WK 4 Blog Entry 4 - Response to a classmate

Donna Tracy said... (in response to Bianca's posting found below)

Bianca, What a great project. I remember reading some of those "badly written" chose-your-own-adventure books. I always found it frustrating when my decisions would result in the adventure ending suddenly.

I can think of a great number of instances and situations where your project could become quite useful and potentially valuable. I hope you continue to develop it!

The Original Posting:

Posted by Bianca at 11:20 PM 

I finally got it running properly! Hooray!

Introducing my Media Project:

Working With Angry Customers: A Customer Service Simulation

The project is a website containing a customer service simulator created in Udutu. It allows retail workers an opportunity to practice giving high quality customer service under the pressure of an angry customer.

My thesis is on the use of simulator software to rehearse skills that must be performed under high amounts of stress. The media project demonstrates just one aspect of the proposed software: branching dialogue.

Chances are you're most familiar with branching dialogue from "Choose Your Own Adventure" books. In a story you're presented with a series of options. Depending what option you choose the story from that part is different. This process continues until the story completes and can create a large number of potential story paths.

Somewhat poorly-written children's fiction isn't the only place this branching dialogue can be utilized. It can also be used to simulate realistic interactions as well. This can be seen treated in a sophisticated manner by recent video games like Heavy Rain, in which a considerable number of choices have severe ramifications on the game plot. It can also be seen in some training materials as well.

For the media project, a simple branching dialogue simulation was created using Udutu. In this simulation the user is a retail clerk attempting to assist an angry customer with a complaint. The interaction choices range from the best service possible to the worst and the simulated customer responds directly to the type of service they are given. The simulation ends only when the customer is satisfied with the situation or has become so angry that she asks to speak to the manager about the user’s poor customer service skills.

This simulation creates a safe practice area for the user to rehearse what responses best serve a customer without the potential to offend actual people. It also gives feedback based on the user’s performance so that they can improve in customer service skill weaknesses.

In the case of the media project, a simple branching dialogue simulation was created using Udutu. In this simulation the user is a retail clerk attempting to assist an angry customer with a complaint. The interaction choices range from the best service possible to the worst and the simulated customer responds directly to the type of service they are given. The simulation ends only when the customer is satisfied with the situation or has become so angry that she asks to speak to the manager about the user’s poor customer service skills.

This simulation creates a safe practice area for the user to rehearse what responses best serve a customer without the potential to offend actual people. It also gives feedback based on the user’s performance so that they can improve in customer service skill weaknesses.

WK 4 Blog Entry 3 - An end in sight

Wow, what a week.

All our work is finally coming together and the end is in sight. It has been a heady experience and one I will treasure. Tomorrow we start our final class and in May several of us will get to meet at graduation.

I must admit I am looking forward to that. Not quite sure what I will do with all my free time after though! Perhaps get my house back in shape, even watch a movie, and mostly, get to spend some time with my husband. I'm sure he's forgotten what I even look like without my laptop in front of me.

The next step for me is to put all this hard work to use. I have so many great ideas that stem from this program and I can't wait to explore some of them more fully and hopefully transformed them into some form of income. After all, none of us put in all this hard work just for fun - although there has been plenty of that too.

I look forward to this last class with anticipation and perhaps a little trepidation. It is the culmination of many late nights, a few tears, and the development of a great network of peers and friends. I know my classmates' support has a lot to do with my success in this program and I thank you all.

Let's not run out of steam now!

WK 4 Blog Entry 2 - Reading - Grace

Grace comes from owning the risks we take in a world by and large immune to our control.

The above quote from Zander's The Art of Possibility really hit home this week as events in my life converge into the most stressful and complex week I have had in a long time. Despite knowing I couldn't do anything more about it I entered the week still tense over the status of my thesis. Added to that we all had our media projects and other myriad assignments and tasks required for this program.

I knew all this; I had signed on for the program. Then I agreed to train new employees in my region - should have realized the training weeks (along with the additional travel and hours) would coincide with the busiest time for school. But taking everything in stride I found that the week has been an eye-opening experience and that I can handle much more than I think - as long as I don't think about it too much.

I found that in these matters my biggest stresser all week was myself. I need to remember rule #6!

Then, there are the other considerations: those things that happen to us that we want to blame on others instead of recognizing as risks we accepted and took on ourselves: risks such as driving cars and owning pets. If you own a car you accept the risk it will break down and cost money. If you own two, you take the risk that both will do the same. If you own pets, you take the risk that they will cause you trouble or get themselves hurt. There is no blame, there is no control - it just is what it is. Accepting that gracefully is part of accepting those risks.

Both cars breaking down at the same time is statistically unusual. It happens. But time and money fixes vehicles or replaces them. Simple. A pet getting hurt isn't unusual. But recovery (hopefully) takes time and patience. I can choose to wail at the world and blame everyone else: the manufacturers of the vehicles; the mechanics who didn't tell me parts were deteriorating; the driver that hit my dog. But that gets me nowhere and only increases my frustration. Instead, I can choose to accept the world as it is with grace and hope everything works out the way I want.

WK 4 Blog Entry 1 - Media Project

Please visit my Udutu project. The project is a course aimed at teaching children to be more aware of how they use the computer and to get them to assess and manipulate their work environment.

The goal is to help children establish better computer habits that may help limit the potential for developing repetitive stress injuries as adolescents or young adults.

I will be modifying and adding to the course over the next weeks and, as such, welcome all constructive comments. Let me know what you like, don't like, or any suggestions you might have for me.

WK 3 Blog Entry 5 - THESIS

What a week.

Well here it is, the sum total of months of research, reading, interpretation, divination, inspiration, and sweat. Not to mention a few tears, hair pulling, and general meltdowns. And the journey is not yet over!

Bring it on.

THESIS: Countering the Developing Ergonomic Problems Associated With Computer-Based Learning

WK 3 Blog Entry 4 - Reading - Optimist

The so-called optimist, then, is the only one attending to real things, the only one describing a substance that is actually in the glass.

- From "The Art of Possibility

by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander

I love this book. I feel like it reaffirms my outlook and attitude toward life. So often I've been told I'm a dreamer, an idealist, an optimist - as if they were repugnant attributes that no sane person would choose to possess. I've been told I'm blind to negativity, that I fail to see the bad qualities in people and situations, and that I live in my own little world.

So I ask, why would I choose to look for the negatives when there still remains so much positive? By being optimistic I choose to accept that things are the way they are and still be happy with myself. My adding to the negativity helps no-one. Indeed, being pessimistic or negative myself only exacerbates those qualities that hinder our enjoyment of life.

Personally, I'm happy being in my own little world and if I choose to ignore the negativity - don't assume I don't know it is there. As Zander points out, accepting "the way things are" allows us to move into "giving way to passion". However, it has been my experience that one does not necessarily lead to the other. Accepting the world and others as they are is not the same as accepting yourself and to "give way to passion" requires that most difficult acknowledgement.

Accepting yourself, as Zander notes, requires letting go of the defensive barriers we all build around ourselves. A strenuous, demanding and difficult task that can ultimately be rewarding, enlightening, and, quite honestly, potentially life changing. Once these barriers are lowered it is easier to acknowledge and accept the negative and then move on and enjoy the day.

WK 3 Blog Entry 3 - Projects and Readings go Hand in Hand.

Oh which project to write about this week! I think I must focus on my media project and rid myself of my frustrations once and for all. Why so frustrated, well none of my classmates probably need an answer there. I'm sure each and every one could supply a list of their own qualifying statements.

Honestly, my frustration is more a problem of resignation and acceptance; I think I should have chosen my other topic. Now I need to just accept it as being "the way things are" and get on with it. But my other topic just keeps tapping on my shoulder and begging for attention. I blame the gaming class! :)

Let me explain. I, like all my class mates, originally had two potential thesis topics; the one I choose to pursue and "the other one". In my case, "the other one" pertained to corporate training and communications. My concept was too broad a topic at that point so I choose my current path. But how seemingly divergent paths like to merge!

Our gaming class final project called for the development of a training game concept. I tried to come up with something that might correspond with my thesis to no avail. I DID come up with a game idea for a corporate training program for my own job as a child portrait photographer. In fact the entire concept absorbed my attention and I wanted to just keeping going with it - far beyond the requirements for our assignment. I wondered at that point if I should redo the past thesis assignments and switch. But I talked myself out of it - I should know better than to second guess myself. Now while tearing my hair out with my current media project, that gaming concept keeps tapping at my shoulder just waiting for me to graduate and return to it.



To top it off, my district manager just recently asked me to train our newest child portrait photographer and I would have loved to have that game concept further developed and potentially testable. Go figure! I guess all roads do lead to Rome and my Rome should have been a thesis regarding corporate training in the portrait photography industry.