(PGA) Use Cases (March 2013)

Owned by Jonathan Hung
Last updated: Mar 18, 2013Version comment
4 min read

Work in progress

This is background information for what will hopefully become a new use case for PGA.

Edwina - Grade 10 Student

Edwina has recently discovered some new passions in her life: photography, and chess. With a camera, Edwina could never quite remember what all the different numbers mean, but she has learned to embrace this ambiguity and experiment with random settings. This has produced some very unique photos and she hopes to submit a few of them for the school’s yearbook. With chess, often she can visualize her opponent’s plays well in advance - hence Edwina would often exploit this to quickly end matches. It’s for this reason Edwina has a growing reputation as a ruthless player.

Her Android tablet has become her new best friend. She uses Google Goggles to help her get around (uses it to identify landmarks and read signs), and help her with shopping (reading labels and getting additional info from the web).

Developing Edwina's Use Case

Edwina's background story states she is dyslexic, but the use case should be written in a way not to specifically identify this (i.e. use case can be general enough so that Edwina could easily be a foreign student, or a learner with hard-of-hearing with a preference for visuals). In the end she is learner with visual needs which means the appropriate transformations to content.

Edwina will need PGA support in the following areas:

  1. Aesthetic transformations - i.e. larger type spacing
  2. Input alternatives - i.e. Swipe keyboard, larger keys
  3. Learning preferences - i.e. preference for visuals, text descriptions that describe relationships

Possible scenarios for Edwina

  1. Wizard - User setting up preferences for the first time.
  2. Lesson interaction, sharing, and teacher feedback - User interacting with a lesson created by Steve the teacher, and sharing content with peers.
  3. Multiple sets - User creating new profiles to be used across different subjects and devices.

Scenario #3 may reveal that there are two profiles, or multiple profiles enabled at a given time and context. For example, Edwina has profiles specific to learning contexts (i.e. Math or Art), and profiles specific to devices (i.e. Mobile). So it's possible have Math with Mobile, and Art with Mobile. This scenario will explore what it's like for a user to move between different learning, device, and environmental contexts.

Unanswered Design Questions (hopefully explored by this use case)

  • How does a user manage and use multiple device, subject, and context "profiles" simultaneously?
  • How does a learner share content with the teacher, and how does the teacher incorporate it into their next iteration of the lesson?
  • What does it look like for a teacher to create a lesson knowing a learner's profile (see Steve the teacher).

Background Story Notes

Below are notes which can help develop the use case.

Background

  • Grade 10 student
  • Diagnosed as dyslexic at age 12 (now 15).
  • Still learning how to cope and adapt, and technology has been key to making the adjustment easier.
  • Really enjoys photography and has recently discovered an aptitude for chess (now on the school’s junior chess team).
  • Not into playing team sports because of the randomness - but enjoys watching sports on TV especially American football and soccer.

Academics

  • Had always thought of as not being on the same academic level as her peers, but now flourishing in many areas (i.e. Physics and Art)
  • Still a bit sensitive about being different, but increasingly confident in areas of obvious strength (i.e. she would sometimes be ruthless in a chess match. Other times she would hold back at answering questions in class if she sees classmates obviously struggling - doesn't want to stand out sometimes).
  • Her notes from class often take a pictorial form (Example: mind maps are illustrated, and physics problems are drawn, math problems are graphed etc.) and have become popular amoung her classmates and she would often share these notes with them.
  • visual notes, adaptations, and feedback made by Edwina have informed teachers of improvements and have even provided new content for teachers to use.

Technology and Adaptations

  • uses a large Android tablet with some customizations (larger keys, swipe keyboard)
  • uses Dragon dictation software on desktop and tablet at times to help.
  • voice input now being implemented in many apps and websites, but not consistently implemented.
  • would often use text-to-speech
  • recently discovered Google Goggles which makes trips to stores fun (which previously was a source of apprehension)
  • would use GPS way-finding in unfamiliar places (Google Goggles helps here too)
  • intrigued by emerging Augmented Reality innovations.
  • Swipe keyboard is amazing since letters and words are now sequences and spatial relationships.
  • preference for san-serif fonts, increased line and letter spacing (maybe even use Open Dyslexic font, but she feels weird using it)
  • text to speech when needed (uses phone to do OCR)
  • speech to text for input
  • prefers typing over writing
  • finds small keyboards frustrating to use
  • enables auto-correct and auto-complete features whenever possible, but doesn’t work well if spelling is wrong to start (predicts wrong text).

Cognitive

  • thinks visually - can retain and recall visual information readily
  • verbal communication - descriptions need to refer to space or relationships to one another.
  • text - has difficulty processing dense text. Progress is slow. A little easier to process text that are more spaced. Does not like writing because others can’t read what she writes, and often what she writes is indecipherable to herself. Prefers typing as it is neater, but has to spell check often to ensure what she is writing is correct. Would use text-to-speech on emails / texts to make sure they make sense
  • prefers learning where there are lots of visuals and relationships (spatial / temporal relationships are better than arbitrary / loose relationships). Physics is a good example of a good topic. History to some degree, but heavy text load can be frustrating. English class and math can be difficult unless visualized or described in a different way.
  • She may require additional time to complete tasks.

Additional Resources: