Master’s project:

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Abstract: For my project, I have created a digital media platform designed for youths to facilitate their understanding of the local environment.  It includes a protocol for collaborative data collection with environmental sensing technology and acts as a web-based, self-contained tool for computing the data and visualizing it. With this, I have also created a compelling digital media presence to promote the achievements of a local youth organization to local businesses, schools, and other interested parties.  The entire system is designed to be easily extensible to other organizations and schools.

Themes: participatory culture, new media literacy, crowdsourcing, information visualization, marketing, collaboration, instructional design

Collaborative Product Development:

• In a team environment, I am helping to develop a product from conception to prototyping, with emphasis on identifying user needs, researching competitors, developing a strategy and marketing plan, product positioning, and finally building a working prototype.

• Our product is a GUI overlay of Windows OS intended to assist those unfamiliar with computers in completing simple tasks based on their niche needs.

Turner work with New Products Group:

• First intern in NPG history to be invited to Atlanta/NYC Turner think-tank in Miami.

• Launched new Turner blog, met high volume unique visitor goals for advertising, analyzed social media marketing and brand experience mapping, and designed wireframes and prototypes for upcoming projects.

• Researched strategic Turner partnerships, analyzed competitive landscapes, researched and profiled target customer markets, planned for syndication of Turner content, and NPG project marketing strategy.

Google Online Marketing Challenge 2008:

• One of only a few teams representing Georgia Tech at the request of our management professor, Dr. D.J. Wu.  Developed an AdWords and general SEM/SEO marketing strategy for TAP, a local restaurant, utilizing funds from Google.

• After the competition, we presented the restaurant company, in addition to Google, with a report of our findings and recommendations for implementing a full-scale online marketing campaign.

SyncIt:

• A widget I created using the Google Gadget platform that aimed to consolidate tasks, events, and obligations from Google Calendar and to-do lists, displaying the aggregated content in a succinct, editable list on a user’s desktop sidebar or iGoogle page.

• Utilizes Twitter to parse the different sources of information, allowing the displayed gadget list to be accessible from the Twitter website, the widget itself, instant message, text message, email, and mobile phone apps.

• Emphasizes functionality and utility with convenient access points.

City as a Learning Lab:

• As part of the Public Design Workshop, a Georgia Tech research group funded by Intel, we have spent the last year examining how emerging technologies (such as sensing, robotics, visualizations, and mapping) might be used in urban neighborhoods in the context of advocacy, activism, and education.

• We have created several prototype projects on infrastructure and recycling which we hope to make extensible to the larger goals of our study.

AniCamz:
View Project (click Frieda)

• Prototyping “blue sky” project for Dr. Janet Murray’s class where I combined live streaming videos from parks and zoos with educational information and parsed news stories.

• Visual design and emphasis on individual character animals aimed to appeal to kids with the hope of raising awareness of and creating interest in the threats to endangered animals. Revenue model would be based on donations and advertising.

Clarifying Obfuscated Media Ownership (COMO):
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• We hypothesized that most people have limited knowledge about media ownership and concentration, but that increased understanding of media ownership structure would further contribute to their overall understanding and critical consumption of media (”media literacy”).

• Based on this, we created for Dr. Fox Harrell an interactive visualization that allows users to interact playfully with the media ownership structure.  Users are expected to draw their own conclusions of patterns and relations between the nodes.

Vintage Atlanta Postcard – Remediated:
View Project

• As part of a group project, we remediated a vintage Coney Island style postcard for Atlanta into a digital form and then hypermediated it with multiple filmings of tourist interests.

• The method of filming was intended to mimic the tourist experience at iconic locations. Instead of focusing only on the beauty, architecture, and landmark, we imitated the tourist experience by also filming the negative, which is as much a part of the experience as the positive.

Eco-Sensing and Visualization:
Project Website

• As part of the Public Design Workshop, a Georgia Tech research group funded by Intel, we investigated the opportunities and challenges of participatory sensing and experimental information visualization.

• Emphasis on collaborative efforts, information visualization, understanding and addressing conceptual and technical challenges, computational solutions to realistic problems, user design, and community involvement.

Visual Culture and Design Map:

• As part of a core Digital Media course with Dr. Carl DiSalvo, we were instructed to create an interactive map representing a path regularly taken during our week or day.  I created a map of my daily walk with my dog. Rather than reiterating the path itself, the map concentrated on the sensory details which act as distractions to my dog.

• Emphasis on design, usability, and creating interest for users.