Week 12: Flip and Reverse It

UPDATE: During class today, I shared the project plan outlined below with Andy, and she helped me clarify that with my restorative justice discussion frameworks and role play experiments, I’m trying to find out if restorative justice can achieve the same outcomes in an online space as it does in real life. My initial prototype adapted the restorative circle framework for Slack, but it didn’t involve a conflict and it occurred between people who knew each other well in person, which is not usually the case in an online community. She pointed out that if I wanted to do a role play, I need to simulate a conflict and it needs to happen between people who don’t know each other. Alternatively, I could ask an existing online community if they would be willing to test the framework with me.

In addition to this, Andy helped me envision what each of the prototype assignment options for the remaining weeks could look like for me. Our next big deadline is Monday, December 3. We need to decide if we want to do Option 1.) two smaller, less refined prototypes, or Option 2.) 1 big, more refined prototype.

If we choose Option 1, on December 3 we need to present our 2nd prototype and results of testing. On December 17, our final presentation should be about the 3rd prototype and results of testing.

If we choose Option 2, on December 3 we will present our idea, “complete with illustrations, and a demonstration of your progress so far. Try to connect your prototype with your research so you can work on both concurrently.” On December 17, our final presentation should be a refined design, iterations and testing results.

If I wanted to take the opportunity to explore other possibilities for designing for online harassment, I could use the 2nd prototype to test another restorative justice inspired conflict resolution process with a role play as described above, and the 3rd prototype to explore some other possibilities like a video restorative justice platform for an online community, or some of the non-restorative justice features I’ve discussed with classmates for other assignments, but have not written about here.

If I want my thesis to be about restorative justice, then I should consider doing Option 2, one big thing. It should be in pursuit of my “North Star” project, which for the sake of this exercise, I decided would be a restorative justice chatbot. Maybe it could also include For the December 3 deadline, I should present my vision (Show RJ in person and RJ online side by side. How do the outcomes vary? Can a robot moderate restorative justice as well as a human? Can it do it better in an online space?), my questions and goals (Does RJ feel online the way it does in person? If not, why? In what ways should it be different and why?). Then, I should secure participants for a role play, as described above. For the December 17 presentation, I would present screens of the chatbot and a user journey.

There are three weeks left in the semester (!!!), which makes me feel both nauseous and relieved. I’m developing a plan to make the most of these remaining weeks and also hit the milestones established in our syllabus.

DUE BY WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28

Prototype 2: Restorative Justice Conflict Resolution Process for Facebook

• Finalized problem definition (based on class feedback)
• Blog about user interview insights
• Prototype objective — what do you want to learn by testing with this prototype?
• Written process document
• Process blueprint
• Role play outline for user testing

DUE BY MONDAY, DECEMBER 3

Prototype 2: Restorative Justice Conflict Resolution Process for Facebook

• Written role play for user testing
• Facilitator’s guide for role play user testing
• Date and participants secured for testing
• Participant survey for feedback on user test

DUE BY MONDAY, DECEMBER 10

Prototype 2: Restorative Justice Conflict Resolution Process for Facebook

• Synthesized feedback received from test participants and insights

Prototype 3: Restorative Justice Chatbot

• IN PROGRESS