me “ink” ( my interactive diary)

1. me "ink" me “ink”(myinteractive diary) A conceptual captology design by Ami Mehta Design Challenge To rethink our masters project using a persuasive technology.

2. Me “Ink” Persuasive Purpose To motivate children with language learning disabilities to overcome their “learned helplessness” state by expressing their feelings in written and pictorial form. The pilot design will focus on 3rd grade girls. Industrial Design The Magic Pen Stylus Awarded to the child when they reach the center of the labyrinth. The Interactive Diary The child will be able to interact with the diary every night before she goes to bed. The diary is web-enabled and has a touch screen that coordinates with the magic pen stylus.

3. Macro-Persuasion Features/ Functionality Motivational Features to Increase Self-Efficacy The learner will be able to write about her favorite heroes and heroines and they will come to life in the labyrinth. The process of writing in a diary is a form of play therapy and can be considered a coping strategy All of the writing activities will be modeled by the learner’s role models using the persuasive strategy of expertise. The magic pen stylus will also offer positive reinforcements and remind the learner to write in her journal every evening.

4. Micro-Persuasion Features/ Functionality The pen has a built-in microphone that converts voice into text. This feature can work locally or remotely helping the dyslexic child. The interactive diary will use assistive technology and e-services to deliver a multimedia capabilities, as well. A specially designed e-service will update the writing activities on a daily basis through internet based communication. The interactive diary also has a built-in dictionary and thesaurus to help the learner to feel successful. Adaptive learning guides will model the appropriate writing techniques encouraging the children to practice virtually.

5. User Description • 3rd grade girls with mild language learning disabilities and has been diagnosed with depression • Have fallen into a “learned helplessness” behavior pattern • Need to be reassured continually • Have low self-esteem and low self efficacy • Typically part of a traditional classroom but are falling behind in reading and writing activities • Feel hopeless and unintelligent

6. Learned Helplessness • The language learning disabled child has been researched in many different arenas. • Children with learning disabilities are defined as those with normal intelligence, intact sensory and emotional functioning, but who still exhibit a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or using language, spoken or written. pg.6 Simon • The landscapes of research focused on the language learning disabled child point to many different hypotheses for his/her difficulty. I will focus on one possible explanation, the Psycho-dynamic variables. • Psycho-dynamic variables - self-perceptions can affect motivation and task persistence. Low self-esteem can affect motivation, which in turn affects performance also known as "learned helplessness.” (According to Charlann Simon in her book, Communication Skills and Classroom Success,)

7. Central Persona - Shannon • Shannon is the girl in the middle • She is 8 years old • She is extremely creative • She is first in her class in art • She has been diagnosed with dyslexia and trouble with her writing skills • She was held back a year because she doesn’t feel she can write well • Her friends Casey on her right and Sara on her left tease her and call her retarded • She feels depressed a lot and doesn’t really like going to school

8. Theoretical Justifications Increased Self Efficacy • “Social cognitive theory suggests that behavior change and maintenance are a function of these two types of expectations--outcome expectations (whether a certain behavior will lead to a certain outcome) and self-efficacy expectations (whether one is capable of successfully engaging in the behavior) (Bandura, 1977a) • Performance accomplishments--individual learn through experience (the labryrinth is a never-ending journey offering the learner new experiences) • Vicarious experience--skills are being strengthened while expectations of further success are enhanced.(the labyrinth is a journey and the pen offers direction, motivation and reinforcement through verbal cues.) • Verbal persuasion--people learn through observing others. (adaptive learning guides teaching writing skills) • Psychological state--can affect perceived self efficacy (children are motivated by the challenge, curiosity, control and fantasy elements of the interactive diary --Malone and Lepper, therefore they are not focused on the perceived fear of writing. (Skinner and Kreuter, pg. 45)

9. Theoretical Justifications, cont. Increased Self Efficacy • Relapse Intervention Strategies • Teaching general and specific coping skills to deal with high-risk situations(writing in a diary in one form of coping by expressing your true feelings) • Building self-efficacy by rehearsing coping responses (the magic pen stylus prompts the learner to write every evening before she goes to sleep) • Providing reinforcement (Offered by the interactive diary and the magic pen stylus based on encouragement to write and express more, • Changing outcome expectations about the effects of the behavior (the hope would be that the learner becomes less intimidated and enjoys writing, therefore would more likely be able to face her disability) (Skinner and Kreuter, pg. 45)

10. Results of User TestingAli Tested 9 girls at a local, private elementary school on my initial labyrinth design (available to view at ldt.stanford.edu/~amimehta). All of my ideas on this redesign have been informed by these tests. • What I liked • “Doing the writing and the drewing” • “Getting the clues” • “Learning things” • Things I didn’t like or would like to improve • “I think there should be more characters”

11. Results of User TestingOlivia • What I liked • “It was fun seeing the labrith” • “I like writing in the journal” • Things I didn’t like or would like to improve • “Nothing”

12. Results of User TestingHanna • What I liked • “I liked the slide to go with the lesson and that whe had movie characters” • Things I didn’t like or would like to improve • “I like everything”

13. Results of User TestingSamantha • What I liked • “that I was abel to expres my feelings” • “that I knew what all of the superheros that helped us” • Things I didn’t like or would like to improve • “I don’t think that anything could make the presontation any more fun.”

14. Results of User TestingAili • What I liked • “I liked rescuing Pikachu” • “I thought the powers were cool” • “Meeting the people was neet” • Things I didn’t like or would like to improve • [left blank]

15. Results of User TestingMelissa • What I liked • “I liked about talking about super heros” • “The maze was fun” • Things I didn’t like or would like to improve • “More Adventure” • “More people to save”

16. Results of User TestingElizabara • What I liked • “It was cool when the superhero’s greeted you.” • “It was neat how the superhero’s gave us clues.” • Things I didn’t like or would like to improve • [left blank]

17. Results of User TestingElana • What I liked • “I enjoyed going through the stages and earning the powers.” • Things I didn’t like or would like to improve • “I thought it would be a little better if Amie would have used real alive people”

18. Results of User TestingLizzy • What I liked • “I liked the superheros.” • “I liked the labrinth.” • “I liked that it was funny.” • Things I didn’t like or would like to improve • “nothing rong”

19. Shortcomings of Design • Multimedia Learning Experiences • Although multimedia learning experiences offer unique and effective was of teaching new skills, they are very costly and have not still shown a significant return on investment. • Requires that tech-savvy parents to buy these types of tools for their children • The magic pen stylus would require many new types of technologies to be integrated into a small environment. • Children with language learning disabilities • The design could not only target this group because it could stigmatize them even further. It would have to be popular with all third grade girls but would benefit those with difficulties the most. • Many different factors could cause these learning differences, focusing on the psycho-dynamic aspects is just one approach. • .

20. Expansion - What else is possible? • Other form factors or ID possibilities • Digital Camera with Neck Strap as an additional accessory to the interactive diary. • New features and functionality • Pictures are submitted into a contest and the top 10 girls get to meet their own personal heroine story posted to a mutually accessible site (leveraging social proof) • Camera also offers positive reinforcements and allows the learner to build their own characters in the labyrinth based on their real lives. • Girls can exchange pictures with one another sharing their stories digitally • The interactive diary becomes an online photo album for the girl to track all of her pictures, ideas, thoughts and stories over several years.

21. Next Steps in Design Process • More user-testing • Expand to 3rd grade boys • Eventually move to middle school, high school and college • Prototype iteration • Create a working prototype and test on a niche of third grade girls (Based on the book Crossing the Chasm) • Create a caste of multi-cultural super heroes to appeal to a more diverse audience • Focus groups • Test in other geographies around the world • Product Iteration • Market research for product viability • Implementation • Product targets a specific user audience to test mainstream viability.

22. Final words from Sam--one of the boys who was user tested Sam wrote: In this leson I lernd when I scech a picture it becomes a whole world and I'm the god of it. When a spark insperaton I should write it down and see what it turns into. I should not be afraid to show my work, instead I should show it with pried.