Week 10 Learning Journal Post

A good team is really valuable. I'm reminded of this as Team Rippl enters the home stretch of our Social Media project.

We took on an ambitious project. We are each excited about it. People are working together really well, sharing talents and playing off each others' skills. Everyone has put in a lot. And it looks like we are not going to be able to do all that we had hoped, at least not by the class deadline.

That isn't to say that we won't meet the class requirements. We think we have done that. We developed a proposal, researched how others have managed similar behavior change projects, similar tools, and similar content, incorporated what we've learned from Fogg and Cialdini, and created and shared a couple of iterations of the conceptual framework and overall look and feel. (In hindsight, we might have done more in the way of asking for outside feedback on our iterations earlier in the process).

In taking on a project that was more complex than most, we took a risk. In addition to identifying a behavior to change and developing a campaign around that, Rippl includes developing and promoting a computer-application as a tool others can use to facilitate change. The actual computer application probably wont be done. It turned out to be much harder than anticipated. And the promotion, which kind of depended on what the application could and could not actually accomplish at this stage of its development, will likely get a bit short-shrifted. And that is OK. At least its OK with the team, and we hope it is OK with the professor.

We've had the chance to learn a lot about taking a seemingly simple concept and focusing on it long enough to understand that achieving simplicity can involve a lot of complexity. We've learned about checking in frequently in order to maintain a shared vision, even as things progress and change. We've had the chance to develop a long-term vision along with short-term phases that could move us toward that vision. And we've learned just how valuable each others' talents are to our success.

Even though the project could be described as a failure, I see it as a huge success. And one of my hopes and dreams is that we find a way to keep working on it and making it into a reality. Hopefully with the benefit of strategy/technical consult from Christopher, Mirian and Elyn.