in honey
I’ve got my fingers in a lot of pots for the coming few months. I’m working on the Virtual Tribunal — the work for the moment is mostly coordination. Our team has grown, which is terrific for our project, and now it is really time to start making our system. What this means for me — I’m leading UX and also sort of project managing the project. So, I’ll be leading choices and work about usability, site content, navigation/flow, and also coordinating the project. We’re really starting from the beginning of the development process right now with the goal of delivering a sort of working prototype/pilot in the winter to renew grants and to continue work.
Aside from that, I’m finishing my degree. It’s the end of 2 years. I’m working on 2 really exciting projects — one for a User Interface design class designing a CAPTCHA for a mobile device; and one for a User Experience class, analyzing usability and needs around programmable thermostats (a project in conjunction with Berkeley Lab). I’ll write separate entries about these projects.
I’ve been reflecting on what I have done in grad school and whether I satisfied the goals I had when I applied/enrolled. I’ve also been reflecting on how my goals have changed as I’ve been in this program and considering where I should be heading next.
When I enrolled in school, I was hoping to combine my various skills — in ui design, documentary photography, multimedia production and my interest in social justice to study and participate in work creating technologies that would help more people communicate and have access to information they needed/wanted.
I found the study of ICTD (information, communication, and technology for development) and also in studying communication/technology policy issues. With respect to ICTD, the UC Berkeley iSchool staff includes people who are primarily interested in studying the ways people are using technologies in developing economies, in the ways that institutions can promote development goals through technology projects, in designing interfaces and objects that are suited for people living in developing economies. I traveled to Uganda last summer with other iSchool students to study technology projects to support agriculture and farmers. And now, through a recommendation from my boss from the Media Lab, I’m working on a project that has everything to do with how a technological artifact can be used to promote social justice.
After these 2 years at Berkeley, I think I have a good start at understanding some of the history and academic discussion about development. I feel like I have a strong understanding of technology studies. I would like deeper understanding of development policy and practice, about economics, about peace and conflict resolution, and about human rights research and advocacy .
It’s clear to me that what I really care about is people and social justice. I’m happy to work on technology projects that serve social justice objectives, but I suspect that sometime in the not-too-distant future, I might also find that widening my scope to include projects that are not tech-centered will make sense. I feel an emotional attachment to doing this work and I want to keep doing it. I also know that I want to balance my emotional interests and reactions with a strong analytical framework for thinking through the issues of development and social justice as thoroughly and responsibly as I can. I think practice and study are both ways of gaining this framework.