Week Two Guide

Welcome to Week Two! Here's how to get started.

1. Read Chapter Two in the textbook.
2. Read the Interactive Multimedia Design & Production Processes article linked below.
3. Re-Read Assignment One -- the Multimedia Interview -- described below and on the syllabus.
4. Read and prepare for the discussion questions to be discussed Monday night, September 9, in Webex.

Here are the objectives for Week Two -- in other words, the most important concepts I want you to "get" by the end of our first week:

1. Identify potential interview questions for your chosen multimedia professional
2. Describe the six main phases of multimedia production from this week's article reading
3. Discuss multimedia authoring tools currently being used in industry today
4. Describe how to define the initial multimedia plan for a project

Let's Talk -- Chapter 2 of your textbook

Let's talk about two things this week -- Chapter 2 of your textbook and the assigned article.

First, let's review the high points of Chapter 2, Conceptualization and Initial Planning. This chapter talks about idea generation and "getting the hook" for an idea for a multimedia project. Sometimes the idea comes from the owner and sometimes it comes for the developer. Either way, it has to be coaxed into a project able to be developed. Read pgs 18-19 about the Initial Interview. If you begin a multimedia project, it is good to get these questions answered:

1. What is the project's primary purpose?
2. Who is the target audience? (A good technical communication question)
3. Do competitive sites already exist?
4. What are the ideas for visual concepts in this project? (Visuals are often the hardest things to nail down, so it is good to get ideas on these early.
5. Are there existing branding requirements?
6. What kind of raw materials can be provided up front?
7. Will the site or project require dynamic data?
8. Is there a specific budget range to stay within?

These are not all the questions to ask in an initial interview, but will get you off to a good start in collecting project data.
Next, focus on pgs 22-23 -- developing the Initial Plan. I recommend that the initial plan be developed as sort of a design blueprint -- in fact, that is one of our assignments this semester. To do this, you must clearly define your audience. Who are your target users, what are their needs, and what technology will they be using to access your content? Second, define your goals. To do this, ask yourself the following questions:

1. How much content will you need to include?
2. What media formats best match your content and will be best to deliver it?
3. How, exactly, will you make your content interactive and engaging?
4. How does this affect your timeline and budget?
5. Can you do this with your resources or will you need to outsource portions of the project?
   

Again, these aren't all the questions you need to ask, but this will help define your goals.

Second, the chapter discusses how to define your tools. Current authoring tools for multimedia development are very different from those used even five years ago. We will talk about this more in class as you research tools that are currently in use in the multimedia industry. The rest of the initial plan includes setting a launch date, having a kickoff celebration, finding resources, and answering how you will be paid (very important). These are all important aspects of multimedia project management in the beginning phases of a project.

The Other Reading Assignment for Week Two

Now, let's talk about the article this week:

Interactive Multimedia Design and Production Processes

This article is from the Journal of Research on Computing in Education. This article appeared online only in HTML format and had several typos; I made it into a pdf but the typos remain. I tried to make it more readable for you. This is a fairly old article, but still relevant in that it covers the basis of the multimedia production process and might give you some good interview questions for Assignment 1. The author's research questions were:

1. How does the multimedia production process work?
2. What are some of the factors in multimedia development that are critical to the quality of the programs?
3. What different roles do people play in multimedia development and how do these roles interrelate?
4. What can students interested in multimedia do to prepare themselves for the job market?
   

I'd like you to pay attention to the questions they asked multimedia developers in their interviews. You may be able to use some of these questions in the interview you conduct with your chosen multimedia professional. I'd also like you to look at the six phases of the multimedia development process, and based on what you read in the article and any additional research you'd like to do, I'd like for you to report on these in our class discussion Monday night in this way:

Lisa -- report on how to get funding for multimedia
Anita -- report on planning for multimedia
Tammy -- report on designing for multimedia
Ken -- report on producing multimedia
Gail -- report on testing multimedia
Janice -- report on the marketing phase of multimedia production
Dayna -- the tips and techniques for multimedia development

I will discuss the factors contributing to successful multimedia development, multimedia team personnel, the importance of communication with clients, the use of audio and video in multimedia production, and the tools used in multimedia production.

You don't have to prepare anything formal to present in class. Simply be prepared to discuss what you read in this article. If you have time to do any additional Internet research on these topics, feel free to add to what you find in the article.

This Week's Multimedia Example

Visit this United States Interactive History Map, Sea to Shining Sea. Play with the application briefly, then be ready to answer these questions: Who is the owner? Who are the probable users? What forms of media does it include? How do you think it was designed (if you can tell)? What is its purpose? How effective or ineffective do you find it as a geographical resource? What might be done differently if it were redesigned?

 

Our Discussion Agenda for Monday, September 9

1. I'll present a brief overview of Chapter 2 of the textbook and the conceptualization and initial planning process in interactive multimedia.
2. Then you'll each discuss your portion of the assigned article.
3. Finally, we'll examine the multimedia example listed above, and conclude with a brief discussion of Assignment One, the Multimedia Interview, and a preview of Week 3.

I'll see you Monday night!