D Lab Week of 19th March

Acomplishments:

• Familiarization Presentations
• Assesment of End USer and Client Needs
• Theme set: Calgary Stampede
• END USER: A person with Dyslexia (determined Fri 19th March 2010, after presentations were complete)

Task Needed to be Done:

• Funcationality and Design Documents
• Creation of indiviual Modules
• Ensuring integration between modules

Presentation Overviews

D9

Discussed the prevalence of LD in homelesspersons. Stated that homeless children were twice as likely to develpo LD (learning disabilities). This indicates the LD and homeless ness care related. In order to compensate, the program will involve visual and audio cues heavily.

Experts identified were: Kenneth Karak who studied LD, the lab programming guide, and the Mustard Seed.

Goal was defined as: "To create a game that was both fun, simple and educational"

Area of game assigned: Differences Between Professional and Non-Professional Atmospheres.

D1

Stated that 48% of people with LD are unemployed. This is due to the lack of education and communcation ability. In order to help, the Mustard Seed has provided a program to imporve speech, but this is currently failing due to lack of interest.

D1 suggessted that the development of a game that incorperates some of these current solutions and some uniqu solutions developed by the lab in a computer game will hold the user's interest and thus allow them to learn how to communicate.

D3

Stated that there are approx. 4060 homeless in Calgary. In order to help them, their area of the game will be professional appearance. The end user ID was one affected by dyslexia which is a disorder that causes letters, and numbers to be mixed up.

Experts that may be helpful as ID by D3 were: The Calgary Homeless Foundation, The Mustard Seed, and the lab programming guide.

D10

The End user ID by D10 was an individual who was autistic. Autism as explained, causes difficulty in communcation, and socialization and can begin as a disorder as early as age 6. In order to counteract this, their game section will focus on social mannerisms in a way that it will enhance the individuals capacity to interact with others.

Current programs employed to deal with Autism as stated by D10 were aimed toward children and not adults. In addition, they also stated that Autistics are resistant to change.

D12

End User identified by D12 was an individual with Asperger Syndrome. This disorder causes physical clumsiness, poor social interaction, poor verbal commucation and difficulty understanding emotions and interactions.

To understand and learn more, D12 stated that it would be possible to contact and speak to a representative from the Learning Disabilites Association of Alberta (LDAA).

Focus of their section will be on mannerisms and implemented through situational scenarios.

D11

Initially experienced difficulty setting up their powerpoint presentation.

D11 focused on the following area of the game: Social Appearance; stating that the first impression is a lasting impression. They chose to emphasise on teaching the user to pick appropriate clothes for the appropriate situation. EX/ It's OK for a construction worker to be dirty, but it is not OK for a person in the mall.

Experts ID by D11 were: The Calgary Learning Center, Foothills Academy, programming instructor in the lab, and the Mustard Seed

D5

User focus was on LD in general and touching on illiteracy. The area D5 was assigned was social speech and conversation. This theory was "The person you meet today, might be your boss tomorrow". They stated that proper interactions between people outside of work is just as important as within work. The section will implement both visual and audio cues to the user there by saying a response with an appropriate image to illustrate.

Experts ID by D5 were: The Mustard Seed, LDAC (learning Disabilites Association of Canada), and the programming instructor.