Case Study Analysis: Lynn Dixon

Matthew Korich

Case Study 2: Lynn Dixon

Key Stakeholders
Designer-Lynn Dixon
1. Primary concerns
Lynn's primary focus is creating a product that fits what her client is looking for and fits
within their budget. For this project she is concerned about balancing the two considering the
fact that there seems to be a disconnect between what the client is expecting and, what she as a
designer can actually offer for their particularly tight budget.
Client Liaison-Janette Parks
1. Primary concerns
Janette seems most interested in making the sale of this product to the company's new
clients. To this end she seems to have given the clients an overestimated view of the possibilities
with their design given their limited budget. Janette does appear to honestly believe that what she
has offered the clients is within the realm of possibility, she reminds Lynn on p. 199 that the level
of interactivity is just an average so they should be able to include something above the medium
interactivity level.
Client-Laura Barton (Representative of the Marine park/government department)
1. Primary concerns
Laura's main concerns are for the kiosk to be useful for the patrons of the aquarium to
learn more about the wetlands. She wants to ensure that the kiosk will be something that the
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Case Study Analysis: Lynn Dixon

Matthew Korich

aquarium can be proud of (she mentions that world renown wetlands experts will be interested in
the kiosk on page 202.). Laura also seems to be concerned about ensuring that the kiosk is as
accurate as possible (she lets Lynn know about the various additional wetlands that would need
to be added under the types of wetlands section of the design document on p. 200 )
SME-Ben Williams
1. Primary concerns
Ben's concerns seem to be mostly about ensuring that the kiosk is accurate and interactive
so that more people can learn about the wetlands (that he gets incredibly excited about.) As the
SME Ben tries to ensure that Lynn has all the information she needs to make the final kiosk
product as educational as possible (he provides her with the pamphlets on the wetlands during
their first meeting, he discusses adding information about the aboriginal people, and he is very
interested in having an interactive way to discuss the threats to the wetlands requesting a game or
other interactive animation.)
Audience-Aquarium Patrons
1. Primary concerns
The aquarium's patrons will be the ones who will be using the kiosk while visiting the
park, as such their key concerns would be usability. Patrons will want an interactive experience
that is simple to use and doesn't require too much of their time (with few kiosks available a long
user experience could result in many patrons skipping over the kiosk altogether as other patrons
are using the device.) Patrons are also concerned about being given accurate information that is
presented in such a way that they can learn something from it (why else would they access the
kiosk if not to try and learn what it has been developed to teach?)
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Case Study Analysis: Lynn Dixon

Matthew Korich

Key ID Design Challenges [1-2]

Design
The design of the product should be as effective as possible for as many people as
possible. Creating an informational kiosk should inform anyone who interacts with it despite
language differences, and cultural differences if at all possible.
1. Case specific constraints that impact ID ability to address this challenge?
The patrons of the aquarium come from all walks of life and may not understand the
language used in the creation of the kiosk. Lynn will need to develop some strategies to allow
the kiosk to be as beneficial for someone who doesnt speak or read English as it can be (it may
not be 100% as beneficial as it could be with someone who does speak English however.)
Development
The SME/Client is interested in adding high end animations and interactivity to the
product despite a small budget, developing the product in a way that makes the client happy
while not going over budget is a challenge as Lynn tries to stay within her ethical obligations.
1. Case specific constraints that impact ID ability to address this challenge?
The SME is very persistent in attempting to include these "Bells and whistles" and the
Telopea liaison, Janette, seems to be encouraging him to push for something like this despite the
added cost associated, a case specific challenge would be determining what the client and the
SME are willing to make concessions on (the budget or the "Bells and whistles") and using that
information to develop the product in the way that best suits all parties involved.
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Case Study Analysis: Lynn Dixon

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Priority of these challenges and why?

The biggest priority seems to be the disconnect between what the client is expecting and
what their budget can actually create. If the client doesnt really understand what they are
capable of creating within their budget then when the product is finally completed (if it makes it
to that stage) the client would very likely be disappointed with the product (in this case the
wetlands kiosk.) So in order to avoid the project becoming scrapped prematurely or the marine
park becoming dissatisfied with the final product it will be imperative to ensure that both
involved parties have reached an understanding of what their budget can truly afford to create
before delving too deep into the design process.
The challenge of developing for international visitors could potentially be remedied by
the strategic use of simple animations and graphics. If this were to prove to be something that
the client would be interested in however it could lead to more budget concerns hence the reason
why the misunderstanding of the budget would take priority over this challenge.

Weekly Readings
How the weeks assigned readings contributed to this analysis
Hoffler and Leutner discuss how animations are most powerful when they instructionally
relevant (p. 735) using the data that this article brought together and the calculations included to
prove the above statement it should be relatively easy to convince Ben the SME that the high end
animations he wants included should at least be tied to the instruction as opposed to simply being
something that would be decorational. This could lead to a compromise that helps the design stay

Case Study Analysis: Lynn Dixon

Matthew Korich

on budget but still allows Ben to have some sort of higher end animation included (one that
pertains directly to the instruction that the kiosk will be providing.)
Sung and Mayer discuss the different types of media /graphics that can be used and how
their effects differ based on how they are paired. Comparing decorational graphics with
instructional graphics along with their being paired with instructional texts shows varied results
with the shows that pairing instructional graphics with instructional text has a significant effect
on learning and understanding the content. This fact should be helpful again in persuading Ben
and Laura that what they should be most interested in is animations and graphics that are
meaningful to the learning taking place as opposed to simply interesting animations that may
actually distract learners from the intended goal of the finished product.
How does previous experiences contribute to analysis?
The Craig Gregerson case was an interesting case that compares with this situation in a
way. Craig had to deal with multiple sides of a company who disagreed about what the company
needed as a whole and as a result major schisms occurred within the company. Craig's main goal
in theory should have been to get the opposing sides to meet and finally discuss their reasons for
their opinions and attempt to reach a compromise that would allow Craig's design to meet the
needs of all parties involved as fully as possible. Lynn has a similar dilemma it seems that her
company and the client/SME may have different understandings of what their budget will allow
for in the creation of this product, so a meeting where all interested parties can be in attendance
should be scheduled where both sides can more fully discuss what they want to see versus what
the budget will allow for and begin the development of compromises wherever necessary.

Reasonable Solutions
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Case Study Analysis: Lynn Dixon

Matthew Korich

First solution & description of how each addresses

Lynn should schedule another meeting, one in which she can be absolutely sure that
Janette, Laura and Ben can all attend (preferably in person.) During this meeting Lynn should
make her opinions very clear if she believes that the animation that Ben wants included in the
design would put the project over budget then, they as a group need to discuss their options
(leaving out the animation, cutting back in other areas, finding more funds to increase the budget
etc.)
1. Challenges
The design of the product would greatly depend upon the results of a meeting such as
this, so a major challenge could be a delayed timeline for design and development due to delays
in reaching an agreement about the budget. Lynns ethical challenge would be remaining to be
open and honest with her client throughout this entire process, even if it means telling them that
which they dont want to hear.
2. Case-specific constraints
Working around the busy schedules of these professionals could be difficult (Janette is
often pulled away for important sales meetings.) On top of this Ben and Laura seem to have
some ideas that are relatively set in stone as far as they are concerned while Janette seems to be
overselling their product (offering a higher quality product than can be created on their tight
budget.) Lynns challenge will be bringing these people to an agreement about how the project
should move on.
3. Pros

Case Study Analysis: Lynn Dixon

Matthew Korich

If successful, Lynn will know for sure what is expected to be in the final product and
there will be few surprises throughout the remainder of the design process. This will also give
all parties involved a clearer understanding of the work involved in designing such a product.
4. Cons
There is a possibility that the client could remain adamant that they need certain aspects
of their ideas included in the design without any budget increases which could lead to them
taking their business elsewhere.
Second solution & description of how each addresses
Lynn could focus on developing a solution for the problem of catering to all Patrons as
opposed to just those who speak and read English well. Developing an alternative that allows
people who speak other languages or are from different cultures or generations to universally
understand the information provided at the kiosk is an important aspect of the design.
1. Challenges
Developing a solution that is simple yet effective for many different types of people.
Remaining within the clients budgetary scope while still providing requested aspects of the
design.
2. Case-specific constraints
The types of patrons that come to the aquarium are incredibly varied which could
complicate the process of making the kiosk more of a universal learning tool.

Case Study Analysis: Lynn Dixon

Matthew Korich

3. Pros
Finding this solution would make the kiosk much more user friendly for all audience
member, no matter who they are. The client would be very pleased as it is one aspect that they
are most concerned about.
4. Cons
A simple solution may not be easy to develop. Even a simple solution (such as using
pictures/graphics and simple animations could offset the budget and lead to requiring more cuts
from other areas of the product.

Final Recommendation
I would recommend that Lynn Follow the first recommended solution. Finding a time to
meet with all parties involved and come to an agreement about what is feasible and what is not.
Without this information Lynn could begin the design process and find that much of the work she
creates may not be used in the final product to assist in staying within budget. If the client does
refuse to change their plans for the final product the only thing Lynn can do is try her best to
convince them that in order to have all the features that they want their current budget will not
suffice. She needs to come to this meeting prepared with solid information about the costs of the
designs in mind, with examples of previous products and their associated costs to show her
clients that there is only so much that she can produce on such a limited budget. If her clients
were to decide that this disagreement about the budget was enough to justify that they take their
product elsewhere then perhaps Lynn should do her best to assure them that Telopea has a long
standing history of high quality work and that no matter what firm they do chose to work with,
the quality of product that they desire will require a larger budget.
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