Since my last update, things have continued to move forward with my capstone project work:
Progress
- I finalized and delivered the final application wireframes for the tool I’m building as a part of the capstone.
- I wrote in detail about one particular aspect of the tool workflow and content curation process that we were finding challenging to figure out.
- I’m deep into building the actual application software! Here’s an early screenshot from the “create a feed” workflow:
- I wrote about the tools and process I’m using in my software development work, and how something like automated quality testing will contribute toward the longer-term success of the tool.
Plans
- Continue to develop the software application and work toward delivering a first version for testing by the Bloomfield folks next week.
- Based on feedback and real-world testing, make refinements and re-deliver, repeating that cycle as needed.
Problems
- The Bloomfield team has had some challenges locating and contacting additional stakeholders for me to interview (at least one representative reader of the Daily Bulletin, and one person who has provided financial support to the project). Still hoping and expecting to be able to complete these conversations soon.
- Some concerns have come up in the wider tech and journalism communities about the long-term plans for CrowdTangle, a tool that the Bloomfield team uses heavily in their news harvest and that I am working on integrating into the software. There’s nothing actionable on this for the moment but it may change some aspects of how that integration ends up working.
- Some challenges lining up schedules between the Bloomfield team’s projects/priorities/travel as well as losing some time due to some family illness on my end mean that I’m again not quite where I want to be in terms of schedule. To compensate, I’ll be spending some of April beginning my write-up and summaries (originally intended for May).
