the format of the instruction manual and the way the video was organized. However because you were recording your screen, some parts were confusing to watch. Overall, it was a good instruction manual, very instructive ^^."
My Instruction Manual
https://youtu.be/D-ppH67RIss
I followed all my initial plan except for 1 important thing. While I was editing the video, I thought that 'voice over' wouldn't be a good idea for this instruction manual because people could misunderstand or miss my words in the video. So I thought that if I write down some key things that people need to know in the video, it would be easier for the audience to know what is happening in the video and it would be easier for me too because I just have to write some key points in the video.
3. Other's comment
Caitlin: "I really liked the format of the instruction manual and the way the video was organized. However because you were recording your screen, some parts were confusing to watch. Overall, it was a good instruction manual, very instructive ^^."
My Instruction Manual
https://youtu.be/D-ppH67RIss
Part 4 Criterion D (Evaluating)
1. Success of the solution
In the questionnaire that I sent to my class mates, I asked 4 questions about my instruction manual and got 8 responses.
The 4 questions were
1. How easy was my instruction manual to follow?
2. Why was it easy or not easy to follow?
3. What do you think I can improve on?
4. What did you like about my instruction?
For the first question, I made a scale from 1 to 5 because I thought the format would be easier for people to answer. (1-really easy, 5-really hard). 5 people chose 1 (62.5%) and 3 people chose 2 (37.5%).
The second question wasn't required so not all the people answered but I still got 5 answers. 2 people said it was easy because the instruction manual was in a video format. 2 people said it was easy because it had no words and had clear steps. And I was confused with "it was easy because it had no words" because I wrote words in my video as a caption. So I think he/she meant that I didn't say any words in the video which made the video easy to understand (?).
The third question was required because I thought that was the most important question and also the question that people would most likely to not answer if it wasn't required. (However, I think there was a technical problem because 2 people didn't answer the question). 3 people said there was nothing that I could improve on because it was already good but I don't think the video is perfect. 1 person who answered the questionnaire the first said they couldn't download the video so I quickly uploaded my instruction manual on youtube so that anyone can watch it without any problem. Another person said 'more words' which I think they meant that I should add more words in the caption so that it is more detailed. And the last person said 'you can add your voice instead of texts' which I was quite surprised because as I said above, I added texts instead of my voice just in case they don't understand what I am saying. So I thought the person who answered also explained why they think it would be better.
For the last question, 6 people answered. 1 person again said that they couldn't download the video. 2 people said they just liked my instruction manual and another 2 people said they liked my instruction manual because it was a video. And 1 person said they liked it because it was smooth and easy to understand.
Overall, I got some answers that I wasn't expecting like how some one said they wanted voice instead of texts so I thought it was interesting and I also got some answers that didn't really answer my question but more people answered than I was expecting.
2. How the solution could be improved
I think I could improve my instruction manual by making it more smooth. Some one said it was smooth but I think it could be smoother. I noticed that in some part, for example the part where I import photos in the card, it wasn't smooth because I just cut out some part and it looked unnatural. And I think it made it harder for people to understand exactly what I did. So next time, I should make sure that I have clearer plan and know what exactly I have to do in the video so that later, I don't have to cut out and edit the video and make it look unnatural.
3. Impact of the solution
I used to think that people mostly use written instruction manual to know how to use new technologies/software, but after this project, I got time to think more about it and learned that there are different types of instruction manual. And now I think people learn not just by reading instruction manual, but also watching something like a tutorial video or even just by asking people directly or through social media.
I think new technologies impact our lives in lots of ways but I think the biggest impact in our lives is that with new technologies we learn and find out something new. For example, using the ESA's Mars Express and NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter which is a 'new technologies/software', scientists found minerals that suggested the presence of water on Mars. Everyday, people find out something new using new technologies/software, which leads to making of another new technologies/software which I think of it as a cycle of technology/software.
It depends on people and the format of instruction manual, but I think people definitely do read instruction manual, or they might not read every single words in the manual but most of them do look through the manual to understand what they have to do. For me, an instruction manual with some pictures are easier to understand. I don't like reading any instruction manual with long explanation because most of the time, it takes long time to comprehend what it says. It depends, but I think lots of people likes to read something that simply explains what people have to do and doesn't take too long to comprehend what they have to do.
In the questionnaire that I sent to my class mates, I asked 4 questions about my instruction manual and got 8 responses.
The 4 questions were
1. How easy was my instruction manual to follow?
2. Why was it easy or not easy to follow?
3. What do you think I can improve on?
4. What did you like about my instruction?
For the first question, I made a scale from 1 to 5 because I thought the format would be easier for people to answer. (1-really easy, 5-really hard). 5 people chose 1 (62.5%) and 3 people chose 2 (37.5%).
The second question wasn't required so not all the people answered but I still got 5 answers. 2 people said it was easy because the instruction manual was in a video format. 2 people said it was easy because it had no words and had clear steps. And I was confused with "it was easy because it had no words" because I wrote words in my video as a caption. So I think he/she meant that I didn't say any words in the video which made the video easy to understand (?).
The third question was required because I thought that was the most important question and also the question that people would most likely to not answer if it wasn't required. (However, I think there was a technical problem because 2 people didn't answer the question). 3 people said there was nothing that I could improve on because it was already good but I don't think the video is perfect. 1 person who answered the questionnaire the first said they couldn't download the video so I quickly uploaded my instruction manual on youtube so that anyone can watch it without any problem. Another person said 'more words' which I think they meant that I should add more words in the caption so that it is more detailed. And the last person said 'you can add your voice instead of texts' which I was quite surprised because as I said above, I added texts instead of my voice just in case they don't understand what I am saying. So I thought the person who answered also explained why they think it would be better.
For the last question, 6 people answered. 1 person again said that they couldn't download the video. 2 people said they just liked my instruction manual and another 2 people said they liked my instruction manual because it was a video. And 1 person said they liked it because it was smooth and easy to understand.
Overall, I got some answers that I wasn't expecting like how some one said they wanted voice instead of texts so I thought it was interesting and I also got some answers that didn't really answer my question but more people answered than I was expecting.
2. How the solution could be improved
I think I could improve my instruction manual by making it more smooth. Some one said it was smooth but I think it could be smoother. I noticed that in some part, for example the part where I import photos in the card, it wasn't smooth because I just cut out some part and it looked unnatural. And I think it made it harder for people to understand exactly what I did. So next time, I should make sure that I have clearer plan and know what exactly I have to do in the video so that later, I don't have to cut out and edit the video and make it look unnatural.
3. Impact of the solution
I used to think that people mostly use written instruction manual to know how to use new technologies/software, but after this project, I got time to think more about it and learned that there are different types of instruction manual. And now I think people learn not just by reading instruction manual, but also watching something like a tutorial video or even just by asking people directly or through social media.
I think new technologies impact our lives in lots of ways but I think the biggest impact in our lives is that with new technologies we learn and find out something new. For example, using the ESA's Mars Express and NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter which is a 'new technologies/software', scientists found minerals that suggested the presence of water on Mars. Everyday, people find out something new using new technologies/software, which leads to making of another new technologies/software which I think of it as a cycle of technology/software.
It depends on people and the format of instruction manual, but I think people definitely do read instruction manual, or they might not read every single words in the manual but most of them do look through the manual to understand what they have to do. For me, an instruction manual with some pictures are easier to understand. I don't like reading any instruction manual with long explanation because most of the time, it takes long time to comprehend what it says. It depends, but I think lots of people likes to read something that simply explains what people have to do and doesn't take too long to comprehend what they have to do.