• Introduction

    A project starts with an idea. In the first few weeks of this module you will, hopefully, identify an idea that you think would form the basis of a project that:

    You will find interesting and motivating
    Will allow you to demonstrate a range of skills that you have learned or will learned on your programme (note that you will probably need to go into more depth in a topic that you have learned about, or learn something new, in order to undertake the project)
    Will serve a useful purpose for some stakeholder(s)

    You may already have an idea – you may even have several ideas that you will need to choose between. If not, the activities in the next few weeks will prompt you to think about the sort of topic that could lead to an interesting project.

    In the remaining weeks you will develop your chosen idea into a full project proposal. This week you will start to learn about the practicalities of turning an idea into a practical project, which you will need to take into consideration when writing the proposal:
    Starting to define the problem statement
    Identifying what you will need in order to do the project – resources, skills
    Identifying issues that might affect the project – risks, ethics
    Understanding the topic area through an initial literature review
  • Project Practicalities / Logistics

    A great project starts with a great idea. However, no matter how good your idea is, it won't turn into a good project if you don't consider the practicalities. In some cases, it can turn out that a project, no matter how great the idea, is simply not practical and that the best course of action is to choose another idea. It is best to find this out as early as possible!

    Project outline

    Converting your idea into a practical project involves, first of all, developing the idea into a basic initial project outline (you will have a first go at this in the tutorial this week). You may have several ideas/possible projects, which could be potentially be conducted using different types of research methods. It may be useful to develop outlines of more than one in order to help you choose the one idea that you think will work most readily as a project.

    An initial project outline should start with a basic statement of intent along the lines of:
    "I want to create a…"
    "I want to investigate…"
    "I want to compare…"
    and should attempt to answer the following questions:
    What background investigation would be required?
    What do you think the scope of the project would be?
    What type of project would this be?
    How would you evaluate the outcome?

    From outline to proposal

    Once you have done this, you are in a position to (start to) develop a full proposal.

    However you describe your chosen idea, it will need to be refined into an appropriate expression. For a practice-based capstone project, which is typically a development project, this will be a problem statement that summarises what you intend to develop and what problem it will solve. If the product of your development will serve the purpose of allowing an investigation to be done, you may also express this in the form of a research question. We will pay close attention to developing appropriate statements/questions during this module.

    In any project, it is important to research the problem area, work that has been done previously in that area, technologies that may be useful in relation to the problem, and so on. A proposal should include an initial literature review (ILR). It is called an initial review because you will undertake a more in-depth main literature review (MLR) later on during the project itself.

    The proposal should also state the overall project aim, and the specific objectives to be achieved. The aim should relate closely to the problem statement. The objectives will be the specific tasks that need to be carried out in order to achieve that aim. These are typically classified as:
    Secondary research objectives – these support the achievement of the aim, and are typically the objectives that will be achieved through the literature review
    Primary research objectives – these are the tasks that directly lead to the achievement of the aim, e.g. development, testing, evaluation

    It is also crucially important to consider the practicalities of your initial idea(s), which will be mostly associated with your primary research tasks:
    The resources (and skills) which will be needed
    The main risk(s) for each separate task
    Possible Ethical Issues in your primary research
  • Considering Project Resources

    What resources might be needed?

    Hardware for example:
    Computer that can run the software you need
    Input/output devices or interfaces
    Specialised equipment for evaluation
    Software, for example:
    Development environment/languages
    Deployment, e.g. servers, databases, VMs
    Cloud-based resources
    Simulation software
    Software for testing evaluation, e.g. test tools, benchmarks, data gathering/analysis
    People:
    Clients for requirement gathering
    Participants for usability evaluations

    What are the practicalities of obtaining each resource?

    Don’t base anything on a promise: Do your “homework” and do it NOW. Consider the risks involved in:
    Being able to get access to a resource, for example:
    Is the hardware you need available now on campus or where you need it?
    If not, is it possible to obtain it?
    Will you have to share this hardware with others?
    Is the software you need open-source or free for non-commercial/student use?
    If not, is it licenced for student use in your institution?
    If not, is it possible to obtain a licence?
    Does the cloud service you need have a free option for non-commercial/student use or limited level of use? Is this sufficient for your needs?
    If not, does your institution have a subscription for student use?
    If not, is it possible to obtain a subscription?
    If you need to involve people, who do they need to be, how many will you need, how will you find them, how will you persuade them to participate, what are the ethical considerations in what you will ask them to do (we will look in more detail at ethics later)?
    Being able to use/learn a resource

    Depending on the answers to those questions you may need to consider possible alternatives. If there is uncertainty in any answers this represents a risk to the project, and you should consider risk strategies.

    These are often the “last” sections of the proposal, but should be the first issues you address NOW. What will you do about your project (proposal) if some of this doesn’t look practical?
  • Considering Project Skill Requirements

    You should consider the skills which you will have to have personally to conduct the project successfully, assuming all the resources you need are available, for example:
    Programming skills
    Specific skills in using an IDE or API/library
    Understanding of the underlying algorithm/software architecture
    Configuration and use of specific software/hardware? (e.g. simulation software)
    Skills in developing (e.g. HCI) evaluation methods

    Some skills you will already have acquired, while others may be introduced in upcoming modules on your programme. It is typical for students to have to learn some new skills, or develop greater depth in applying existing skills, in order to do a project. This is usually a good thing – it demonstrates to potential employers that you have the ability to learn the skills for a particular task independently.

    Are you expected to have (learned all of) these skills by the time you submit the proposal?
    NO!

    Then what are you expected to have in terms of these resources/skills?
    You are expected to have a clear idea of what might be involved in getting these resources/skills
    You should also plan for them to be “sufficiently” obtained/learned
  • Initial Literature Review

    Useful Video: 📹 Get Lit: The Literature Review

    What needs to be developed first – Problem Statement or Initial Literature Review?
    The problem statement, and any research question associated with it, needs to be derived as a conclusion to an initial literature based argument. Thus you need to conduct an initial literature search/review

    What “questions” is ILR trying to answer?
    What is the wider project topic context?
    Why is that topic worth investigating?
    Why is it “important”?
    Are there any key “problems” in this project topic area?
    What different solution approaches have been proposed/suggested?
    Which particular aspect of the project topic are you going to investigate, how does that relate to this context, and why is your particular project useful?

    How long should the ILR be?
    There is a strict word limit (of 1200 +/- 10%) on the ILR

    What should you be “looking for” when you search for your own literature to use in your ILR?
    Anything which make points, which you could use to support your argument. You are a “Detective” trying to find evidence.

    A well-focussed problem statement:
    Normally has several “threads”
    Should have a narrow focus

    When you search for literature here you are looking for any which
    Might “suggest” these threads
    Give you ideas to narrow your project’s focus

    Don’t use the “hit and hope” technique for searching.

    Be innovative:
    Search using “broader” keyword topics
    Follow cited authors
    Find key journals and conferences and browse those as well
    (Maybe also initially look though specialist textbooks in the domain)

    We are looking for an annotated bibliography of at least 20 references