{"id":342,"date":"2021-10-28T08:29:39","date_gmt":"2021-10-28T15:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0200\/?p=342"},"modified":"2021-10-28T08:29:39","modified_gmt":"2021-10-28T15:29:39","slug":"lrnt-523-assignment-3-speculative-futures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0200\/lrnt-523-assignment-3-speculative-futures\/","title":{"rendered":"LRNT 523 Assignment 3: Speculative Futures"},"content":{"rendered":"

I considered the title, “Follow the HERD” for this creative essay. I leave it with you to ponder the suitability. I did not include the title page here, and I apologize for elements of formatting that did not transfer.<\/p>\n

The Ministries of Children and Families, Health, and Education in British Columbia (BC) have been consolidated into one singular Ministry of Health and Education Resource Distribution (HERD) and have initiated a pilot program that offers community resource campuses by the year 2030. The new integrated model streamlines delivery of resources, whereas siloed ministries had become inefficient due to overlapping services yet completely distinct technological tools and data storage, and struggled to maintain the trust of its clients in the face of this. A person-centered solution to this problem is found in the new HERD campus model. Each HERD campus consists of an administrative centre, wellness centre, recreation facilities, and an education centre(s) for all age groups, from pre-K to adult. The administrative centres serve as the pivot point for program planning and ongoing management, hosting the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) digital management platform. The HERD campus model is designed and supported to provide the best possible user experience <\/em>(UX). UX may be defined as the overall quality of experience and feelings before, during, and after interacting with a product (Teine, 2018). Intuitive UX essentially means that users can quickly and easily learn to use the tool on their own (McKay, 2013), enabling programs to get up and running smoothly and efficiently. The key to successful adoption of the new IRP management tool lies in a participatory design (PD) process that gives primary consideration to the end-users in the following three categories:<\/p>\n

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  1. Client(s) – either an individual or a family grouping.<\/li>\n
  2. Service providers – professionals within all branches of the resource campus.<\/li>\n
  3. Administrators – HERD staff who oversee planning and management of IRPs.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    A unique user interface allows each family unit or individual to access their IRP. This provides functions for creation, addition, review, or maintenance of their IRP, including the personalized global wellness and educational plans managed through the platform.<\/p>\n

    Each level of interface builds upon the preceding level with the assumption that service providers and administrators have mastered competencies and content at the levels that precede. Service providers and administrators learn the additional features relevant to their specific roles in order to support IRP clients. Functionality at the foundational client level includes intake and initial set-up, plus selection of and ongoing access to resources in the health and education departments. Available services include recreation, fitness, proactive and responsive wellness services, plus formal and informal educational programs, activities, and resources for all levels. Users have personal control over program selections and bookings, plus they conduct all communication with service providers and administrators through the IRP platform, ensuring accurate tracking of information and accountability for service providers and administrators. Educators and health care professionals operate through the service provider interface to facilitate documentation, program and resource tracking, plus communication between departments and with clients. HERD administrators maintain global oversight of individual and family IRPs, approving and\/or editing plans through the administrator portal. Regardless of roles, comfortable UX is integral to the success of any technological tool, and the IRP platform was designed with this end in mind.<\/p>\n

    Participatory Design was used in order to achieve intuitive UX at each level of the IRP platform interface. Stakeholders participated throughout the design process, and effective communication for the purposes of both utility and feedback was supported (Kanstrup, Bygholm, & Bertelsen, 2017). Design included the following steps, utilized in a non-linear fashion, as repetitive micro-cycles through two or more steps are required at various stages (Badger & Lowenthal, 2018; Teine, 2018):<\/p>\n