Week 9 Journal

Week 9

23/11/07

At the end of week 8 I explained that a new testing method needed to be found to replace the Geneva Appraisal Questionnaire (GAQ). Over the weekend of the 17th & 18th Nov, I carried out extensive research to help the team find a new method of testing for colour emotion. Although the Self Assessment Manikin (SAM) had been identified early on as a suitable method of measuring emotion, I needed to find evidence that it could be used to measure colour emotion. After finding several journals that provided the information that I needed, I spoke to Nick who had also come to the same conclusion, that SAM would be a suitable replacement for the GAQ, which was very pleasing to hear as this meant that the research that I was carrying out was along the right lines for the team. Also in this conversation, it was highlighted that SAM is sometimes used with a physiological test to back up the results that SAM provides. So this was the next stage of the research that I carried out. After more research I could identify that SAM was also used in conjunction with a physiological test such as heart rate monitoring and skin conductance. After relaying this information back to the team and taking all their points on board it was decided by the team that we should use heart rate monitoring in conjunction with SAM to test our participants.

It was then decided that I should write a rationale for using SAM and Heart rate. James and I used the best journals that had been found throughout the weekend to gather quotes; once this was done I wrote a small literature survey to back up our new method of testing our participants. This piece of work would go into the appendix of our design document. While I was writing this I was keeping in contact with Nick and Phill as they were looking into the methods of calculating the data collected using SAM.

Due to the new methods of collecting participant’s data, some of the design document had to be amended. Firstly I added some more information to the questionnaire section, because I felt it necessary to explain the SAM form that would be handed out. I then went onto write the testing procedure chapter again with the help of Phil.

The weekend of work proved to be very difficult with the extensive research that took place, but I know feel that this work has been fully justified with our new measuring emotion method. This new method will also allow us to gain more accurate results, so in the long term, will allow for a more accurate and detailed write up at the end of the project.

The rest of the week was spent working on the presentation. I helped Nick construct the presentation for the rest of the team to work on.

On Thursday we had the supervisory meeting (See team blog for more details). The first twenty minutes of this meeting was spent talking about the large amount of work that we are putting into this project. My personal feelings towards this, is that the work that we are putting into this project only reflects the nature of the project. At the beginning of the project a lot of research had to be carried out into many different areas, which included; psychology, emotion, film making techniques, emotion in computer games, this work then had to be narrowed down in into many different areas such as mise en scene and colour emotion. When it comes to writing the documents, I feel that I am only working hard to keep the quality high and to reflect the hard work that the team is putting into the project. For example, for the design document we wanted to give it a professional feel so we researched some computer game design documents written by Chris Taylor and Tim Ryan. This would then ensure that all areas of the design document are covered.

Although I do feel that I have been working very hard towards this project, this is only to ensure that the team has the best chance to be successful in completing the project to a high standard.

For the next week, I will be making sure that the team is ready to give the presentation to the supervisors on Thursday 29th Nov.

Week 8 Journal

Week 8

16/11/07

The first thing that I worked on at the beginning of week 8 was the film analysis. As explained in week 7 I will be analysing the film Hero. From watching the film it was clear to see that colour was a very important aspect to this film. It tells different stories and uses colours to emphasize the emotion being portrayed. For example it uses the colour red for the story about love and passion. There is a document that I have written in the appendix of the design document.

The next phase of work was to start writing the first draft of the design document. The first chapter that I wrote was the Questionnaires. This is a short section explaining that we will have a pre test questionnaire so that participant’s profiles could be gathered before the testing phase commences. The next chapter that I wrote was the testing phase. This section explains the testing procedure that the team will be using when we start testing. The final section that I wrote was the data analysis chapter. This chapter explains how we will be gathering our results from the testing phase. The team wrote all their sections over 3 days, so that at the beginning of week 8 the documents could be edited together and ready for the Thursday meeting with the supervisors.

After the Thursday meeting with the supervisors we had a meeting with Dr John Charlton (See team blog for more details). A very important point came out of this meeting. The Geneva Appraisal Questionnaire (GAQ) system that we planned on using is not entirely suitable for collecting data for the emotion felt when changing colour, it was suggested that we should look for a questionnaire about the psychology of colour that would fit in with our project or we could monitor the heart rate of the participants to look for a change in their emotional state. After this meeting I carried out some research, looking into using the heart rate method of collecting data. I read through ‘The effects of sound and colour on responses to a computer game’

(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V0D-41TMVFN-5&_user=788780&_coverDate=12%2F31%2F2000&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000043322&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=788780&md5=cfe7623fed6677998530758748e2fe1d)

This document used the heart rate monitoring method to look for the effects of colour change in a computer game. Along with this document I read through ‘Development of an emotion – responsive colour adaptation process for the interactive virtual building model’ which was found by Phil. This document gave us the evidence that colour change induces a Physiological change and this can be monitored using the heart rate. After this research was carried out I wrote a new draft proposal for the new method of testing. Once this new method is accepted by the team and the supervisors are happy with our new testing method I will rewrite the testing phase of the design document.

For the next week I will be continuing to research the new method of testing and helping the team finish the design document. Additionally, I will be helping the team start the presentation work ready for the first milestone.

Week 7 Journal

Week 7

11/11/07

The first thing that I did at the beginning of this week was to set up a Google Mail Account (battisonmatt@googlemail.com). This would allow me to access Google Docs. My other team members also set up Google Mail Accounts, and now we all have access to our documents on Google Docs.

Another important task was to watch the Scrum Video. This was a very interesting video. It was about project management and how it can be used to complete a project in time and how best to use the time available to you.

At the first team meeting I showed the team the notes that I had taken on the Scrum video and as a team we discussed how best to utilise the Scrum techniques. It was decided that we would use Microsoft Project and produce a Gantt chart to show progress in our project. It was decided after more discussions between Nick and myself that we would appoint a milestone manager to look after the project. This milestone manager would be responsible for keeping the Gantt chart up to date. Also, team members who have been appointed individual tasks will have to 'check in' their work so the Gnatt chart is kept up to date, and any problems that arise will be tackled together as a team; this is to ensure that the project does not fall behind schedule. The last point that myself and Nick devised was that for each milestone there will be a different milestone manager.

By using this system we allocated tasks to one another and decided that the work would be completed by Monday 12th Nov 07. It was decided that I would carry out the initial research for the film presentation.

Although we had already had been assigned our tasks, we decided as a team on Thursday 8th Nov 07 to start researching the different areas of the design document because it would be a large document. Each member was allocated a different area of the design document to look at. I decided to look at the questionnaires, usability testing and the data analysis.

For my film analysis it was decided that I would look at Hero. The film was released in 2003 and was directed by Zhang Yimou. It was decided that this film would be used because of its use of colour throughout, to tell the different stories. I watched the film, and made notes of my thoughts while watching it. I then read through the journal ‘The Expression of Colours’ again and used the table of colour and emotion and applied this to the film.

For next week my aim is to have the film analysis complete and ready for the team to use. I will also have my sections of the of the design document ready for use.

Week 6 Journal

Week 6

04/11/07

During this last week my focus has been on helping the team finish the deliverables. I helped make changes to the design document and the plan. Once these were finished the team read through all the documents and the final amendments were made. These were now ready to be handed in on the 31/10/07.

As part of the team, we started to look toward the next milestone. One area that we looked into first was the analysis of a film. I provided the team with a list for the book The visual story: Seeing the structure of film, TV and new media. This list had films that the book recommened watching because of their use of colour.

After the team meeting with the supervisors (see Team Blog for more details), we held another team meeting to decide how to start working towards the next milestone. I will looking at some of the films to see what one will be best to analyse, I will also create a GMail account so Goggle Docs can be accessed, also I will watch the scrum video to better understand agile software development methods for project management.