Bukowitz-Portfolio
Final Project Part II
Wireframes and Storyboards
I created the following storyboard with wireframes for my final project.
Storyboard with wireframes.pdf
User Research and Interviews
Target audience:
Given that my story focuses on another species and its importance to its ecosystem, the target audience for my story is teenagers or adults who feel a connection to and appreciation for nature (henceforth called nature lovers). I imagine my nature-loving audience is similar to the audience that National Geographic appeals to. Although my story focuses on horseshoe crabs, the story is not intended for audiences who are experts in horseshoe crabs, but rather audiences that are interested, but uninformed, about horseshoe crabs and their ecosystem. In this way, my story can stand to educate others who may then be inclined to take action towards protecting horseshoe crabs.
Sample:
Since my target audience is nature-lovers, I focused my interviews on people that are professionally or personally invested in the natural world. My interviewees consisted of:
- A naturalist from a state park that enjoys kayaking and hiking; female, married, mother, mid-50s
- A pharmacist that section hikes the Appalachian Trail and enjoys camping; female, married, no kids, late 20s
- A snowmobile and kayaking guide (in the winter and summer, respectively) that enjoys camping and mountain biking; male, single, no kids, early 20s
From these interviews, I hope to find out what sticks out to people who read my story, and if my story is clear as it is presented. More specifically, I want to understand if people think story arc and visualizations flow well. I also want to see how convincing my story is, i.e. after reading this story, do people actually feel motivated to take action? Based on these interviews I will make changes to improve my story and visualizations.
Research Goals
I used the following questions in the order in which they are presented as my script for my interviews.
| Goal | Question(s) |
|---|---|
| Engaging | What is the first thing that sticks in your mind from this story? |
| Informativeness | Did you know about this topic before you read the story? Did you learn something new from this story? |
| Comprehensibility | Can you tell me what you think the purpose of this story was? What is the problem? What is the solution? |
| Logical Flow | Did the story make sense to you in the order in which it was presented? Do you think the visualizations flowed within the storyline? |
| Convincingness | Do you feel motivated to take action against this problem? If no, do you have any thoughts about what would motivate you to take action? |
| Interpretability | What did you find confusing? |
| Improvement | What would you change? Is there anything more you would like to know more about on this topic? |
Interview Findings
Below is a table of direct quotes from my three interviews. Especially important takeaways are emphasized in bold.
| Question(s) | Naturalist, female, mid-50s | Pharmacist and hiker, female, late-20s | Snowmobile and kayak guide, male, early-20s |
|---|---|---|---|
| What is the first thing that sticks in your mind from this story? | How much we (people) rely on nature. | Horseshoe crab blood is very useful and incredibly creepy. The visual of the mortalities with the shading stood out. | How crucial the area where the horseshoe crabs spawn is for the red knot population. |
| Did you know about this topic before you read the story? Did you learn something new from this story? | I knew there was overharvesting of horseshoe crabs, but I did not know about the medical purposes. I learned more about the medical necessity for why they are overharvested. I also learned that you won’t get bit from flipping the crab over. I also didn’t realize how many relationships existed from the horseshoe crab. | I knew nothing about this beforehand, and I am intrigued and shocked that I am a pharmacist and I that I knew nothing of this. | I had vaguely remembered something about horseshoe crab blood being blue, but I didn’t know anything about the importance of it. I learned how crucial it is that the horseshoe crab eggs provide nourishment for the red knots. |
| Can you tell me what you think the purpose of this story was? What is the problem? What is the solution? | Purpose- First I thought this is going to be a story about humans are destroying nature, but then at the end, I felt like it was more of a public awareness issue because there are still things we can do to make it better. Problem- too much of an environmental impact to get this blue blood. Solution- raising awareness and more research | Purpose- To draw attention to the demand for horseshoe crab blood vs the supply and the impact that demand is having on the horseshoe crab and other species populations. Problem- the demand for the endotoxin tests is steadily increasing so the need for horseshoe crab blood is also increasing, but when they are released some are dying so the supply of horseshoe crabs is declining which impacts the medical field and other species. Solution- for the medical field to adopt the new test method, but that being said, I don’t know the pros and cons of that test so more info on that would be useful. Another solution is education to the general public is that you can pick them up. | Purpose- To create more awareness about horseshoe crabs and what they provide for our ecosystem. Problem- scientists want horseshoe crab blood, but they are on the threshold of becoming endangered. They are only looked at for their blood and how they can help people, and not for their environment and how they can help their ecosystem.Solution- In Delaware Bay, there are volunteer counts of horsehose crabs. |
| Did the story make sense to you in the order in which it was presented? Do you think the visualizations flowed within the storyline? | The story made sense in the order in which it was presented. Visualizations made sense. I liked where you had the horseshoe crab in the center with the web of everything that depended on it. I also liked that you used blue a lot, which tied back to the horseshoe crab’s blood color | Definitely. | The order made sense. The visualizations flowed well. |
| Do you feel motivated to take action against this problem? If no, do you have any thoughts about what would motivate you to take action? | In the time I read it, I immediately sent it to my friend who lives in the Delaware Bay. If I lived at the shore I would definitely volunteer, but I would not travel there to volunteer. | Yeah, I actually do. I don’t think it would be something I would put money behind, but I would at least educate other people—I am going to talk to my coworkers about it. | In a way, yeah. I believe in conservation for all animals, whether in the ocean or on land. If I could financially afford to do something I would. I would like to still see horseshoe crabs 30 years from year. |
| What did you find confusing? | Not too much that was confusing. I could not explain the technical terms of how the clotting works, but don’t think that’s important. | I did not find any of it too confusing. Maybe add an image of red knots. | rFC replacement seemed confusing. I like the color scheme. Maybe keeping graphs same color. |
| What would you change? Is there anything more you would like to know more about on this topic? | Side print on the charts is really small on the charts. Are there other factors causing the decline in bird population? Are there other factors leading to the decline in the horseshoe crab? | I would like to know more about the other endotoxin test. Why didn’t they fully adopt it out of the gate? I would add a caption to the food web picture, or have a line like “figure 1 shows XYZ.” Also the arrows should be the same length | Nothing, I thought it was direct to the point. |
Changes Based on User Feedback
In response to my interviews, I plan to make the following changes:
- I will increase the font size on my visualizations to make them more readable.
- I will enact a more consistent color scheme on my charts. One interviewee noted that the blue color made sense since it tied back to the horseshoe crab’s blood color. I will continually use blue throughout my story (see mood board below for the exact colors I plan to use).
- I will keep the visual of the web diagram that shows horseshoe crabs relation to other species since two of my interviewees said they liked that. However, I will remake it so that it is better aligned, and change the colors so that it better matches with the other visuals.
- I will emphasize the mortality chart since that resonated with one of my interviewees.
- I will add an image of a red knot (if I can find one that is freely accessible).
- I will add captions or some sort of primer to my visuals to better integrate them with my text.
- I will give more context to the alternative endotoxin test, the other factors impacting horseshoe crab populations, and the other factors impacting red knot populations.
Moodboard
Below is my moodboard for this project. The inspiration came from pictures of horseshoe crabs and red knots in the wild since they are the main focus of the project. I used blue colors since horseshoe crab blood is blue and because the horseshoe crabs live in water/ beach environments (and people associate water with the color blue). I also used a sandy color (again, a connection to the beach), and a dark gray color which ties in with the horseshoe crabs’ shells.
Please use this link to see Part I of my project: Final Project Part I
Please use this link to see Part III of my project: Final Project Part III
Please use this link to go back to my portfolio: Rachel Bukowitz Portfolio