Mid-Challenge Review - the first week.

Wow, what an interesting week. I don't think any of us could have predicted how complicated projects can get! To be honest, we are quite behind on our brief but are planning to catch up over the weekend, with an intensive team meeting Saturday night to review our brief and make any changes that need to be made (+ possibly add a video of our new directions, if there are any).

The week so far... many highs and lows but we are hoping that it will stay high from now on! After the meeting on Monday, the trustees took forever to go through the approvals process for our logo, this was complicated by the fact that another person had also presented logo concepts to the centre. A couple of days later and still no definite answer, then finally on Thursday we receive news that the other person's logo was chosen! Needless to say we were all quite shocked and a little bit upset. As the process had been taking so long we had started on website design, but now we would have to start all over to fit in with a new logo.

To cut a long story short, there had been MAJOR miscommunication within the staff at the centre, and the wrong message got relayed to us: The trustees loved our logo, they simply wanted a fuller-figured woman in there somewhere. So we lost quite a few days waiting for approval, and we went through one day of complete confusion, but from today onwards we will focus on the task and hopefully get it all done on time.

So to recap: Logo approved, website designs almost ready to be sent off for approval (hopefully that won't take too long), all content from current site has been migrated to new CMS. Tonight we are starting on the badge and doing more research on the forum, so that tomorrow we can deliver to you a fresh look at our brief.

This is the final graphic for our logo. Unfortunately Blogger keeps inverting the colours (it is normally cream and burgundy) but I'm sure you get the message :)

It's Miles' design and he is quite proud of it. It basically encompasses all that the North Shore Women's Centre is about: things like diversity, empowerment, support, teamwork, etc. while at the same time bringing a fresh, modern look to the centre's image.

There will be things and stuff...

Aurelie didn't mention the most exciting bit...
Yesterday while we were across the bridge Aurelie and I got a bit sidetracked while looking for a petrol station and stopped at the Glenfield Salvation Army. What a treat that shop was. We spent $30 and between us we got shoes, bags, a leotard, a skirt, a top, a japanese book, a Hanson tape and the most important our digital fix mascot! I will put a pic on here later but so you don't die from the suspense its a Barney soft toy...amazing
The team meeting last night was great and very productive. How information flows in a website is a crucial aspect...its not all about looking good. But it helps haha
We should get the go ahead on the logo and colour scheme later today or tomorrow and then we are set.
And Aurelie was overreacting we had heaps of petrol!!
Katherine

Logo approval and the first of many technical difficulties

Yesterday afternoon (Monday 28th), Kat & I trekked out to Glenfield to meet up with Kaira to present our final logo options to her for approval. Miles had done a wonderful job and I found the logo to be simple yet very effective at putting across the message of diversity and interdependence.
This time we knew our way there (vaguely, still had a couple of looks at the mapbook), however, the petrol light was on the whole way and would beep at us every now and then. I was a little concerned we were going to break down in the middle of the northern motorway.

We were introduced to Cathy, the NSWC web-person. We discussed the logo at length and decided we would mock some up using more red and playing around with type layout.

Later on in the evening, after topping up on beers and picking up some Thai takeaways, we had a very long team meeting, at times productive & sometimes frustrating. We were very keen on producing a really cool website for the centre but decided that usability was a more important factor. We needed our website to be done in a way that ordinary staff the the NSWC could update it themselves. In the end we decided to try out a NZ application called Silverstripe. We are having trouble downloading it though (silly open source geeks making things complicated...) but if it doesn't work we might resort to just using Wordpress.

Tonight we will mock up a few website design options and pass them onto the centre for approval, and hopefully decide on the way we will implement that design. It is also unfortunate that we still do not know whether their current hosting system supports php. I hope all this will be sorted out by our next entry!

Task 3 coolness

Team Name

Digital Fix

The organisation

North Shore Women's Centre

Mission/Vision (of organisation)

There is still a need for women to have a place to challenge the assumptions and promote debate, in order to better the lives of women. Our vision is to provide services which enable women to empower themselves to lead fulfilling lives.

Identified Goal (of yMedia project)

To help the women's centre reach and engage with a broader audience - especially young people by having a larger digital presence and a more interactive, stylish and helpful website. Adding more interactivity will hopefully attract people to become more involved in the cause, especially discussing contemporary issues of gender inequality.

Current barriers/difficulties in achieving this goal

A lack of understanding about digital media within the organisation. A large part of the project will involve teaching the NSWC staff how to use the technology implemented on their own website. All of them are very passionate about their cause and have to much to say, they simply need the skills to be able to turn those opinions/knowledge into instant posts on the website.
Another barrier is the fact that the organisation has a very involved board of trustees with very strict guidelines. If they do not like a particular aspect of the project then it will not go ahead. This could easily lead to wasted time, and therefore clear communication between Digital Fix and the NSWC is absolutely crucial to a succesful project.

Typical client/Target audience

Women. One of the main ideas the NSWC has tried to get through to us the the importance of diversity. They are very adament that no-one can be left out. Whatever digital solutions we implement will need to attract a diverse range of women. This could be construed as another difficulty in achieving the goal, but we look at it more as a challenge. We realise the importance of reaching out to as many women as possible and the reasons why.

Possible/discussed digital solutions/options

Social networking sites, website forum, interactive form for signing up to classes and the e-newsletter, a brand new look for the website included in a rebranding of the entire organisation.

Evaluation of solutions

The NSWC had already decided that a rebranding of the entire organisation had to be performed and are very excited about it, this is one aspect of the project they had already been thinking about before meeting us. From our point of view the interactive side is equally important, making the site more useful to get people to visit the site again and again. Finally, we will look at ways to advertise the NSWC and it's website through the idea of an icon which people can put on their websites as a sort of 'badge' to say they support the centre, and also via social networking sites + "the word of mouth" effect they produce.

Proposed solution

Our final proposed solution involves first the rebranding of the website and the organisation itself. We will endeavour to create a logo and font/colour combination which attracts as many women as possible and creates a sense of diversity around the NSWC. We shall present the centre with many concepts from which the trustees can choose from as soon as possible so that we can get the project underway. After a choice has been made, one of our team members will focus on design while the other two find solutions to the aspect of interactivity. Once we have worked out what we need, we will again communicate with the centre about the structure of the site, and how the new interactive elements will fit in with existing content. One member will also focus on possible ways of advertising the NSWC digitally.

Focus of solution

The overall focus of the whole project is to create a website which will incite women to be informed about contemporary gender issues, and also show them ways in which they can empower themselves through courses etc. By creating a website where women can share opinions, sign up for courses, and hear latest news from the North Shore Women's Centre, we will make it easier for them to help themselves. Of course, a website is useless if no-one knows it exists, so it is important for us to get to where women already converse and that is on social networking sites. Many women also have blogs, and we will encourage them to place an icon there to inform other women that this website exists.

Design approach

Elements - A diverse range of women. We have come to an agreement that the new 'brand' design for the centre needs to refer to different cultures/ages/occupations of women. We have discussed ways of achieving this and have decided that either silhouettes or profiles would be effective. After extensive research we have agreed on a tangent for logo concepts to go on, which involves flower imagery and women silhouettes as petals. Other design elements which has been discussed is the colour scheme, at which point centre members explicitly stated they did not want too much pink in the design, as this is one of the main problems with the current design.

Look/Feel - An important factor of the project is that the site needs to feel welcoming to a diverse variety of people. Therefore the design will be very clean and simple, and will be implemented in a way so that it does not alienate the current users of the site, but it also invites younger people and others to become part of it.

Scope of work (work that will take place)

Design: New logo; colour scheme; fonts; website; business card; pamphlet; , Usability: New domain name + redirection from old domain name; forum; application forms online; opportunity for staff to update website e.g. latest news section, Advertising: Social networking; website badge/icon,

Outside of scope (work that won't take place)

Video, Internal operations, content,

Technology to be used

Photoshop, Illustrator, Forum software, Facebook, Bebo, Myspace, Blog, RSS?

Proposed structure

There will be things and stuff

Timeline Dates

Logo concepts will be presented at a meeting on Monday 28th of July and one particular logo will be chosen. From there Miles will continue designing a concept for the website, the business card and the pamphlet.These will be presented via meeting or email by Friday 1st of August so that a final copy of each is finished by Sunday 3rd. At the meeting on Monday, we will also discuss the research done into the possibilities for forums, online forms for courses, and the blog icon idea and get an ok on all of those. Aurelie and Katherine will then attempt to implement the forum by Sunday 3rd and the online form by Wednesday 6th August, seeking help along the way from digital media tutors if absolutely needed. The icon imagery will be created by Miles by Sunday 3rd at the very latest, as a version of the NSWC logo. The icon will need to be distributed as quickly as possible as it is a viral idea and will hopefully spread exponentially. It will start with 3 or 4 blogs from people we know, and we predict it will be taken up by people reading those blogs, and so on and so forth. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday will be used to finish off anything that has run over time, and fix up any glitches within the code etc. These days will also be there to showcase the project so far to the NSWC staff and have their input on any possible changes. Once all is done we will dedicate a day to teaching how to use the new site elements and possibly even write a summary manual in case they forget. However, all along the way we will endeavour to use the simplest technology available for all our digital solutions, so that the NSWC staff can learn to use it instantaneously.

And the Challenge begins...

Thursday afternoon was very exciting. I already knew exactly where the Microsoft building was and Miles Katherine and I walked there together from uni. We were a little early and could possibly have used some extra planning time but got coffee instead. All wired up and ready to go we went up the lift. I'd never been inside and wasn't sure what to expect, but we spent all afternoon commenting on the 'organic' shapes, how spacious it was, and the creativity of the architect/interior designer (probably should've taken some photos!).
Heading down the hall towards the briefing room, my heart rate increased and I really couldn't wait to jump right into the project.
Those 3 hours were incredibly productive. Digital Fix and the North Shore Women's Centre were bouncing ideas off each other and we learned even more about where the NSWC is coming from, getting some important insight and detail into their philosophies and ideas on feminism.
We went through the project brief together and spent a good deal of time discussing concepts for the rebranding of the whole organisation. We are very lucky that the NSWC are so eager to change their whole image as it will help in attracting fresh people to their website.
Later tonight we will post a video version of our project brief, for your viewing pleasure :)

The last post before the real beginning, woohoo!

Now both Katherine and Miles have already written their impressions of our first meeting with Kaira, the manager at the North Shore Women's Centre (from here on in referred to as the NSWC), but everyone knows that Ihave to stick my 2 cents in :)

I just have to start off with how excited I was on our way there, I really couldn't wait to see what Kaira was like and to hear what the NSWC was all about. I'd already read the mission statement on their website, but listening to someone actually within the organisation and getting to ask about anything and everything was quite great! It turned out we did quite a bit of talking too, and Kaira wanted to find out all about us. She was really lovely and I can tell that the 4 of us will make a fantastic team, and it'll be awesome for us to teach her our digital ways.

It immediately became apparent that the NSWC is quite a small organisation in terms of employees, which is why increasing their online presence will be dramatically important for them and their influence, because it's such an easy/cheap way of getting to their target audience.

The NSWC was our first choice, and I'm so glad we got them. Kaira is so open-minded about everything and willing to try everything. She is already full of ideas, and willing to work around other commitments (including, of course, her work at the NSWC, and her kids), to give us as much assistance as we need. It's so important to us, because there is no point in our trio creating all these tools for the centre if we haven't taught staff how to use them!

Incidentally, we will need to work very closely with the NSWC, as any changes to their website, colour scheme, logo, or anything related to the project needs to first be formally approved by the board of trustees of the organisation. We understand these formalities, as this is an organisation with a lot of history behind it, and we wouldn't want to break too many traditions... but definitely bend a few!

A significant challenge the NSWC faces is the lack of interest in gender equality issues these days. Most young women think take some of their rights for granted. It's not like in the 80's when the NSWC was founded + the feminist movement was alive and strong. These days young people don't even know that, for example, British politicians recently voted on whether to reduce the allowable time limit for abortion from 24 weeks down to 20. Thankfully most of them opposed it, but what happens if the conservatives come to power? Basically, young people need to be informed on these issues, and we will help the NSWC get their message out through the wonderful magic of the internet.

At 40 years old, Kaira is the youngest member of the NSWC staff, and she acknowledges the help they need in the digital arena. Though none of us three are specifically competent at things to do with the web, just by being generation Y'ers we have precious knowledge to share that we didn't even know we had! After finding out more about each other, the conversation quickly turned to things to do with the challenge, and everyone had so many great ideas. I am so looking forward to putting pen to paper tomorrow and coming up with a definite plan.

The Meeting

I suppose I never really thought about being apprehensive about working with a feminist organisation but even if I had been slightly nervous, Kaira (the manager of the North Shore Women's Centre) made us all feel very comfortable (even the engineer). A warm smile, friendly manner and comfy seats set a good scene for what proved to be a very productive and exciting half hour!

The centre has three main services that they offer; counselling for a range of issues, information on many topics and various classes/clinics.
Now they want to reach out to a younger audience, some of whom face challenges like teenage pregnancy and eating disorders. Which is where we come in, helping them get a more assertive digital presence so that 'generation y'ers can more easily get through to them via our natural medium: the internet.

Time to get to work

Foreword

So... On Monday afternoon Aurelie, Miles and I (Katherine!) left the city to visit the greatness that is the North Shore. Having no idea where we were going I was pretty impressed with Aurelie's map reading skills and we managed to get lost just once and arrive at the North Shore Women's Centre only 15 minutes late. We were greeted by Kaira the manager of the Centre and immediately felt right at home- even Miles, they aren't that exclusive haha.
Anyway...
The North Shore Women's Centre was officially established in 1987 (21 this year!!) as the Glenfield Women's Health Cooperative but in 1991 became a charitable trust working with women from all over the North Shore, hence the name change. Currently the centre has 5 staff and 3 contractors and is governed by a Board of Trustees who don't work there.
The North Shore Women's Centre exists to empower and enable woman to live to their full potential. They do this by providing a range of services for women of all ages including information, referral, support, counselling and legal advice as well as fun things like massage clinics and book clubs.
Even though the centre is for women of all ages the North Shore Women's Centre are finding it difficult to appeal to younger people. Kaira says that "While I agree that since the start of the feminist movement more choices are available for women, there are still inequalities between the genders" therefore young people are taking the rights fought for decades ago for granted and not challenging their current role in society and the inequalities between genders. It is our mission to help them to get noticed by people our age and younger.
We left the meeting full of ideas and super excited about the next two weeks!
It all starts tomorrow....

Introductions

The main objective of this blog is to keep track of the team Digital Fix in the 2008 yMedia Challenge. The yMedia Challenge is a competition running from 28th July to 8th August. It's about connecting tertiary students with community groups through media and technology to create a new, or leverage an existing, low-cost digital presence for the community group.

Digital Fix consists of me (Aurelie Rivalant), Katherine Gibb and Miles Mason. Together, we will be helping out the North Shore Women's Centre.

We will take turns updating this blog to show our progress. Our next update will be up before the 23rd and will describe our discussion with a North Shore Women's Centre representative. It will detail what the organisation is about, its purposes/audiences/challenges, and hopefully start to identify ways in which they would most like us to help them.

Digital Fix has started up a facebook group and, if you are a facebook member, feel free to join + invite all your friends! If you are not a facebook member, then don't hesitate to join facebook just so you can join our group :) We will soon get around to creating relevant groups on the other major social networking sites Bebo and Myspace. Please leave a comment if there is a networking site you are part of which you feel we should add a group to.

In the meantime you can simply show your support by spreading the word and telling all your friends about our cause. Thanks for all the support!