Wednesday, 8 June 2016

Before



I thought I'd challenge the idea that all sustainability news is bad new by categorising articles into different sections relating to moods of people coming to the site.

This doesn't fit with my new user personae so I'm going to make it less of a feature where people can sort whatever news they have come to the site for by their mood.

The goal of the site now is to encourage participation and guide people to discover, learn and connect with one-another.

It's going to be more about exploring what's out there, sharing peoples' own knowledge - because real-world, experienced knowledge is as important as academic, and connecting people with one another to work together or share ideas/get feedback - moral support

Concept rationale

One of Massey's main initiatives involves "developing applied, real world opportunities for sustainability-related teaching and research." A news website is the ideal place for people to come in contact with new knowledge and ideas. My concept is to facilitate a diverse and welcoming community of Massey students, staff and alumni who are interested in engaging with sustainability issues. Massey researchers know a lot about sustainability and publish news relating to these ventures on the Massey website but I'm not sure many people know about or seek this information out as a valuable learning tool. Massey also provides opportunities within university to incorporate sustainability into learning, but there doesn't seem to be much ongoing communication once people leave their courses. The courses enable a lot of in-depth exploration into certain areas but I think people would benefit from interacting with people from other disciplines within Massey - both to better understand their depth of knowledge but also to expand their achievement possibilities through different perspectives and approaches. There are student-based sustainability clubs which have connected through Massey and small pockets of people interested in sustainability, but it's often hard to find and learn and share with others who aren't in your immediate circle. I want to make a place where academic, research-led knowledge and real-world social experiences can co-exist and mingle in an organic, inspiring and fruitful way. 

Tuesday, 7 June 2016

Laura

Meet Laura. (Hi Laura!) Desktop site

studied at Massey 
runs an eco-friendly business out of Auckland
wants to network with Massey 
is thinking of a possible graduate internship opportunity 

transformation: FROM disconnected, hopeful TO connected, inspired, involved

TOUCHPOINTS

Massey website > Sustainacool homepage > connect > specific people or topic or sustainacool admin > sign in or sign up > email, chat, phone

Richard

Meet Richard. (Hi Richard!) Desktop site

eco-babe
loves sharing his knowledge about saving the planet
studies environmental science at Massey in Palmy
likes researching facts about climate change
wants to contribute his knowledge of sustainability
wants to expand his horizons and meet people from other disciplines who are interested in sustainability

transformation: FROM restless, uninspired TO inspired, connected, fulfilled


TOUCHPOINTS


sustainacool homepage > the good news > events/initiatives/topics - get involved/contribute > stay in touch > ask an opinion about a project that he's working on? 

Kate

Meet Kate. (Hi Kate!) Desktop site

2nd year student at Massey 
starting to catch onto idea of sustainability
wants to know more about sustainability 
wonders if/how her peers are getting involved in sustainability initiatives

transformation: FROM outsider, uninformed TO involved, knowledgable, connected


TOUCHPOINTS

googles "Massey" "sustainability" > Sustainacool comes up >  Sustainacool homepage > explore > flick through news, events - upcoming in Wellington > clicks on an event to find out more information > RSVP to keep up to date > sign up > make profile

EXPLORE TO CONNECT

Lark

Meet Lark. (Hi Lark!) Mobile site

Massey lecturer 
likes to keep up to date with what’s happening in the world
likes Twitter
cares about sustainability

transformation: FROM pessimistic, out of touch TO impressed, proud, hopeful, involved

TOUCHPOINTS

Twitter feed > Sustainacool article shared by Massey > Sustainacool homepage > browsing content looking for news about Massey's teaching/initiatives > follows Sustainacool on Twitter shares website link on Twitter

Helena

Meet Helena. (Hi Helena!) Mobile site

4th year Massey Wellington student 
wants to make connections before leaving Massey
lost with her major project 
looking for inspiration

transformation: FROM drained, disconnected, uninspired TO reenergised and focussed and connected

TOUCHPOINTS

email account with link from friend > article within Sustainacool site > save article > contact author > sign up

Jeremy

Meet Jeremy. (Hi Jeremy!) Mobile site

follows eco-friendly sites on Twitter and Instagram

also uses snapchat and Facebook
likes being informed about climate change and sustainability issues
finds reading about it draining
worries that he will alienate himself from friends if he shares boring sustainability news


transformation: FROM unsure, pessimistic TO connected, contented

needs a place to share his ideas about sustainability - validation? assurance? positive reinforcement

TOUCHPOINTS


Jeremy's instagram feed - a Sustainacool article of someone else's sustainacool hints > Sustainacool's instagram profile > Sustainacool website > browsing student news > wants to contribute/share some eco-friendly things he does and ask opinions, get feedback?


News content

What the heck is Massey up to??

Well, there is a Massey University Sustainability Club on Facebook.. Who woulda thunk it?

https://www.facebook.com/groups/masseysustainability/

It's based in Palmy - maybe there needs to be a news feed for events in Auckland, Palmy and Welly.

User personae 2.0

Meet Jeremy. (Hi Jeremy!)
Jeremy follows many eco-friendly sites on Twitter and Instagram and also uses snapchat and Facebook sometimes. Jeremy likes being informed about climate change and sustainability issues but can find reading about it draining. Although this information is important for everybody to know, he doesn’t usually share his sustainability views for fear of sounding boring or preachy and alienating himself from his peers.
=> Jeremy needs to access inspiring and surprising sustainability news to inform others in a friendly and helpful way about important global issues
Mobile site


Meet Helena. (Hi Helena!)
Helena is a 4th year Massey Wellington student wanting to make worthwhile connections before leaving Massey next year. She's a bit lost with her major project and looking for inspiration to move it forward. Her friend sends her a link to a Sustainacool article that they think is relevent to her project. The link is to an article by a Massey lecturer in Palmy and she finds it very interesting. She wants to find out more on the subject and contact the lecturer and get some feedback on her ideas.
=> Helena needs to be able to connect with people within Massey doing similar things to her in order to feel reenergised and focussed on her assignment and career direction
Mobile site


Meet Lark. (Hi Lark!)
Lark is a Massey lecturer who likes to keep up to date with what’s happening in the world, mostly through the connections that he has at Massey and via Twitter. Lark cares about sustainability and finds out about Sustainacool through Twitter. He heads over to browse the site and is excited yet critical of how the website represents the Massey brand. He scrutinises the site, looking for things that he didn't know about Massey. He decides to share a link to a particularly interesting article on Twitter. He follows Sustainacool on Twitter to keep updated.
=> Lark needs to feel impressed and proud of Massey’s research and teaching and happy that there is fresh blood in the sustainability movement
Mobile site

Meet Kate. (Hi Kate!)
Kate is a 2nd year student at Massey and is starting to catch onto this idea of sustainability. She’s been introduced to the current issue of climate change and by lecturers but she wants to know if/how her peers are getting involved in sustainability initiatives. Kate sees some Sustainacool stickers/posters around campus and goes online to check it out. She wants to know what it’s all about, sign up for updates and to get involved.
=> Kate needs sustainability to be friendly and welcoming and she'll happily tell people about it and rope friends in if there's something happening
Desktop site


Meet Richard. (Hi Richard!)
Richard is an eco-babe and loves sharing his knowledge about saving the planet, though he doesn’t have many people he feels he can connect to about these issues. He studies environmental science at Massey in Palmy and likes researching all of the sciency information about climate change, but feels a bit out of touch with his peers and needs a way to connect with them.
=> Richard needs a place to contribute to NZ sustainability news and meet others outside of his close sciencey group who are interested in similar things to get an outside perspective on issues he cares about
Desktop site


Meet Laura. (Hi Laura!)
Laura studied at Massey and now runs an eco-friendly business out of Auckland. Laura’s business has been mentioned on Sustainacool before and she wants to run some workshops to expand her business and social networks. She wants to contact Sustainacool to talk about running workshops in conjunction with Massey.
=> Laura wants to use sustainacool as a platform to connect with Massey and people doing good things for the planet.
Desktop site

ARTICLE

http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/80783460/eco-house-to-be-built-on-maori-land

User personae

Meet Jeremy. (Hi Jeremy!)
Jeremy follows many eco-friendly sites on Twitter and Instagram and also uses
snapchat and Facebook sometimes. Jeremy likes being informed about climate
change and sustainability issues but although the information is important for
everybody to know, he doesn’t share his sustainability views for fear of sounding
preachy and alienating himself from his peers.
=> Jeremy needs to feel inspired and confident to inform others on issues he cares
about. Approachable, young, relatable, engaging, irreverent news.
Mobile site


Meet Helena. (Hi Helena!)
Helena is a 4th year Massey student who cares about sustainability issues. Helena
also likes to dress up and have fun and refrains from talking about sustainability
for fear of sounding boring. Helena finds reading about sustainability news draining.
Surprisingly though, Helena feels content when this information helps her to make
eco friendly choices.
=> Helena needs to feel surprised and excited and understood when it comes to
sustainability-related news coverage
Mobile site


Meet Lark. (Hi Lark!)
Lark is a Massey lecturer who likes to keep up to date with what’s happening in the
world, mostly through the connections that he has at Massey and via Twitter.
Lark cares about sustainability and finds out about Sustainacool through Twitter
and heads over to browse the site. Lark is excited yet critical of how the website
represents the Massey brand. He scruitinizes the site, decides that it’s worth sharing
with his thousands of followers and thinks up a witty caption to accompany the link.
=> Lark needs to feel impressed and proud of Massey’s research and teaching and
happy that there is fresh blood in the sustainability movement
Mobile site

Meet Kate. (Hi Kate!)
Kate is a 2nd year student at Massey and is starting to catch onto this idea of
sustainability. She’s been introduced to the current issue of climate change and
how designers/artists are approaching the topic from lecturers but she wants to
know if/how her peers are  getting involved in sustainability initiatives. Kate
sees some Sustainacool stickers/posters around campus and goes online to check
it out. She wants to know what it’s all about, sign up for updates and to get involved.
=> Kate needs sustainability to be friendly and welcoming and she'll happily tell
people about it and rope friends in if there's something happening
Desktop site


Meet Richard. (Hi Richard!)
Richard is an eco-babe and loves sharing his knowledge about saving the planet,
though he doesn’t have many people he feels he can connect to about these
issues. He studies environmental science at Massey in Palmy and likes researching
all of the sciency information about climate change, but feels a bit out of touch with
his peers and needs a way to connect with them.
=> Richard needs a place to contribute to NZ sustainability news and meet others
outside of his close sciencey group who are interested in similar things to get an
outside perspective on issues he cares about
Desktop site


Meet Laura. (Hi Laura!)
Laura studied at Massey and now runs an eco-friendly business out of Auckland.
Laura’s business has been mentioned on Sustainacool before and she wants to run
some workshops to expand her business and social networks. She wants to contact
Sustainacool to talk about running workshops in conjunction with Massey.
=> Laura wants to use sustainacool as a platform to connect with Massey and
people doing good things for the planet.
Desktop site