SOCIAL INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR RACIAL VIOLENCE

I did this project with a team of graduate students at UCI. The aim of this project was to design a web based system for scholars and other internet users to contribute to an archive of violent incidents that happened during the Civil Rights Movement.

This system helped in making historical information freely available. This project was awarded as the Best Project by FUSE Lab of Microsoft Research at iConference ‘15. It was also regarded as “the most innovative project exploring use of social media and open data to foster smarter society” (Microsoft Research Lab).

Design Process

Client interviews to gather requirements

We started the project by talking to the client and get to know their requirements for this project. This helped us get a better understanding of their needs and expectations. These interviews were recorded for the future references. 

Developing user stories

Once the initial understanding was attained, we started creating user stories. User stories were used to capture features of the system from an end-user perspective. 

After this, we broke down the client requirements into smaller tasks and treated each of these tasks as individual jobs to be done. They were prioritized according to a set of criteria like importance of task for the client, efforts and time estimation for task completion and others. These user stories were documented and recursively modified with the client. Some of the high priority requirements were:

  1. As a user I want to report violence incidents to contribute in expanding a public database.

  2. As a user I want to search incidents with multiple filters so that I can find those I'm interested on quickly

 
 

User testing, conducting brainstorming sessions and user interviews
The client had some old wireframes for the desired application which were used as artifacts for conducting our preliminary user research. During this research, the participants were asked to express their opinions about application's functionality and usability. They were asked to perform some assigned tasks and think-aloud while implementing them. The participants were later interviewed and asked for their opinion about the application. Their suggestions were also recorded and analyzed later. Some of the distinct propositions were:

  1. A feature to show all the events occurring within a time frame.

  2. A better feedback mechanism to confirm event submission.

 
 

Creating wireframes and prototypes using  Balsamiq and Jetstrap.

Once the requirements and user stories were finalized, we started creating wireframes for the project. We tried tackling each of the user story according to its priority. The wireframes were presented to the client. They were also repeated redesigned to accommodate client reviews. Once these wireframes were approved, they were converted into semi-functional prototypes. These prototypes were used for user testing and for making final adjustments. Thus, finally we were able to deliver a valuable product to our client. 

Design I:
Requirement:

A Home screen for the application.

Research and User Study:

Research showed that primary users for this website were: senior citizens who were reporting events and school students conducting research on topics related racial violence.

Design:

  1. The website was given a very formal look to reflect its seriousness.

  2. The website was made easy, organized and highly functionality driven.

 

Design II:
Requirement:

Form to make data entries.

Research and User Study:

  1. Research showed that the user base included people with low technical skills.

  2. User research showed that event description was a subjective matter and forcing users to follow a standard format might lead them to lose interest in the application.

  3. Technical research revealed that successful retrieval from the database required the input fields to have a specific format.

Design:

  1. In design, the essential fields had a standard format and this helped in maintaining database consistency and easy information retrieval.

  2. Designing flexible formats for other inputs made sure that the users have the freedom to enter data in any form.

  3. Embellishments and visual attractions were avoided in the design.

 
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Design III:
Requirements:

Clients wanted an Interactive Visualization to encourage users to collaborate event information.

User study:

  1. User studies revealed, the participants were interested in a visualization showing all the events occurring within a time range.

  2. Users were interested in filtering event data.

Design:

  1. Heat maps were used in the design to provide an overview of event density across different locations.

  2. Application’s design included a slideshow of events occurring within a time range.

  3. A table was used to provide important information about the events across multiple parameters.

 


Design IV: 

Requirement:

Confirmation Page

User Study:

  1. Users needed feedback to confirm event submission.

  2. Clients wanted to inform users that the data will be reviewed by administrator before adding to the database.

Design:

  1. Confirmation page to show successful submission and end of submission process.

  2. Confirmation page conveyed the administrator's message to the user.

  3. Conformation page provided an easy access to the users, to either add more events to the database or to further explore the application.

Parting thoughts on this project

I am proud to say I was a part of this project. The project was carried forward and is now a publicly available resource. This can be used to help everyone affected by those racial violence done during the Civil Rights Movement. It can be used by everyone who is an advocate and wants to make a difference in that space or those who just want to know more about it. Here is an access to the actual project: http://www.racialviolencearchive.com/maps.html