1. 1 Implementing and Observing a Networking Community Presented by Virtuality Group Liz (Hui-ju) LU Mituri P. SHARMA Ai Ling TAY Danny WU Jinzi WU

2. 2 Virtuality As a Client 5 networking community proposals –Backpacker community –Kidz Biz community –Cosmetic community –Fashion community –Wine community

3. 3 Community Analysis & Evaluation Backpacker Community Travellers as the majority of users. Social and privacy issues considered. Cultural issues need to be addressed in depth. Lack of plan to assist designers at during the implementation stage of the community. Kidz Biz Community Aims to provide information and knowledge of children aged 0 to 5. Childcare staff, parents, universities professionals. Voice chat as one significant technology however it was inappropriate. Virtuality As a Client

4. 4 Community Analysis & Evaluation Cosmetic Community Provide information to users who are interested in cosmetics. Clear and feasible aims. Email is main stream of communication tool. Logins – very creative. Technologies such as Adobe Photoshop, Real Player need to be addressed and justified according to community needs. Fashion Community Unclear aims and definition of focus require further depth for this community. Very vague on technologies used in the fashion community. Needs a plan to assist designers to implement. Virtuality As a Client

5. 5 Community Analysis & Evaluation Wine Community Comprehensive analysis was conducted on existing wine communities. Clear aims and complete communication tools and technologies were incorporated to support the defined users. Purpose of developing a wine community require more brainstorming. Virtuality As a Client

6. 6 Rationales for Selecting Wine Community Contains sufficient information for implementation. Comprises almost all general web site functions that makes it an efficient community for a diverse group of users. These include chat rooms, forums, polls, search engine etc. A detailed plan and schedule for designing, testing and implementing together with assigned roles. Substantiated by proper analysis of existing wine communities. Virtuality As a Client

7. 7 Our client Netraiders – Overseas Student Society (OSS) Hand drawn layout of the design. Basic design using Microsoft FrontPage. Ulead PhotoShop to design the Community Logo. A few search tools for this community includes accommodation search, buying and selling books and furniture, jobs search, study notes and general searching. Logins for security reasons Privacy statement, terms and conditions of use for legal reasons and data protection. Virtuality As a Designer

8. 8 Demonstration of Overseas Student Society community website: http://home.iprimus.com.au/feng33

9. 9 Virtuality As a Researcher Modes of communication –Email was used initially. –UTS Online Virtual discussion room was used within our group as well as with Netraiders and Squirrel –UTS Online Discussion Board –UTS Online File Exchange

10. 10 Results & Findings of using UTSOnline Requires high level commitment. Not all students were comfortable using UTSOnline at the initial stages, for unfamiliarity or inconvenience reasons. Provides a sense of immediacy compared to email communication. Discussion board replaced emails for convenience of all participants and increased deployment of information. Virtuality As a Researcher

11. 11 Group Collaboration Our Client Netraiders Use UTSOnline discussion board and virtual room for most of the communication. Continuous changes were made to the web site according to given feedback till the report due date. Virtuality was not notified of all of Netraiders decisions in interaction procedures, as a result it was difficult to maintain honest and open relationship. Interesting learning experience in project work and group collaboration. Virtuality As a Researcher

12. 12 Group Collaboration Our Designer Squirrel Following a few initial obstacles to communicating via UTSOnline, emails were forfeited for the interaction tools at our disposal. Virtuality was more proactive in seeking initial prototype and providing feedback. Discussion board was used extensively for communication. Virtuality As a Researcher

13. 13 Group Collaboration Finally, interaction via the tools on UTSOnline were successful, and although we did have some initial obstacles to effective communication, when these were overcome, communication was free and enhanced. Virtuality As a Researcher

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