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Christopher Murphy: Three Possible Projects

If you’re not one of my final year #ixdbelfast students, this text file is provided as an example file to demonstrate what we expect from our students as we commence final year.

Each student is asked to propose three ideas (outlined in a Markdown formatted file). These are then used to kickstart a discussion and help pinpoint a suitable Major Project for the student’s final year focus.

Each idea requires the following sections:

  • Overview
  • Pros and Cons
  • How might it be built?
  • Who’s it for?
  • What’s the business model?

The three examples below are conjured up from my imagination and do not represent student projects. (If you’d like to realise them, feel free!)

@fehler


  1. A Dog is for Christmas
  2. A History of Jazz in Carrickfergus
  3. A Beginner’s Guide to Pinhole Photography

A Dog is for Christmas

Overview

My children have always wanted a dog – I don’t – but, as the old saying goes: “A dog is for life, not just for Christmas.”

Not any more.

This innovative service will marry stray dogs with short-term owners. Get a dog delivered just in time for Christmas and delight in the warm glow of your beaming children’s faces on Christmas Day, safe in the knowledge that by January 6 – when the new school term starts (and the excitement has worn off) – the dog in question will be quietly removed.

Essentially a short-term dog rental service, this web site will be built using web standards (HTML, CSS and JavaScript) underpinned by a database that populates the site with content.

A web site on its own isn’t much of a challenge so I plan to explore a variety of touchpoints to market the site.

These touchpoints will possibly include a variety of printed items (badges, stickers and other items…), but also – importantly – will include a considered social media strategy that embraces Twitter and Instagram to share the story of the site.

It might sound heartless, but I believe ‘A Dog is for Christmas’ addresses a gap in the market. After all, for some (not me!) a dog is just for Christmas.

Pros

  • I love dogs and I volunteer at my local pet rescue charity so finding users to interview will be easy.

  • My knowledge of HTML, CSS and JavaScript is sound, so I am confident I can build this.

  • Dogs! Who doesn’t like dogs?

Cons

  • A web site alone – HTML, CSS and JavaScript – isn’t much of a challenge. I think I need to consider the bigger picture and challenge myself a little more.

  • I’ll need to learn how to build a database to power everything. (Although I have tinkered with this before and I’m up for the challenge of learning something new!)

  • I have no experience with web-based marketing so this will involve learning a great deal about permission marketing.

How might it be built?

I think this project would be best served by a web site. I plan on building it using web standards: HTML, CSS and JavaScript. The site will need to be underpinned by a database. Although I have no experience of databases, I’m willing to learn as I believe it will add a string to my bow and help me find work once I graduate.

I want to challenge myself, so I intend to learn about new CSS layout techniques, including CSS Grid Layout, which I think are important to learn as the web evolves. (Rachel Andrews’s recent ‘CSS Grid Secrets’ article in @netmag #298 provides a helpful starting point.) I think animations are also good to focus on so I intend to learn from some of Val Head’s tutorials.

Who’s it for?

The target market for this project is twofold:

  1. Parents (who are being harassed by their children: “We want a dog!”); and
  2. Children (who just want a dog and don’t really care about the responsibilities owning a dog involves).

When considering the design of the web site I need to balance these two – very different – audiences. The site needs to be playful, yet serious at the same time.

I think an illustrated approach to the content would be good – similar to Vic Bell’s work – so I’m going to learn about vector illustration as a core part of the project.

What’s the business model?

I imagine parents will pay for this service, although I’m unsure how much I would need to charge. I think this will prove a useful focus for my user research.

I believe there will be a flat fee, upfront charge to use the service, and that will be supplemented by – perhaps – a daily charge (for every extra day the dog is kept?).

Again, I’d need to test my assumptions with some user-centred research, but I believe there is a business model here.


A History of Jazz in Carrickfergus

Overview

I’ve always loved jazz. The music of Miles Davis – in particular his electric period – has always captivated me.

Most gravitate towards the mainstream melodies of ‘Kind of Blue’, but give me the electric extremities of ‘Bitches Brew’ any day! (Teo Macero is shockingly overlooked, but – trust me – he was, truly, the original dark magus.)

The Carrickfergus jazz scene has been sadly neglected in recent years, however, it is a little known fact that Davis performed there in 1974 (who knew?). I believe this little known fact needs to be celebrated.

Very few people know it, but a flurry of jazzmen are holed up in Carrickfergus and I’m determined to shine a spotlight on these brave souls.

This information-driven iOS app will utilise a number of data visualisation techniques to tell the story of Miles’ little-known Carrickfergus excursion.

I particularly like Nicholas Felton’s work and I hope to learn from him by studying his methods. I believe I can use a similar data visualisation technique to amplify this little-known story.

I anticipate that this will be a native app, designed for Apple’s new iPhone X. (I just love that notch!) This project will give me an opportunity to learn about designing native apps for iOS with a specific focus on audio (something I’m new to).

Pros

  • I’ve never built an iOS app using Swift, this would be a great opportunity to learn. (I might be mistaken, but I’ve heard Swift is the future…?)

  • The old Carrickfergus jazzmen (and woman!) deserve their moment in the spotlight and this would be it.

  • Carrickfergus has a sizable jazz-loving population, this app would satisfy their needs.

Cons

  • I’ve never used Swift, it might be difficult.

  • I might need to learn some audio editing and I have no experience of this (but I’ll give it a go!).

  • This might be a somewhat niche product. Jazzmen + Carrickfergus = Small Audience…?

How might it be built?

I think this project would be best served by a native mobile application, but I may be wrong.

I’m new to this – I’ve never built an app before – so I’m going to focus on iOS. (If my app were successful, however, I’d happily build an Android version.) Apple offer some great tutorials on getting started with Swift – I think they’re called Playgrounds on the iPad – and I’m looking forward to learning something new.

Who’s it for?

The target market for this project is quite niche: jazzmen (the 99%), and one – improvisatory – woman (the one per cent) and, as such, their needs can be quite clearly defined through user research.

My Dad has an extensive free-jazz cassette collection, I think the world is now ready to hear it! I’m looking forward to sharing it with Carrickfergus’s jazzmen and jazzwoman and, I hope, opening up the ears of an audience that is further afield.

What’s the business model?

There isn’t really a business model for this project. I see this as a much-needed contribution to society.

The world needs to learn about the history of jazz in Carrickfergus and this project is my way of satisfying that pressing educational need. There may be an opportunity to monetise this iOS app, but that isn’t my goal. Of course I’ll research business models, but I feel strongly that this project should be – as Chris Anderson explores – free.


A Beginner’s Guide to Pinhole Photography

We live in an age that is obsessively focused on the over-engineered fictions of Instagram, shared without thought it seems on the latest social network that has fleetingly caught the imagination.

Moments ‘captured’ that, in reality, are moments ‘crafted’.

It seems like a forgotten past, but once there was a time when each and every photograph, each and every slice of time was weighed up before film was exposed to light. Film, expensive, was savoured and cherished; used with care. Sadly, it seems that time has passed.

This ebook – delivered as a PDF, ePub and .mobi – is intended to introduce digital photographers (and other novices to film) to the wonderful world of pinhole photography, equipping them with the knowledge they need to get started exposing film to light.

A lavishly illustrated ebook, A Beginner’s Guide to Pinhole Photography, is intended as a primer, covering everything you need to know to get started with pinhole photography.

In addition to the book itself, I propose to create a supporting web site that will act as a showcase for the book, but which will also feature links to all the materials you need to get started as a pinhole photographer.

When sensors are, year-on-year, accelerating, A Beginner’s Guide to Pinhole Photography affords an opportunity to step outside of the digital realm and experience photography – once again – as a resolutely analogue medium.

Pros

  • I’m an avid pinhole photographer and this project gives me a chance to promote my hobby.

  • The project – which will be delivered in PDF, ePub and .mobi formats - gives me a fantastic opportunity to learn a wealth of new skills.

  • This project could potentially earn me some much-needed money. (I could perhaps launch it as a Kickstarter or use Ulster University’s new crowdfunding platform?)

Cons

  • I have no experience writing tutorials so I’ll need to learn about structuring educational information.

  • I’ve never created an ebook before, but I am determined to learn.

  • To do the project justice I’ll need to buy some ISBN numbers (which is another aspect I’ll need to learn).

How might it be built?

My intention is to create PDF, ePub and .mobi formats of A Beginner’s Guide to Pinhole Photography. This is going to be a substantial task and will involve a great deal of new skills acquisition.

I have some experience of creating PDFs, but I’ve never created an ePub or .mobi book before. This will be a challenge. I intend, however, to use Mark and Emma Boulton’s Creating eBooks, which I’ve been told is a great overview.

Who’s it for?

A Beginner’s Guide to Pinhole Photography is intended for anyone that is interested in photography.

The audience is potentially quite large, which is why I believe there might be an opportunity to launch the project as a Kickstarter.

Once I’ve undertaken some market research, I’ll have a clear idea of the demand for the product. At that point I will decide if a Kickstarter, or other crowdfunding campaign, is worth exploring as a part of my Major Project.

What’s the business model?

This project would lend itself well to a crowdfunding campaign, which would teach me something new. I intend to undertake some market research to see if there is demand for the ebook.

If there is enough interest I plan on launching a Kickstarter as a part of the project. This would round the project out nicely and ensure it’s a considerable challenge.

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