Ethan Ardolino 6.1040

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Assignment 2: Divergent Design (9/19/2023) ​

a. Overview: O(u)nce ​

"Ounce" will be an app intended for non-frequent users of classic social media. The value of this app will be to encourage moderate usage by eliminating the need for an ML algo. Another main goal of the app is to prioritize quality over quantity on posted content.

b. Feature Brainstorming ​

  1. Limited posting
    • Users will have a certain upper bound on the number of times they can post per day
  2. Daily Feed
    • users will have a "feed" of posts every day
  3. Following / Follower
    • Users will see the content posted by people they "follow", and post content viewable to their "followers"
  4. Permanent Posts
    • Users not able to delete content once they post it
  5. User specific Catalog
    • each user will have a catalog showcasing all of their previous posts
  6. Upvoting
    • to avoid a user-tailored list of "suggested" content, posts can be upvoted to be suggested on others' feed
  7. Content Filters
    • users can tag specific accounts and filter their feed based on said tags
  8. Character Limit on Post
    • posts will have an upper bound on the number of characters allowed in a post
  9. "Save" posts
    • users can "save" certain posts that they particularly enjoy to easily view later
  10. "Favorite" other accounts
    • users can make certain accounts as "favorites" to have them appear at the top of the feed
  11. Comments
    • posts will have a comment section for other user's to share feedback
  12. "Toggle" section
    • users will have an entire menu dedicated to toggling various features (i.e catalog, upvoted "suggestion" content)
  13. Reporting
    • allows users that have passed a certain threshold value of upvotes to report other accounts
  14. Repost
    • users are able to use one of their limited posts to repost content from another account
  15. Daily Clock
    • each user will have a timer showing the exact amount of time that they have used "Ounce"

c. VSD analysis ​

  1. (Stakeholder) Consider Children

The limited usage feature of "Ounce" would encourage children to not have their eyes "glued" to social media, and instead play or converse with others in person. This insight motivates me to enhance the limited posting to allow users to only post once per day. Imagine an elementary school student briefly checking their device for a few minutes after recess, and reading a handful of short, cute posts from their classmates. This is a stark contrast to the "main" social media apps.

  1. (Time) Long-Term Health and Well-Being

I believe that less social media usage would have a positive impact on many people. This is exemplified by the consistent, front facing daily usage timer. Next, Users are encouraged to be wise about what content they put on the app due to the permanent posts. I also find it likely that people feel a sense of ease while using "Ounce" in that they have control over the content they view.

  1. (Pervasiveness) Widespread Use One feature that I question after thinking about widespread usage is reposting. It is plausible accounts would overuse this function. For instance, if 2 accounts want to boost their following, they could "shout each other out". On a large scale, this would undermine the quality of the content. Another feature that I may remove are comments. With "billions" of users, there will inevitably be many malicious users who leave unpleasant comments. Plus, I feel the emphasis should be on what you think about certain content, not what others think.

  2. (Value) Choose Desired Values

  • Self-Control: people are able to have supreme control of what content they decide to view.
  • Security: unlike many other social media apps, "Ounce" is not rooted in mining data and spamming users with advertisements
  • "Disconnect": A main goal of this app is to encourage people to use social media less frequently. After thinking about the second point, Security, it may be necessary to add some sort of subscription service for "Ounce". I have zero-tolerance for targeted advertising, so it would either need to be a not-for-profit application or incorporate a less traditional social media business model.
  1. (Value) User Experience of Values The feature that aligns with my values most is the daily usage timer. I believe that I would use social media less with this feature. An extension of this feature could be some sort of aggregation of a person's usage to produce longer term statistics about how much they have used the app.

d. Concept Articulation ​

1. User

  • purpose: personalized experience for each individual person
  • principle: each person is enabled to have their own catalog of previously posted content, accounts they follow, content they save

2. Post

  • purpose: allow people to share their ideas and experiences for others to view
  • principle: people are able to post pictures, videos, or short blurbs for their followers to see. Likewise, people view the same type of media from others to view and favorite

3. Daily Usage Tracker

  • purpose: give users a precise amount of time that they have spent on the app
  • principle: each user can recieve an update on a variety of usage over different time periods (i.e daily, weekly, monthly) and metrics (i.e average, aggregated)

4. Tags

  • purpose: mark and label specific content
  • principle: user's have control over the posts they view by being enabled to quickly filter the content based on "tag(s)" (i.e "Dogs", "Sports")

5. Feed

  • purpose: organize each user's content in a viewable manner
  • principle: display the content from all user's followed accounts in chronological order

6. Toggle

  • purpose: grant user's freedom to customize aspects of their experience on the app
  • principle: allow users to enable/disable their historical catalog of posts, comments on their posts, "suggested" content from accounts they do not follow

e. Dependence Diagram ​