This week I presented my interactive project analysis, and I think that actually looking through different websites and analyzing the one I chose has helped me to better visualize how we can present the information on our topic in an exciting and cohesive way. I also think that while I know what the main project is meant to be in the end, these presentations really helped to clarify for me what we should have visually at the end of this.

This week we worked on reorganizing who is going to be doing what with the changes that have been made with online learning. We have decided that one person is going to be conducting interviews and recording them via facetime, someone else will then be transcribing the interviews, another person will be organizing the research we have already done and begin brainstorming graphics that we will be able to make with that information, another is working on the layout of the website itself, and the last person is working on a graphic of resources for DACA in the state of Nebraska/country. I will be transcribing all of the interviews and making them into a format in which we can add it to the website. We are aware that we do still need video on the website, but I think that at this point we are going to be using a mix of video and written for the interviews. In regards to photos, we have decided to ask the participants to send us photos of themselves growing up, and I think this is actually a really good thing to come out of all of this and can help to further the story.

This week I mainly focused on doing all of the interviews. I was initially really concerned about how we would go about doing this project after moving to remote learning, but things are actually going really well. So far we have 5 interviews done, and I plan on getting three more done by next week. Doing the interviews through video instead of in person has actually gotten a lot more people to open up. Many of the people I had initially reached out to were hesitant about opening up, but now that they realize I’m the only person that will actually see them and the rest of their story can remain anonymous it’s allowed them to be more authentic and honest about their stories. This isn’t to make anyone feel bad, but a lot of it just has to do with the fact that I’ve already established a relationship with these people, and as someone who has undocumented family members, they know that I can understand their story. They’re not just spilling their most personal information to anyone, and I’ve made it very clear that I promise to respect their privacy and protect it. All of our media should be gathered and somewhat finalized by next weekend, once all of the interviews are conducted. Overall, I think our team is really set to have a successful project and I am excited about the outcome.

As we adjust our plan to the situation at hand, we’re in a considerably good spot with finalizing our media. We’ve completed 7 to 11 solid interviews so we have plenty of video, audio, and photos from those. I’m in the process of shortening our videos a little more, in hopes that it flows better with our websites. I would say that’s actually the main challenge I’ve encountered so far because there’s a good amount of content to sift through for highlights. Something I would do differently next time is coming up with a solid idea of how we were going to use the videos, so we’d record shorter clips from the beginning. I’m starting to see a clearer picture of how we’ll be using video in our project and I think it will have a positive impact going into the future. The goal going further is to consider how every step can be altered to our circumstances.

Like I said, I worked a lot on editing the videos our team took and I also took the time to research what outside media we may need to borrow and how to ensure they’re properly cited. Nothing too challenging happened outside of what I’ve mentioned above.

In my opinion, all websites have different requirements that need to be met. A photographer’s website is going to look a lot different from a commercial company’s website for a variety of different reasons. For our website, I think it will be important to keep it minimal so that we can focus on the stories being told rather than the flashiness of the website. To do this it will be essential that we have easy navigation. The viewer needs to be able to quickly and efficiently find the stories and be able to differentiate between different research graphics and information.

When thinking about how the website will differ on a computer screen versus a mobile device, I think it is important to make sure that the interactive section stays consistent on both. Sometimes, when you transfer onto a mobile device, graphics or photos no longer fit the screen correctly. On squarespace, I know you can specifically format your mobile view so I think we should be able to make all of those things work on wix as well. 

This week we delegated specific tasks for each person to complete so that next week we can hopefully start putting our website together and figuring out how all of the parts work together. For next week, I am going to cull through all of our research and figure out which parts are most important. I am then going to come up with ideas for various graphics and how we can best represent this research in our website.

Content has been challenging without being able to do this in person, but I think our group has adapted well We are still conducting interviews over the phone and this has truthfully helped our project a lot. Our content may have lower quality but our interviewees have gotten more comfortable sharing their story and some content with us when they can do one-on-one interviews instead of in front of our whole group. Obviously with everything happening in the world right now, we have missed out on some things we had planned on doing for our project, but this has allowed us to be creative in some other areas such as interactive pieces for our audience. I wouldn’t do anything differently in the future, this has pushed all of us out of our comfort zone and I am grateful for that. Taking on the website has been scary for me as I’ve never done anything quite to this scale, but I’m excited to learn from this and see what I’m capable of. The one creative aspect I am worried about is the fact that we are losing out one some b-roll, I was excited to see how that would help us stitch stories together and provide fluid transitions.

This week our group took some time to regroup and plot our course of action for the next few weeks. We set some deadlines and redefined roles as far as what we should be doing to prepare for this final deadline. I have continued my work on the website and am getting ready to insert some of our media so that we can get an idea of what the final will look like. I expect lots of tweaks and changes to occur in the very near future.

I think a good website consists of multiple forms of media that portray the purpose of the website. A good website has a smooth interface with multiple ways to use it, to fit all types of users. When I am online I definitely look for different ways to operate the websites I use, I think this allows for every user to enjoy their experience. Many websites that I use have a streamlined color stream, a solid user interface, and many forms of media that helps bring their purpose and function together into one. The best way for us to put our story into web form in my opinion is to section everything off into either the individual people or the types of media. I think the navigation is the most important, if the user has to struggle to go through everything or if the way you go through the website isn’t intriguing then your story will not even matter. I haven’t thought about what it would be like on the mobile device, but this even more solidifies my thought of having multiple forms of operation.

This week I did some research on websites layouts, colors, and referred to our story board to try and sure up how exactly the website should be constructed.

Moving forward, I think it’s safe to say that we will no longer be able to conduct in person interviews, or at least not how we had originally hoped. Our group is still trying to figure out the best plan and how we will move forward without equipment, and we are definitely going to have to focus more on research instead of creating our own content. Still, I think the stories of the dreamers are extremely important to share, so we are still going to make the effort to arrange interviews with them, even if it has to be over the phone. It helps knowing that a majority of the group will be staying in Lincoln, so it will be easier to work with each other, and those that aren’t, are still willing to go the extra mile and help in any way that they can. My biggest task right now has been trying to come up with a new schedule for those are are still willing to be a part of our project, and what it will look like. With everything going on, it is a little overwhelming trying to figure out how we’ll finish this project, but I’m hopeful we’ll still be able to create something meaningful and educational.

This week was a extremely different from any week I’ve had in school, and probably in life in general. With the closing of school and switching to online, we didn’t get to see any interactive project analyses this week. Instead, our group is working towards figuring out how we are going to be able to finish our project with the little availability of human interaction. We are currently figuring out who will be staying in Lincoln for the next few months and who will not be. This is putting a wrench in our plans because we may have to switch around tasks depending on who will be here and be able to get interviews and photos done for the website.

This change is proving to be a bit stressful for the group. As we look to the future, getting out of quarantine and getting our interviews done is looking to be extremely difficult. As someone who was going to lead the photo/video portion of our project, I may no longer be able to do so as I will probably be out of Lincoln for a lot of the remainder of the semester. This will mean that our group will have to work together to fill roles and pick up things that we may not be the best at.

This week our group has been trying to figure out how we will move forward with our project considering the changes made to the class. We are still working on finalizing all of our interviews, but I do not see this being a problem, except for how we will be able to document them without the checkout room being available for us to get the needed equipment. I personally have been in contact with Senator Morfled again this week, and have been trying to figure out how we will move forward with our interview. He is now no longer seeing people in person due to the virus, so our interview will most likely have to be over the phone. Due to everything going on he has become extremely busy, but I am hoping that there will still be a time he is able to speak with us otherwise, I have offered to send him questions over email so that we can at least get some information.

I personally have gone home for spring break and will be moving back home after, and I am slightly nervous about this class because of this. I am hoping that with zoom nothing will change drastically, but I am worried that this will effect my ability to fully participate or keep up with what the group is doing. With this being said, I will do everything I can to keep up with the project.

This week our group has tried to address the problem of the university moving to online classes. I believe all of us will still remain in Lincoln for the remainder of the semester so that will lighten the blow that our project may have taken due to the loss of proximity of a member. We are still working on setting up the rest of our interviews, and we have yet to find out if our interviewees will be limited by the guidelines set by the CDC. It is my hope and thought that all of them will still be open to doing interviews but we are still unsure. Not having the checkout room open for the rest of the semester will hurt our abilities to obtain content, but we will find solutions to that problem internally. Personally, over spring break I will be trying to finalize a website design and going over possible layouts, color schemes, and functions with the rest of the group. After that, all we will ready need as a group is to finish up the last of our interviews and put it all together in a way that fits our narrative. This will be a challenging time I think for everyone in this class, but it will be interesting to see how projects will change to work around the external issues that are blocking us.