The fifth stage in the Design Thinking Process, Prototyping, is the release of an incomplete version of your artefact to the public, to test it and receive feedback from the audience/users. The aim of prototyping is to convert the concepts devised in the Ideation stage into a practical form, whether physically or digitally. After this, the Prototype may move forward into the Testing phase, or revert back to the Ideating or Defining stage, depending on the feedback gained.

Career Foundry explains that “Putting the user at the heart of the process requires you to test your designs on real users”. The Prototyping Phase is incredibly important in figuring out what works best for your audience, as it lets Users test what you’re promoting and offer insights as to what they would prefer or what works better, after all, the Artefact must serve the User as effectively as possible.

Prototyping relies heavily on Feedback Loops, the process of gaining feedback, and adjusting to better address the issues identified. The Feedback Loop works through five key steps:

1. Observation – recognise an absence or issue
2. Define – develop observations into ideas
3. Ideate – develop ideas into potential solutions
4. Prototype – create tangible physical/digital models of the solutions identified
5. Test – evaluate how well each prototype works and adjust the model appropriately

Alternatively, the Feedback Loop Process can be simplified as:

1. You produce something – create and publish something online
2. Measure information on the production – receive feedback from users
3. Use information to improve production – reiterate based on feedback

Although it has 1,686 views (as of 10/10/19), accessing feedback is the one area that North Gong Daily is severely lacking. Though each post has a comment section, it isn’t the type of site that warrants comments, since most people just use the site to check the surf then leave. There isn’t a lot else to see or do aside from the picture gallery, merch and various videos.

One thing that was changed early on after publishing was the site’s layout, after realising the site required a header image on each post, as seen below.

Having these images helps to further the beach aesthetic, which is why prototyping is such an important stage in the process – it lets you identify what isn’t effective and change it for the better. It has also helped to identify NGD’s starter pack audience, as seen below:

Feedback can be gained from Twitter posts, as seen below, however, this only works if people actually check out the site. Instagram posts work the same, in that if people haven’t checked the site, they might not be willing to take the extra time to look and give feedback.

I spoke to Kel and Michelle, NGD’s creators, on the weekend, and discussed the idea of monetising the website, I told them what that would mean for the site and how it would work, however, I didn’t bring up splitting the payments, as I am unsure as to how that would work with two different accounts, and very little earnings.

In The Cathedral and the Bazaar, Raymond, E states “too often software developers spend their days grinding away for pay at programs they neither need nor love.” Something surf-related had to be the way to go for my Digital Artefact, as surfing is a big part of my life, and something I want to continue with beyond University. From this reading, I’ve learnt that it’s important to ensure what you’re doing is something interesting, otherwise, it becomes boring and time-consuming, without reward.

Since the creation of the Internet, there have been people who create and maintain information, those who browse it, and those who use it. Most people use the Internet for some reason, however, there has emerged a subculture of people with a focus or interest in the technical side of it all.

This subculture, with its focus on technology, has become known as “Hacker Culture”. Hacker culture began developing in the 50’s and 60’s and began gaining traction in the 80’s and 90’s when a “new generation of technologically literate hackers” appeared.

With the rise of the Hacker, came those people who seek to release information to the public. “Whistleblowers”, such as Edward Snowden, break into, steal or download this information from organisations or governments. These people are quickly labelled as terrorists or criminals, and often have restraints placed upon them for the rest of their lives.

North Gong Daily is aimed at people who want some info about North Wollongong Beach without having to go to Ad-filled websites which provide too much information which is hard to understand. The site is easy to use for locals, newcomers and seasoned surfers, as the interface is simple and easy to access. The owners, Kel and Michelle, are heavily involved in North Wollongong Surf Life Saving Club, as am I, so NGD has strong ties to the Club, with many members being strong supporters and users of NGD across all platforms. The simple user interface and beach aesthetic gives the impression that North Gong Daily knows what they’re doing.

Check out NGD’s audience below:

North Gong Daily is only focused on the one beach, as all people involved in it are locals and regulars at North Gong, therefore it’s easier to just maintain the one beach, though expanding the NGD team to more beaches could be a potential option.

During the process of uploading, I used to have a list of 71 tags, all related to the beach and North Wollongong, that I would implement into each post, to gain viewers. However, this was time consuming and wasn’t bringing in many views, so I have since stopped using them in each post.

Users have been referred to NGD by a number of different places, with the biggest one being Instagram, of 74, closely followed by Twitter, with 70. The WordPress reader, which is where Tags become relevant, has only referred 13 people, which is why I am no longer using Tags.

Another issue that arises with monetising the site is that if profits are split, then we have to negotiate how the payments would be made, as I’m not sure whether the profits could be split and sent to two different accounts.

Until next time, stay fresh Surfers.

Prior to the invention of Social Media, Legacy Media such as the Newspaper was the primary source of information.

Legacy Media uses DISSEMINATION to get its message across to the audience, which is a very low level of participation with only one-way communication, and is incapable of gaining feedback, as it requires the audience to consume passively.

Whereas, Social Media provides constant two-way communication where Users are able to converse with producers and other users about topics and interests. On Social Media, Dissemination is still present, but it is overshadowed by DIALOGUE which is “a discussion of positions or beliefs, especially between groups to resolve a disagreement.”

“Because of the internet, everyone has an opinion now, and they can express it”

Joe Rogan – Strange Times (2018)

There is almost nothing that can stop you from creating and expressing yourself on the internet, there is no entry-fee or gatekeeper there to stop you.

Originally, when Legacy Media reigned supreme, producing content was extremely costly, therefore, only a handful of major companies could afford to constantly produce content.

However, the original relationship of Business to Consumer, where the Consumer must absorb information passively, has now become almost obsolete, as the invention of Web 2.0 has brought about the rise of Prosumers.

A Prosumer, as originally theorised by Alvin Toffler in his book ‘The Third Wave’, is “a consumer who is also a producer”. However, with the development of Web 2.0, the term Prosumer has expanded to mean “a consumer of internet’s contents, but also a producer of them”.

Since the Internet is now saturated with these Prosumers, content production has lost almost all value, as there is an abundance of content to choose from, value instead lies with the aggregation and curation of content. Platforms such as YouTube and Instagram, where videos and pictures are suggested to Users,

My street has a group chat.

I live in Figtree, and at the end of the street, at the part where I live, there is a cul de sac. My parents and neighbours like to refer to themselves as the “Executive Committee” of the street in their Messenger chat, which consists of 14 people, and frequently send each other messages regarding what’s happening in my street, share interesting things and organise events and catch-ups with each other.

As there is always at least one person from the group at home, there is a constant surveillance of the street, and anything interesting that occurs is documented and shared via the group chat. The group is also used to plan meet-ups and parties periodically, with families coming along and planning dishes to bring.

My family friends, who live a few doors down, also have a system built into their house, called SONOS, described as “the ultimate wireless home system”. This system lets them play music or other sound through each room, and can be controlled via a mobile device.

On the other end of the spectrum, one of the other, older couples in the group still use a radio to listen to music, and frequently bring it to the group’s catch-ups. My neighbourhood has both what appears to be Innovators, with fancy new technology, and the older generation of Laggards, who still use a radio to listen to music.

Most of the people in the group often have their mobile devices on them, particularly the younger people in the street, and we often share things we found online with each other.

The threat of surveillance is not a major concern for most of the people in the group, however, my family and myself all have ad-blockers on our laptops and computers, as do some of the others in the street.

Digital signage is not a major occurrence in the neighbourhood as there are no public screens, however, ads do appear on mobile phones, televisions, computers and gaming consoles, and as most of homes in the street have at least 2 or 3 of these, digital signage does still occur frequently. This is limited by ad-blockers, however, free-to-air TV still contains ads, so not all ads can be hidden.

As most families in the street have children between the ages of 24 and 8, most families have some form of gaming console or computer. From this, the children have a source of entertainment and are also able to connect with each other. However, this does provide a platform for ads to be viewed on, and most consoles and computers have a built-in camera, which could be used to watch those in front of it.

The neighbourhood that I live in is therefore a very interconnected network, as each house has multiple devices, including mobile phones, laptops, computers and consoles. There are no Public Screens in the Neighbourhood, however, Digital Signage is still available on Televisions and Computers.