Flow Web Prototype IV_PDF.pdf

Description

Finding Flow was inspired by a previous research project, Zen and the Art of STEAM. The concept of flow was developed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and can be described as "being in the zone." The previous research project focused on digital

Finding Flow was inspired by a previous research project, Zen and the Art of STEAM. The concept of flow was developed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and can be described as "being in the zone." The previous research project focused on digital culture students and whether they could find states of flow within their coursework. This thesis project aimed to develop a website prototype that could be used to help students who struggled to find flow.

Date Created
2023-05
Agent

Dredd_Spring_2023.pdf

Description

Finding Flow was inspired by a previous research project, Zen and the Art of STEAM. The concept of flow was developed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and can be described as "being in the zone." The previous research project focused on digital

Finding Flow was inspired by a previous research project, Zen and the Art of STEAM. The concept of flow was developed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and can be described as "being in the zone." The previous research project focused on digital culture students and whether they could find states of flow within their coursework. This thesis project aimed to develop a website prototype that could be used to help students who struggled to find flow.

Date Created
2023-05
Agent

Finding Flow: Crafting a Website to Help Students Overcome Blocks

Description
Finding Flow was inspired by a previous research project, Zen and the Art of STEAM. The concept of flow was developed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and can be described as "being in the zone." The previous research project focused on digital

Finding Flow was inspired by a previous research project, Zen and the Art of STEAM. The concept of flow was developed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and can be described as "being in the zone." The previous research project focused on digital culture students and whether they could find states of flow within their coursework. This thesis project aimed to develop a website prototype that could be used to help students who struggled to find flow.
Date Created
2023-05
Agent

Reducing Social Media’s Negative Influence on Emerging Adults’ Mental Well-Being with a Design-Focused, Neuroscience Approach

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Description

"No civil discourse, no cooperation; misinformation, mistruth." These were the words of former Facebook Vice President Chamath Palihapitiya who publicly expressed his regret in a 2017 interview over his role in co-creating Facebook. Palihapitiya shared that social media is ripping

"No civil discourse, no cooperation; misinformation, mistruth." These were the words of former Facebook Vice President Chamath Palihapitiya who publicly expressed his regret in a 2017 interview over his role in co-creating Facebook. Palihapitiya shared that social media is ripping apart the social fabric of society and he also sounded the alarm regarding social media’s unavoidable global impact. He is only one of social media’s countless critics. The more disturbing issue resides in the empirical evidence supporting such notions. At least 95% of adolescents own a smartphone and spend an average time of two to four hours a day on social media. Moreover, 91% of 16-24-year-olds use social media, yet youth rate Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter as the worst social media platforms. However, the social, clinical, and neurodevelopment ramifications of using social media regularly are only beginning to emerge in research. Early research findings show that social media platforms trigger anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and other negative mental health effects. These negative mental health symptoms are commonly reported by individuals from of 18-25-years old, a unique period of human development known as emerging adulthood. Although emerging adulthood is characterized by identity exploration, unbounded optimism, and freedom from most responsibilities, it also serves as a high-risk period for the onset of most psychological disorders. Despite social media’s adverse impacts, it retains its utility as it facilitates identity exploration and virtual socialization for emerging adults. Investigating the “user-centered” design and neuroscience underlying social media platforms can help reveal, and potentially mitigate, the onset of negative mental health consequences among emerging adults. Effectively deconstructing the Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (i.e., hereafter referred to as “The Big Three”) will require an extensive analysis into common features across platforms. A few examples of these design features include: like and reaction counters, perpetual news feeds, and omnipresent banners and notifications surrounding the user’s viewport. Such social media features are inherently designed to stimulate specific neurotransmitters and hormones such as dopamine, serotonin, and cortisol. Identifying such predacious social media features that unknowingly manipulate and highjack emerging adults’ brain chemistry will serve as a first step in mitigating the negative mental health effects of today’s social media platforms. A second concrete step will involve altering or eliminating said features by creating a social media platform that supports and even enhances mental well-being.

Date Created
2021-05
Agent

Improving User Experience for College Admissions

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Description
The Barrett Honors College website contains a lot of information that isn’t easily accessible by Honors Students. Many honors students have trouble finding the correct information they need. Important information is scattered all over the website making it difficult for

The Barrett Honors College website contains a lot of information that isn’t easily accessible by Honors Students. Many honors students have trouble finding the correct information they need. Important information is scattered all over the website making it difficult for honors students to find and understand the information they need. One example of this is the requirements for Lower and Upper Division credit. This website displays the upper and lower division credit needed for a student to graduate from the honors college via a noninteractive flowchart. Many high school seniors find it difficult to understand the mundane flowchart outlining the required honors credit that is required for graduating from Barrett at Arizona State University. Also, it is confusing for many transfer students with unique circumstances to determine the necessary requirements for them to graduate as a Barrett student.
These difficult flowcharts and confusing websites have a huge impact on a student’s ability to adequately receive the information they need and, in the end, can have a negative impact on their ultimate decision when deciding if Barrett is right for them. A better user experience can be a more effective way of displaying information to students. A better design that allows to user more interaction would allow for the user to better understand the information they are presented. Instead of a monotone flowchart displaying the requirements necessary to graduate with honors status, A web application where a user can input their information and get an output of the necessary requirements tailored to the unique circumstance would be more informative, useful, and easier to use. The web app would take information such as a student’s year, whether it be an incoming freshman or transfer student, and their current and previous course credit to determine the specific number of honors credits, The Human Event courses, and Thesis project required for this user to complete the requirements for Barrett Honors College. This application would give the user a better understanding of what is required of them and in turn lead to a better user experience.
Date Created
2020-05
Agent